Setting by ability – or is it? A quantitative study of determinants of set placement in English secondary schools

Muijs, Daniel; Dunne, Michael

doi:10.1080/00131881.2010.524750

Cited by 44 publications

(63 citation statements)

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“…The schools in Jackson's study reported using a range of sources to stream children, including internal and external assessment data as well as teacher judgements or recommendations. More recent research has found a similar range of strategies (Ireson & Hallam, ; Muijs & Dunne, ; Taylor et al ., ), but with a greater emphasis on attainment data than found by Jackson.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Ball () found that students in the upper stream were more likely to have parents in non‐manual occupations, while those in the lower stream were more likely to have parents in manual occupations. In a study of 44 English schools in areas of disadvantage, low socioeconomic status was a strong predictor of lower set membership (Muijs & Dunne, ). In a study of schools in North Carolina, fourth and fifth‐grade students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were over‐represented in lower sets (Bosworth, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has also been found that Black students are frequently found to be more likely to be allocated to lower sets and streams, both in England and the USA (Hallinan, 1996;Muijs & Dunne, 2010;Moller & Stearns, 2012;Modica, 2015). White students, by contrast, are more likely to be allocated to higher sets (Muijs & Dunne, 2010;Moller & Stearns, 2012;Modica, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The misallocation of students to academic sets in maths: A study of secondary schools in England

Connolly

Taylor

Francis

et al. 2019

British Educational Res J

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Drawing upon data gathered from 9301 Year 7 students (12–13 years old) from 46 secondary schools in England, this study represents the first larger‐scale attempt to compare their actual set allocations in maths with the counterfactual position where their allocation to sets is based solely on their prior attainment at the end of primary school [using their Key Stage 2 (KS2) fine‐grained scores in maths]. Through such an analysis, the study found that nearly a third of students (31.2%) had been misallocated to lower or higher sets than their KS2 results would have warranted. Beyond this, school setting practices were found to exacerbate differences in set allocation in relation to gender and ethnicity, but not socioeconomic background. The odds of girls being misallocated to lower sets in maths than their prior attainment would warrant was found to be 1.5 times higher than that for boys. Similarly, the odds of Black students being misallocated to lower sets was 2.4 times higher than for White students, whilst the odds of Asian students being misallocated to lower maths sets was 1.7 times higher than for White students. The article concludes by reflecting on the significant role that setting by attainment in secondary school can play in exacerbating already established patterns of educational inequalities in gender and ethnicity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The misallocation of students to academic sets in maths: A study of secondary schools in England

Connolly

Taylor

Francis

et al. 2019

British Educational Res J

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“…English schools group students into 'ability' sets using measures of prior attainment including national assessments such as Key Stage 2 tests, commercially available cognitive ability or subject tests or the school's own internal assessments (Muijs & Dunne 2010). However additional information may also be used.…”

Section: Grouping By 'Ability' and Mixed Attainment Teachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice

Taylor¹,

Francis²,

Archer

et al. 2016

Pedagogy, Culture & Society

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“…Kutnick et al 2005;Muijs and Dunne 2010;Wiliam and Bartholomew 2004;Wright-Castro, Ramirez, and Duran 2003). Those pupils who find themselves in low ability groups tend to have less positive attitudes towards school (Boaler 1997;Ireson and Hallam 2001) and where whole peer groups feel alienated anti-school cultures can develop polarising students' attitudes into pro-and anti-school camps (Ball 1981;Lacey 1970).…”

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confidence: 99%

The incidence and make up of ability grouped sets in the UK primary school

Hallam

Parsons

2013

Research Papers in Education

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The adoption of setting in the primary school (pupils ability grouped across classes for particular subjects) emerged during the 1990s as a means to raise standards. Recent research based on 8875 children in the Millennium Cohort Study showed that 25.8% of children in Year 2 were set for literacy and mathematics and a further 11.2% of children were set for mathematics or literacy alone. Logistic regression analysis showed that the best predictors of being in the top set for literacy or mathematics were whether the child was born in the Autumn or Winter and cognitive ability scores. Boys were significantly more likely than girls to be in the bottom literacy set. Family circumstances held less importance for setting placement compared with the child's own characteristics, although they were more important in relation to bottom set placement. Children in bottom sets were significantly more likely to be part of a long-term single parent household, have experienced poverty, and not to have a mother with qualifications at NVQ3 or higher levels. The findings are discussed in relation to earlier research and the implications for schools are set out.Keywords: ability grouping; longitudinal studies; school policy; primary education Introduction Grouping pupils by ability within and between schools is controversial and has been the subject of research since the early 1900s. In the primary school, grouping can take several forms: streaming (children are placed in classes on the basis of their perceived general ability); setting (children are grouped across classes for particular subjects based on their perceived ability in that subject); and within class (the teacher organises small groups based on ability within the class). These are not mutually exclusive and children may be streamed, placed in sets and working in within class groupings at any one time.The evidence from primary and secondary education suggests that, overall, structured ability grouping (streaming and setting), of itself, has no positive impact on average attainment, although, depending on the level of curriculum differentiation, can widen the gap between low and high attainers (e.g. Ireson et al. 2002;Kerckhoff 1986;Schofield 2010;Wiliam and Bartholomew 2004). It has personal consequences for pupils, particularly those in the middle and lower groups, as it *Corresponding author. Email: s.hallam@ioe.ac.ukResearch Papers in Education, 2014 Vol. 28, No. 4, 393-420, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2012 Ó 2012 The Author(s). Published by Routledge This is an Open Access article. Non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way, is permitted. The moral rights of the named author(s) have been asserted. can limit potential educational opportunities (e.g. Ball 1981;Boaler 1997;Lacey 1970), not only affecting expectations but in England setting very real limits on examination entry and possible attainment (Boaler, Wiliam, and B...

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Setting by ability – or is it? A quantitative study of determinants of set placement in English secondary schools

Cited by 44 publications

References 11 publications

The misallocation of students to academic sets in maths: A study of secondary schools in England

The misallocation of students to academic sets in maths: A study of secondary schools in England

Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice

The incidence and make up of ability grouped sets in the UK primary school

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