Sophie von Stumm1, Emily Smith-Woolley2, Rosa Cheesman3, Jean-Baptiste Pingault3,4, Kathryn Asbury1, Philip S Dale5, Rebecca Allen6, Yulia Kovas7,8, Robert Plomin3. 1. Psychology in Education Research Centre, Department of Education, University of York, York, UK. 2. The Physiological Society, London, UK. 3. MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. 4. Department of Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, Division of Psychology & Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK. 5. Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA. 6. School of Education, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK. 7. Laboratory for Cognitive Investigations and Behavioural Genetics, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia. 8. Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In England, all state-funded schools are inspected by an independent government agency, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted). Inspections aim to hold schools accountable and to promote the improvement of education, with the results made available to the public. Ofsted reports intend to index school quality, but their influence on students' individual outcomes has not been previously studied. The aim of the current study was to explore the extent to which school quality, as indexed by Ofsted ratings, is associated with students' educational achievement, well-being and school engagement. METHODS: We use an England population-based sample of 4,391 individuals, for whom school performance at age 11 and GCSE grades at age 16 were accessed from the National Pupil Database, and who completed measures of well-being and school engagement at age 16. RESULTS: We found that Ofsted ratings of secondary school quality accounted for 4% of the variance in students' educational achievement at age 16, which was further reduced to 1% of the variance after we accounted for prior school performance at age 11 and family socioeconomic status. Furthermore, Ofsted ratings were weak predictors of school engagement and student well-being, with an average correlation of .03. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that differences in school quality, as indexed by Ofsted ratings, have little relation to students' individual outcomes. Accordingly, our results challenge the usefulness of Ofsted ratings as guides for parents and students when choosing secondary schools.
BACKGROUND: In England, all state-funded schools are inspected by an independent government agency, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted). Inspections aim to hold schools accountable and to promote the improvement of education, with the results made available to the public. Ofsted reports intend to index school quality, but their influence on students' individual outcomes has not been previously studied. The aim of the current study was to explore the extent to which school quality, as indexed by Ofsted ratings, is associated with students' educational achievement, well-being and school engagement. METHODS: We use an England population-based sample of 4,391 individuals, for whom school performance at age 11 and GCSE grades at age 16 were accessed from the National Pupil Database, and who completed measures of well-being and school engagement at age 16. RESULTS: We found that Ofsted ratings of secondary school quality accounted for 4% of the variance in students' educational achievement at age 16, which was further reduced to 1% of the variance after we accounted for prior school performance at age 11 and family socioeconomic status. Furthermore, Ofsted ratings were weak predictors of school engagement and student well-being, with an average correlation of .03. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that differences in school quality, as indexed by Ofsted ratings, have little relation to students' individual outcomes. Accordingly, our results challenge the usefulness of Ofsted ratings as guides for parents and students when choosing secondary schools.
Authors: I Moilanen; S L Linna; H Ebeling; K Kumpulainen; T Tamminen; J Piha; F Almqvist Journal: Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 1999 Impact factor: 4.785
Authors: Kaili Rimfeld; Margherita Malanchini; Thomas Spargo; Gemma Spickernell; Saskia Selzam; Andrew McMillan; Philip S Dale; Thalia C Eley; Robert Plomin Journal: Twin Res Hum Genet Date: 2019-09-23 Impact factor: 1.587