Read and Share an academic paper around the area of child development with a peer

Evidence: Add a reference for the academic paper and write a reflection of the key findings (2 hours)

Personal Thoughts: 

Due to time constraints it became apparent that this was an activity which I may be better off doing independently. I however chose not to look at child development as I wanted to focus on an area of more interest and which I felt would be more beneficial to me personally. The paper I therefore decided to read was:

• McKinney, S., Hall, S., Lowden, K., McClung, M., Cameron, L. (2012) ‘The relationship between poverty and deprivation, educational attainment and positive school leaver destinations in Glasgow secondary schools’, Scottish Educational Review, 44 (1), pp.33-45

I found this paper of great interest as it reports on a Research Project of Quantitative Research and establishes the association between poverty & deprivation and attainment in school examination; the relationship between poverty and deprivation and initial school leaver destinations in Scotland. The study measured poverty through FME, SIMD and Staged Intervention; reliable indicators of poverty and deprivation, then compared with attainment figures and initial leaver destinations.

Through their findings, the research suggests a major association between poverty & deprivation and attainment. However, the research also demonstrates that there is no major association between poverty and deprivation and initial leaver destinations; some schools serving poorer areas are particularly successful (high proportion of initial leaver destinations). Furthermore, despite successful initiatives being implemented Glasgow is still below averages for attainment. The study also found that schools with lower levels of poverty & deprivation tend to have a higher no. of pupils moving onto Higher Education (HE), appearing successful; however the data suggests that these schools may actually be less successful in assisting the majority of its pupils to secure positive destinations outwith HE. This therefore raises the question of whether schools are really providing the support required for all young people on their pathway into adulthood.

The article does however have implications. Firstly, the data provides information on the initial positive school leaver destination, but no indication of the type of employment or training (full time/part time). HE was also taken out of the equation due to it being very highly associated with attainment – positive leaver destinations and finally, each of the three indicators have limitations.

To continue to monitor and demonstrate the effects of poverty & deprivation on attainment in exams in Glasgow requires further quantitative research and a longitudinal study would enable more data to be gathered beyond 2009.

Link to paper – 

http://www.scotedreview.org.uk/media/scottish-educational-review/articles/338.pdf