BERASeptember1996

LancasterUniversity

ADiscussionoftheImportanceoftheFirstYearofSchool

JeniRiley

HeadofPrimaryEducation,InstituteofEducation,UniversityofLondon .

Thispaperwillfocusontheimportanceofthefirstyearofschoolfromthefollowingfourperspectives . Theyare:

i]Thelongitudinalevidenceconcerningthebenefitofaneffectivestarttomainstreamschool;

ii]Theuniquecharacteristicsofthereceptionyearasidentifiedbythesestudies;

iii]Thefindingsoftwostudiesinvestigatingprogressduringthereceptionyearinthespecificsubjectareasofmathematicsandliteracyandtheconsequentissuesforeffectiveteachingandlearninggenerallyinthefirstyearofschool;

iv]Theimplicationsforthedevelopmentofschoolpoliciesandforinitialandin-serviceteachereducation.

i]THELONGITUDINALEVIDENCE .

Thereisrobustlongitudinalevidenceonthelong-termbenefitsofaneffectiveearlystarttomainsteamschool.

Pederson,E.,Faucher,T. A. Eaton. W.W. [1978]Anewperspectiveontheeffectsoffirst-gradeteachersonchildren'sadultstatus. HarvardEducationalReview48[1][pp.1-31]

Theearlieststudytopointtothefactthatthefirstyearofschoolmaybeofspecialimportanceisnearly20yearsoldandAmerican{Pederson,FaucherandEaton,1978}. Theseresearchersfoundthatagroupofchildrenwhohadbeentaughtbyaparticularfirstgradeteacher,"MissA",seemedtohavebeengivenaninitialboosttotheireducationthatprovidedanadvantagethroughouttheremainderoftheirschooling. Theresearchmethodologywasanunusualandretrospectiveone. Theresearchersusedtheschoolannualreportcardstotracktheacademicprogressofthegroupsofchildrenin"MissA's"school,{i.e. theannualscoresovermanyyears,ofalltheclassesfromentryinelementarythroughtoexitfromsecondaryschool}. Itseemedthatthisexceptionalteacherachievedresultswithherpupilsinearlyliteracyandnumeracyfarbeyondthoseofhercolleagueswithparallelandcomparableintakes.

Tizard,B.,Blatchford,P.,Burke,J.,Farquhar,C. Plewis,I. (1988). YoungChildrenatSchoolintheInnerCity. Hove:LawrenceErlbaum.

MorerecentevidencecomesfromthefindingsoftheInfantSchoolStudy{Tizardetal1988}. Thisinterestingprojectfollowedacohortofchildrenin33innerLondonschoolsfromtheendofnurserythroughtotheendofinfantschool. Themainaimwastoinvestigatetheprogressofchildreninordertoexplainthereasonsfortheirdifferingratesofattainment. Learningandteachingarehugelycomplexandwhenvariablessuchashomebackground,ethnicoriginandfactorswithintheschoolandbetweenteachersarealsoexplored,andtheirvaryinginfluencesaccountedforintheanalyses,itbecomesachallengeinitselftoexplaintherelationshipsbetweenthedifferentvariables. Forthepurposeofthisarticlethemostimportantfindingisthatitwasonlyinthereceptionyearthatcertainclassesmadestatisticallysignificantgreaterratesofprogressthanothers. Also,theprojectshowedthatthosechildrenwhohadmadethegreatestamountofprogressinreceptionremainedthehighestachieversallthroughinfantschool.

Regardingtheteachingandlearningprocessesinvestigated,Tizardwritesthatthechildrenwhoseteachershadhighexpectationsoftheirprogress,whowereoftenchildrentheyconsidereda''pleasuretoteach'',wouldbeintroducedtoawidercurriculumthanchildrenwhohadsimilarskillsatthebeginningoftheyear,butwhomtheydidnotexpecttodosowell.

AndasTizardsays''Wehadevidencethatthereceptionyearhasaparticularlylargeeffectonprogress.

