Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:07:37.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Role of the Eleven-Plus Test Papers and Appeals in Producing Social Inequalities in Access to Grammar Schools

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Rebecca Allen  and
Joanne Bartley
Rebecca Allen*
Affiliation:
Director, Education Datalab
Joanne Bartley*
Affiliation:
Kent Education Network
*
E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We use eleven-plus test and appeals data obtained from a large local authority to explore how the process of admission to grammar schools produces such a strong social gradient in entry rates. We look at disparities between eleven-plus and subsequent SATs scores by social background for each element of the test. We then turn to whether the headteacher assessment panel seems to help or hinder poor students on the cusp of passing. Our analysis has implications for how to improve access to grammar schools for those from disadvantaged families.

Keywords

grammar schoolseducational inequalitiesacademic selectionI24
Type
Research Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 240 , May 2017 , pp. R30 - R41
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, R. (2016a), ‘Grammar schools contaminate comprehensive schooling areas’, Education Datalab blogpost dated August 2016, available at: http://educationdatalab.org.uk/2016/08/grammar-schools-contaminate-comprehensive-schooling-areas/.Google Scholar
Allen, R. (2016b), ‘When is a comprehensive school actually a secondary modern?’, Education Datalab blogpost dated November 2016, available at: http://educationdatalab.org.uk/2016/11/when-is-a-comprehensive-school-actually-a-secondary-modern/.Google Scholar
Allen, R. (2016c), ‘Inequalities in access to teachers in selective schooling areas’, Education Datalab blogpost dated June 2016, available at: http://educationdatalab.org.uk/2016/06/inequalities-in-access-to-teachers-in-selective-schooling-areas/.Google Scholar
Allen, R. (2016d), ‘There is not yet a proven route to help disadvantaged pupils into grammar schools’, Education Datalab blogpost dated September 2016, available at: http://educationdatalab.org.uk/2016/09/there-is-not-yet-a-proven-route-to-help-disadvantaged-pupils-into-grammar-schools/.Google Scholar
Andrews, J., Hutchinson, J. and Johnes, R. (2016), Grammar Schools and Social Mobility, Report by the Education Policy Institute.Google Scholar
Ariga, K. and Brunello, G. (2007), ‘Does secondary school tracking affect performance? Evidence from IALS’, IZA discussion paper No. 2643.Google Scholar
Atkinson, A., Gregg, P. and McConnell, B. (2006), ‘The result of 11+ selection: an investigation into opportunities and outcomes for pupils in selective LEAs’, CMPO Working paper, 06/150.Google Scholar
Bauer, P. and Riphahn, R. (2006), ‘Timing of school tracking as a determinant of intergenerational transmission of education’, Economics Letters, 91 (1) pp. 90–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunello, G. and Checchi, D. (2007), ‘Does school tracking affect equality of opportunity? New international evidence’, Economic Policy, 22 (52), pp. 781–861, retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4502215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunello, G., Rocco, L., Ariga, K. and Iwahasi, R. (2012), ‘On the efficiency costs of de-tracking secondary schools in Europe’ Education Economics, 20 (2) p. 117–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunting, B.P. and Mooney, E. (2001), ‘The effects of practice and coaching on test results for educational selection at eleven years of age’, Educational Psychology, 21 3, pp. 243–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgess, S., Crawford, C. and Macmillan, L. (2017), ‘Grammar schools: why academic selection only benefits the very affluent’, IOE London Blog dated 9 March 2017, available at: https://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/09/grammar-schools-why-academic-selection-only-benefits-the-very-affluent/.Google Scholar
Burgess, S., Dickson, M. and Macmillan, L. (2014), ‘Selective schooling systems increase inequality’, Department of Quantitative Social Science Working Paper No. 14–09, available at: http://repec.ioe.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp1409.pdf.Google Scholar
Coe, R., Jones, K., Searle, J., Kokotsaki, D., Kosnin, A.M. and Skinner, P. (2008), Evidence on the Effects of Selective Educational Systems, A report for the Sutton Trust, available at: http://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/SuttonTrustFullReportFinal11.pdf.Google Scholar
Cook, C. (2016), ‘Why not bring back grammar schools?’, BBC report 14/07/16, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36662965.Google Scholar
Cribb, J., Jesson, D., Sibieta, L., Skipp, A. and Vignoles, A. (2013), Poor Grammar: Entry into Grammar Schools for Disadvantaged Pupils in England, Report for Sutton Trust, available at: http://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/poorgrammarreport-2.pdf.Google Scholar
