Benchmarking :Benchmarking :Deprivation Deprivation IndicatorsIndicators
Kirsty MacLachlanKirsty MacLachlan
Aim of the projectAim of the project
• To investigate indicators for use in benchmarking of attainment of pupils in schools
Factors influencing attainmentFactors influencing attainment
• Literature search done
• Mothers’ qualifications
• Socio-economic characteristics
• Deprivation
• Need measures which capture the characteristics of pupils not the school
Current methodologyCurrent methodology
• FME
– Relates to pupils actually at the school
– Accurate ‘determination’ of numbers entitled to free school meals
– Consistent measure across the country?
Whole School Attainment - Whole School Attainment - comparison with similar schools comparison with similar schools
(WS/SS)(WS/SS)• FME used as the basis of comparison
• list of 20 'similar' schools• tables and box plots for 19 attainment
measures (e.g. % S4 roll attaining 5+ @ level 5+ by end of S4, etc)
• school's placing relative to similar schools
• summary statements for each measure - eg overall the school performed better than/poorer
than/in line with other schools with similar characteristics
Box PlotsBox Plots
Comparison of attainment nationally% S4 roll attaining 5+ @ level 5+ by end of S6 (2000-2002)
Current developmentsCurrent developments• Data now available from GRO(S) 2001 census of
population• New travel to study question -> origin and
destination postcode• Identifies pupils attending recognised school
postcodes• Information available inter alia on
– mothers’ qualification– Socio-economic classification
Data problemsData problems
Secondary Primary
Data available from GRO census
421 1975
No data available from GRO census
23 361
All schools 444 2336
• Incorrect postcodes• Multiple schools/postcode
Relationship between 2001 secondary Relationship between 2001 secondary attainment and GRO census indicatorsattainment and GRO census indicators
Correlation % attaining 5+ @ level 5+ by end of S4
% attaining 3+ @ level 6+ by end of S5
% degrees 0.82 0.83
% no quals -0.79 -0.73
% Managerial 0.70 0.75
% FME -0.70 -0.66
% never worked
-0.67 -0.64
Relationship between 2001 primary Relationship between 2001 primary attainment and GRO census indicatorsattainment and GRO census indicators
Correlation Reading Writing Maths
% degrees 0.55 0.55 0.48
% no quals -0.56 -0.55 -0.48
% Managerial 0.57 0.55 0.49
% FME -0.54 -0.52 -0.45
% never worked
-0.44 -0.43 -0.37
Sec Average Sec Average attainmentattainment
NoNo % attaining 5+ @ % attaining 5+ @ level 5+ by end of level 5+ by end of
S4S4
% attaining 3+ @ % attaining 3+ @ level 6+ by end of level 6+ by end of
S5S5
Urban >125K 116 27 16Urban 10K – 125K
108 33 21
Town <30 mins
45 37 26
Town >=30 mins
22 37 25
Rural < 30 mins
29 40 27
Rural >= 30 mins
37 46 25
Prim Average attainment
No % Reading % Writing % Maths
Urban >125K 535 79 68 78Urban 10K – 125K
445 79 69 80
Town <30 mins 166 79 71 80Town >=30 mins 41 79 69 78Rural < 30 mins 278 84 75 84Rural >= 30 mins 104 81 75 81
Percentage of S4 pupils attaining 5+ awards at level 5 by end of S4, 2001Schools with rolls >200 in urban areas
R2 = 0.7237
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00
% of pupils with mothers with degrees
% 5
+ @
leve
l 5+
by e
nd o
f S4
Hillhead High School
Eastwood High School
St Ninians High School
% attaining 5-14 levels in readingSchools with > 25 pupils in P3/4/6/7 in rural areas
R2 = 0.1258
0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
120.00
0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00
% of pupils with mothers with degrees
Tong PS
Sandhaven PS
Walkerburn PS
Woodmuir PS
Port Charlotte PS
Anytown P.S. has mathematics attainment levels of 75.00%
Anytown P.S. is ranked 87th compared to its 100 similar schools
NOTE- the comparison is based on % pupils mothers with degrees from 2001 census
A boxplot showing the P3,4,6,7 2003 mathematics attainment figures for Anytown P.S. and for 100 similar urban schools
60.00
65.00
70.00
75.00
80.00
85.00
90.00
95.00
100.00
% o
f pupils
rea
chin
g m
athem
atic
s at
tain
men
t le
vels
Relationship between mothers Relationship between mothers qualification and FMEqualification and FME
Correlation with 2001 FME
Secondary Primary
% degree -0.70 -0.67
% no qualification
0.88 0.85
Large differences between % degree and % FME rankings
• EAs with schools performing relatively much better using % degrees– Urban : Aberdeenshire, Midlothian
– Rural : Dumf & Galloway, Moray
• EAs with schools performing relatively much better using %FME– Urban : Edinburgh, Glasgow
– Rural : Highland
Next steps?Next steps?
• Benchmark using similar schools rather than regression analyses?
• Benchmark using census information on mothers qualifications?– Quickly out-of-date– Data not available for all schools
• Benchmark using FME?– Investigate reasons for differences in relationships
between FME and no quals at school/EA level