Table1Correlationsovertimeforreadingandwriting
Nursery(age4)age5 / Age56 / Age67 / Age78 / Nursery(age4)age7
(N=247) / (N=346) / (N=288) / (N=256) / (N=205)
Reading / 0.57 / 0.78 / 0.85 / 0.89 / 0.56
Writing / 0.50 / NA / NA / NA / 0.49

Thecorrelations{relationships}betweenthechildren'sscoresatthebeginningandendofthereceptionyearwereagooddeallowerthaninsubsequentyears''{Tizard,1993. p.77}

Inotherwords,thelowercorrelation{ortheweakertherelationshipbetweenthescoresatthebeginningandendoftheyear}signifiesgreaterprogressmadeinthefirstyearthatmightbeattributedtoeffectiveteaching. Tizardetal. followeduppartofthesampleattheendofprimaryschool[at11yearsold]andtherankorderofthechildren'sscoreshadnotchanged. Sooversevenyearsofprimaryschoolanearlypositivestartappearstobeimportant.

Mortimore,P.,Sammons,P.,Stoll,L.,Lewis,L. Ecob,R. [1988]. SchoolMatters:TheJuniorYears. WellsOpenBook

AnotherinfluentialstudytheJuniorSchoolProject{Mortimoreetal,1988.}corroboratesthisresearchfinding. Thisequallyambitiousandcomplexprojectthatexploredtheorganisationandtheteachingandlearningprocessesofthefourjunioryears{Years3,4,56inpostNationalCurriculumlanguage}. Amongstmanyotherimportantfindings,Mortimoreetal. foundthattherankorderofchildren'stestscoresremainedconstantoverthefouryears. Inotherwords,howwellthechildrenweredoingatthestartofjuniorschoolpredictedpowerfullyhowwelltheywouldbedoingatelevenyearsofage. Thisonceagainpointstothevalueofasuccessfulstarttoschool.

Sammons,P. [1994:inPress]. Gender,EthnicandSocio-EconomicDifferenceinAttainmentandProgress:Alongitudinalanalysisofstudentachievementovernineyears. BritishEducationalResearchJournal21(4).

Sammons,P.,Nuttall,D.,Cuttance,P. Thomas,S. [1994]. ContinuityofSchoolEffects:AlongitudinalanalysisofprimaryandsecondaryschooleffectsonGCSEperformance. SubmittedtoSchoolEffectivenessandSchoolImprovementJournal.

ThechildrenfromtheJuniorSchoolProjectwerefolloweduptotheendofsecondaryschool{Sammonsetal,1994.}. ThosepupilswhohadbeenthehighestachieversattheendofprimaryschoolwerethosewhogainedthebestGCSEresults. Schoolsdomakeadifferencetochildren'sacademicprogressandagoodheadstartappearstobeanespeciallyimportantbeginningtoasuccessfuleducationalcareer.

ii]THEUNIQUECHARACTERISTICSOFTHERECEPTIONYEAR

Thereappeartobesomefactorsemergingfromthegrowingbodyofresearchevidencethathasfocusedonthefirstyearofschool .

Tymms,P. ,Merrell,C. ,Henderson,B. (1995)TheReceptionYear:Aquantitativeinvestigationoftheattainmentandprogressofpupils . CEMCentre,DurhamUniversity.

(unpublishedpapergivenatconferenceonSchoolEffectivenessat??)

InthestudiesconductedbyTizardetal. andTymmsetal. itwasinthefirstyearalonethatstatisticallydifferentratesofprogresswerefoundforwholegroupsofreceptionchildrenwhichcomparedstrikinglywithotherreceptionclassesindifferentschoolsandevenbetweenclasseswithinschools . Inotherwordsinsomeschools,withparticularteachers,wholeclassesofreceptionpupilsmadesignificantlymoreprogressthanmighthavebeenexpectedfromtheirentryscoresandincontrastwithothergroupsofreceptionchildren .

Tymmsqualifiesthisfindingbycomparingthestrengthofthepredictivevalueoftheschoolentryscore(asindicatedbythelevelofthecorrelationof0.75betweentheschoolentryscoreandthetheendoftheyearscore)withtypicalcorrelationsbetweenGCSEand'A'levelresultsandhesuggeststhattherelationshipcanbeconsideredstronglypositiveinschooleffectivenessterms . Tymmsstates''Inotherwords,therewasagoodpredictoroflaterperformancewhichprovidedaverygoodbasisforcomparingschools,pupilsofdifferentgenderandsoon...... ''(p.7). Whentheresearchteamdidcomparetheschoolstheyfoundthattheproportionofvariancethatcouldbeexplainedbytheschoolfactor,aftercontrollingforpupilcharacteristics,tobesurprisinglyhighat40%ofthevariancewhereonewouldnormallybeexpectingaschooleffecttobearound10%to18%whencomparedwithnationalandinternationalschooleffectivenessstudies .