Dearden, L., Ferri, J. and Meghir, C. (2002), ‘The effect of school quality on educational attainment and wages’, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 84 (1), pp. 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department for Education (2016), Schools, Pupils and Their Characteristics: January 2016, Dataset SFR20/2016.Google Scholar
Department for Education and The Rt Hon Justine Greening MP (2017), Speech by Justine Greening – education at the core of social mobility, delivered on 18 January 2017 and available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/justine-greening-education-at-the-core-of-social-mobility.Google Scholar
Galindo-Rueda, F. and Vignoles, A. (2004), ‘The heterogeneous effect of selection in secondary schools: understanding the changing role of ability’, IZA discussion paper No. 1245.Google Scholar
Hanushek, E.A. and Wossmann, L. (2006), ‘Does educational tracking affect performance and inequality? Differences-in-differences evidence across countries’, The Economic Journal, 116 (March) C63–C76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, G. and Vignoles, A. (2010), ‘Is children's free school meal ‘eligibility’ a good proxy for family income?’, British Educational Research Journal, 36 (4), pp. 673–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, S.P., Micklewright, J. and Schnepf, S. (2008), ‘Social segregation in secondary schools: how does England compare with other countries?’, Oxford Review of Education, 34 (1). pp. 21–37, ISSN 0305–4985.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, A.R. (1980), Bias in Mental Testing, New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Kent County Council (2016), Grammar Schools and Social Mobility Select Committee, Report to KCC dated June 2016.Google Scholar
Knoll, L.J., Fuhrman, D., Sakhardande, A., Stamp, F., Speekenbrink, M. and Blakemore, J. (2016), ‘A window of opportunity for cognitive training in adolescence’, Psychological Science, 27, 12, pp. 1620–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Korthals, R.A. and Dronkers, J. (2016), ‘Selection on performance and tracking’, Applied Economics, 48 (30), pp. 2836–851.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levačić, R. and Marsh, A.J. (2007), ‘Secondary modern schools: are their pupils disadvantaged?’, British Educational Research Journal, 33 (2), pp. 155–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meghir, C. and Palme, M. (2005), ‘Educational reform, ability, and family background’, The American Economic Review, 95 (1) pp. 414–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Messick, S. (1980), The Effectiveness of Coaching for the SAT: Review and Reanalysis of Research from the Fifties to the FTC, Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service.Google Scholar
Mühlenweg, A. (2008), ‘Educational effects of alternative secondary school tracking regimes in Germany’, Schmollers Jahrbuch - Journal of Applied Social Science Studies, 128 (3), pp. 351–79.Google Scholar
Nye, P. (2016), ‘Understanding grammar schools’, Education Datalab blogpost dated December 2016, available at: http://educationdatalab.org.uk/2016/12/understanding-grammar-schools/.Google Scholar
Pekkarinen, T., Pekkala, S. and Uusitalo, R. (2009), ‘School tracking and intergenerational income mobility: evidence from the Finnish comprehensive school reform’, Journal of Public Economics, 93, pp. 965–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pischke, J.-S. and Manning, A. (2006), ‘Comprehensive versus selective schooling in England and Wales: what do we know?’, NBER working paper No. 12176.Google Scholar
Prime Minister's Office (2016), ‘PM to set out plans for schools that work for everyone’, Press release of 9 September 2016, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-to-set-out-plans-for-schools-that-work-for-everyone.Google Scholar
Read, P. (2015), Conference on Admissions to Kent Grammar Schools and the Kent Test, a commentary available on: http://www.kentadvice.co.uk/peters-blog/item/847-conference-on-admissions-to-kent-grammar-schools-and-the-kent-test.html.Google Scholar
Read, P. (2016), ‘Further analysis of Kent test results’, blog post dated 9 January 2016, available at: http://www.kentadvice.co.uk/peters-blog/news-a-comments/item/865-full-analysis-of-kent-test-results.html.Google Scholar
Skipp, A., Vignoles, A., Jesson, D., Sadro, F., Cribb, J. and Sibieta, L. (2013), Poor Grammar: Entry Into Grammar Schools Disadvantaged Pupils In England, a report for Sutton Trust, available at: http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/poor-grammar-entry-grammar-schools-disadvantaged-pupils-england/.Google Scholar
Snow, R.E. and Yalow, E. (1982), ‘Education and intelligence’, in Sternberg, R.J. (ed.), Handbook of Human Intelligence, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Times Educational Supplement (2017), ‘More than a third of grammar schools change admissions policies to prioritise poor pupils’, news article 31 March, available at: https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/exclusive-more-third-grammar-schools-change-admissions-policies.Google Scholar
Zwick, R. (2004), Rethinking the SAT: The Future of Standardized Testing in University Admissions, New York: RoutledgeFalmer.Google Scholar