4.15 pm to 5.45 pm, 23 May 2017, Room 780 UCL Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL
Presenters: Dr Becky Taylor, Dr Antonina Tereshchenko and Dr Anna Mazenod
Grouping students by ‘ability’ is a topic of long-standing contention in education policy, research and practice, in England and internationally. Research suggests that young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds are doubly disadvantaged as evidence shows they are over-represented in low sets and streams, where students tend to make less progress.
This presentation reports emerging findings from the Education Endowment Foundation-funded and BERA Curriculum Award-winning ‘Best Practice in Grouping Students’ project, based at UCL Institute of Education and led by IOE Director, Professor Becky Francis. The project is a longitudinal, mixed methods project that involves 139 secondary schools in England. The aim of the project is to improve outcomes for students in lower-attaining groups without detriment to those with high prior attainment. Research methods include surveys, qualitative interviews and focus groups, and Randomised Control Trial.
The presentation will draw on data from the pilot and main phases of the project to explore the attitudes of teachers and students to mixed attainment grouping, as well as the teachers’ constructions of students in lower sets.
Dr Becky Taylor is Researcher Practitioner and Project Manager on the Best Practice in Grouping Students project. Becky spent 11 years as a teacher and middle leader in secondary schools prior to joining the project.
Dr Antonina Tereshchenko is a Research Associate on the Best Practice in Grouping Students project. She had previously researched, and published in the field of, youth citizenship identities, migrant students’ learner and racialised identities and educational experiences in the mainstream and complementary schools.
Dr Anna Mazenod is a Research Associate on the Best Practice in Grouping Students project. She has over eight years of education sector practitioner experience with particular expertise in vocational education and apprenticeships.
Advance booking for the event is helpful; please contact to book a place.