Theageofthechildatschoolentrywhenaccountedforintheanalysesdidnotprovetobeasimportantinpredictivetermsasthemeasuresoftheknowledgeacquiredpriortoformalschoolingparticularilyinliteracy(Tymms,1995andRiley,1995a&b,1996). Inmystudyitwaspossibletopredictfromtheirentryskillscores,with80%accuracy,thosechildrenwhowouldbereadingbytheJulyofthefirstyearofschool. Thisisasurprisingfindinggiventhatthespreadofageatadmissiontoschoolinthestudieswasbetween4years1monthand5years4monthsandgiventheconsiderablerateofdevelopmentofyoungchildrenatthisstageintheirlives.

Havingattendednurseryschoolalsodidnotprovetobeapowerfulfactorinpredictingacademicprogressbytheendofthefirstyearofschool . Oneexplanationforthislastfindingmightbethatthemeasuresofrelativelyformalacademicprogressusedinthestudiescitedarenotsufficientlysensitivemeasuresforassessingthemoregeneralandsociallyorientatedaimsofpre-schooleducationinthiscountry.

Anothercharacteristicofthestudiesthatmightprovideacluetothereasonsfortheimpressivepotentialforacceleratedprogressduringthefirstyearofschoolistheverywiderangeoffunctioningfoundinchildrenatschoolentryasindicatedinthestandarddeviationpresentintheirentryscores . Tymmsreportsastandarddeviationof19inthetotalentryscore(Tymmsetal. ,1995)andmyownstudyof...... (Riley,1996). Thisindicationofarich,butinevitablyidiosyncratic,storeofknowledgeandunderstandingthatexistsinthenewpupilsandcaneitherbecapitaliseduponordisregardedbytheirreceptionclassteachersandwiththeconsequentresultsreported . Thiswillbeexpandeduponinthenextsection.

iii]Thefindingsoftwostudiesinvestigatingprogressinmathematicsandliteracyduringthefirstyearofschool.

Forexplanationastotheconsiderableschoolormorepreciselyteachereffectdemonstratedbythelargescaleresearchprojects,twostudiesexploringtheteachingandlearninginmathematicsandliteracywillbeconsidered .

Aubrey,C. [1993].Aninvestigationofthemathematicalcompetencieswhichyoungchildrenbringtoschool . BritishEducationalResearchJournal,19,1,pp.19-27.

Aubrey,C. [1994][Ed]TheRoleofSubjectKnowledgeintheEarlyYearsofTeaching.London:FalmerPress.

Riley,J.L.[1995b]Therelationshipbetweenadjustmenttoschoolandsuccessinreadingbytheendofthereceptionyear. EarlyChildDevelpomentandCare,Vol.114,pp25-38.

Riley,J.L.,[1996]TheAbilitytoIdentifyandLabeltheLettersoftheAlphabetatschoolentry. TheJournalforResearchintoReading . Vol19. pp......

Thetwostudiesexploringtheteaching/learningprocessesinthereceptionyearofschoolhavecomplementedeachotherinaninterestingwaythataddtounderstanding. Aubrey{1993}andmyownwork{Riley,1994}pointtothefactthatthenewpupilbringsarichstoreofknowledgeandskillstothetaskoflearningmathematics{Aubrey}andacquiringliteracy{Riley,1995a}inschool. Childrenhavelearnedagreatdealthroughtheirexperienceoflivinginaworldoperatingwithanumberrulesystemandsurroundedbyprint;bothstudiesshowthatthechallengetothereceptionteacheristobediagnosticof"wherethechildis"inher/hisunderstanding,knowledgeandskillsinordertofacilitateprogress.

AsAubreywrites,''... childrenbringintoschoolarangeofstrategiesforsolvingsimplemathematicalproblemsencounteredintheireverydayliveswhichshouldbecultivatedratherthanignored. ''(1994,p. 55)andshesaysalsothat"Whilsttheymaynotpossesstheformalconventionsforrepresentingit,receptionagechildrenclearlyenterschoolhavingacquiredmuchmathematicalcontent. Intermsofspecificteachingimplicationsasinearlyreadingstages,inearlystagesoflearningmathematics,perhapstoochildrenshouldbepromptedtoextendtherangeofstrategiesattheirdisposalsothattheirnaturalinventivenessisnotunderminedbyastruggletofindtheonesingle,convergentandacceptableresponse"{Aubrey,1993}.

Similarresultswerefoundinliteracydevelopment,inmyownstudy,somechildrenwerefunctioning,atschoolentry,atthelevelofathreeyearoldwithonlythehaziestunderstandingofhowbooksandprintwork,whilstotherpupilswerewellontheroadtobeginningreading . Someoftheteacherswereawareofthedifferencesintheirnewentrantsandsoughttodevisereadingprogrammesthatfacilitatedthedevelopmentprecisely. Otherreceptionclassteachersuseda''scattergun''approachandrandomlytriedavarietyofmethodsinthehopethat''somethingmustwork''.

Thenewschoolentranthasacquiredastoreofknowledgebutitishighlyidiosyncraticandpersonal. Muchconfusioncanbecausedbyanyinappropriateteachingthatcutsacrossthepriorlearning;alternatively,developmentcanbeeffectivelyfosteredwithskilfuland'scaffolding'support. ''...... Suchresponsesdemonstratetheneedfortheteachertolisten,discussandquestionindividualchildrentoassessexistingexperienceandvocabularyandtoenrichandextendthis''(Aubrey,1994,p.58). Thiscrucialfindingforthereceptionteacher,alsooffersinsightintothereportedbenefitoflowerclasssizesintheearlyyearsofschool{Wordetal,1990}. Ifteachersaretoobusyorharrassedtoattempttoassesseachindividualchild'spriorknowledgebasebeforeplanningandteaching,muchvaluablelearningiswasted. Thisconsiderationmakestheclasssizeissuealogicalconclusion,anditneedstobeacceptedthatyoungchildrenarebesttaughtinsmallgroupsorasindividualsinordertoeffectthegreatestprogress.

Anadditionalreasonwhylowclasssizeappearstobevitalintheearlyyears,isthatthegreaterthenumberofpupilsinareceptionclasswillaffecttheteacher'scapacitytosettlethechildrenastheymakethetransitionfromhomeornurserytoschool. Thatchildrenneedtobehappyandfeelsecureinordertolearnisobvious. Cleave,JowettandBate[1982]andBennettandKell[1989]tellhorrorstoriesofyoungchildren,sobbingandbewildered,intheearlyweeksofschool. Inmyownstudythosechildrenwhodidnotadjustpositivelyandquicklytoschool,asjudgedbytheirteachersafterthefirsthalf-term,werefourtimeslesslikelytobereadingbytheendoftheyearregardlessoftheirskillsonentry[Riley,1995b].

iv]Implicationsforschoolpoliciesandinitialandin-servicetraining

Theaccumulatingresearchevidencepointstotheneedforprimaryschoolstoplacegreatemphasisandenergyintothestarttoschoolthatisexperiencedbytheirnewintake . ThisissuewillbetakenupandexpandeduponbyRhonaStainthorpinherpaper.

ConcernwasfirstexpressedonthelevelofthesubjectknowledgeofprimaryteachersintheDEScommissionedreport''CurriculumOrganisationandClassroomPractice''(Alexander,RoseandWoodhead,1992) . TheNationalCurriculum,sinceitsimplementationin1989,hasclearlymadegreatdemandsontheprimaryclassteacherwiththestatutoryrequirementtoplan,teachandmonitorprogressacrosstheninesubjectareasandReligiousEducation . However,thedifficultywasperceivedtoexistmainlyatKeystage2andtherecommendationsforremedythatAlexanderetal . proposedfocusedontheoldestpupilsintheprimaryschool . Therecentresearchevidencecitedinthispaperseemstoindicatethatthereisnecessityforhighlytrainedteachers,withexpertiseinbothearlyyearsworkandunderstandingofsubjectknowledgetobeinvolvedwiththeyoungestchildren.

Asasubtextcomingthroughtheworkonthefirstyearofschoolisthequalityofthecurriculumofferedtothechildren . Inthe''InfantSchoolStudy''Tizardetal. foundthatthoseclasseswhichmadethemostprogressduringtheyearwerethoseinwhichmorewasexpectedoftheminacademicterms . Theissueofexpectationsisanimportantone???%ofreceptionteachersdeclaredthatsettlingthechildrenintoschooland''socialising''themwastheirmainaimforthereceptionyearofschool. Inmystudy(postNationalCurriculum)thepercentagewas??%. Clearlytheseaimsarecrucialastheyunderpinclassroompracticeandalsoinrelationtothediscussionearlierontheimportanceforpositiveschooladjustmentbut------doesithavetobeeither/or ?

Thereisaneedfortheskilledreceptionteachertoenablethenewentrantcopewiththediscontinuitybetweenhomeandschool,Donaldson(1978)andTizardandHughes(1984)havealertedearlyyearseducatorstothechallengeforthenewpupilofcopingwiththestrangeand''decontextualised''worldanditisaworldinwhichmeaningshavetobemoreexplicitlynegotiated . Wells(1985)wroteofthecomplementarityofhomeandschoolandthecurrentdiscussionsuggeststhatitistheawesometaskofthereceptionteachertobuildontheinformal

learningfromhomeandtointroducethechildtomoreformalwaysofacquiringknowledge .

Shulman(1986)suggeststhatknowledgeofasubjectdisciplinecombineswithanunderstandingofsubjectspecificpedagogyinpersonalformofprofessionalism.Thismaybeevenmoreessentialfortheearlyyearsteacherass/heconstructsandrepresentsknowledgeinawaythatbuildsuponwhatisalreadyknownandthusenablestheyoungchildtolearn .

CarolAubreyandIfoundthatitwasthoseteacherswhoknewthemostaboutmathematicsandliteracywhofacilitatedthemostrapidprogress. Aubreymakesthepoint''Richteacherknowledgeappearedtobereflectedinthecontentandstructureoflessons,inexplicitandwell-integratedinstruction,variedrepresentationswithlinksto,orconnectionsmadewith,pupils'existingskillsandunderstanding''(1994,p.68). Inmystudytheleveloftheteachers'subjectknowledgeindicatesacauseforconcernwhenthevastmajorityoftheteachergroupstudied,rankorderedtheentryskillsinexactlythereverseorderofimportancefromtheresearchfindings .

Primaryheadteachersneedtobeawareoftheimportanceofthefirstyearofschoolwhenconsideringtheirstaffingandadmissionpolicies . Wheneverfeasibleitismostbeneficialtoplaceexperiencedearlyyearsteachersinthereceptionclasses . Itismorelikelythatthoseteachersmostsecureintheirownpracticeandsubjectknowledgewillhavetherequisiteskillsandexpertisetosettle,assessandteachthenewpupilswithcalmandequanimity . Inmystudythetwoclassesofchildrenthatmadethemostprogressoutofthe32classeswereveryexperiencedwiththeagephase.

Admissionpolicieshavechangeddramaticallyoverthelastfewyears. Thesechangesforthebetterechothepointsbeingmadeandareinaccordwiththeworkunderdiscussion . Staggeredintakes,halfdayattendance,extraclassroomassistance(evenifonlyatspecifictimesofthedayforparticularteachingpurposese.g. literacyhour),andlowerclassnumbersallwillhaveapowerfuleffectontheteachingandlearningpossibleinthecrucialweeksafterschoolentry.

Theseissueshaveimplicationsforbothinitialandin-serviceteachereducation.

Inconclusion

Wehaveresearchevidencetosuggestthatyoungchildrenarenaturalandcompetentlearners. Anearlysuccessfulstartcanbemadebycapitalisingontheirknowledgeacquiredpriortoschool,andthisseemstounderpinandadvantagepupilsforallthatistocome. Itiscrucialnottowastethisearly,incidentallearning,sothatchildrenarenotconfusedbyinappropriateteachingexperiences,orworsestill,alienatedbythem. Thisupholdstheearlyyearseducatorsadageof"Observe,supportandextend"whichneedstobecontinuedthroughthefirstyearofschool. Defactothisimpliesthatclasssizesneedtobesmallandthatallreceptionteachersshouldbehighlyskilledandveryexperienced. InthewordsofPlato:

"...don'tyouknowthatineverytaskthemostimportantthingisthebeginning,andespeciallywhenyoudealwithanythingyoungandtender."Plato'sRepublic.

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