Thesis

The role of study support for pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2009
Thesis identifier
  • T12334
Qualification Level
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Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • For a number of years it has been recognised that there is an association between social disadvantage and academic achievement, with young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds achieving less than their peers. A range of initiatives and strategies has been adopted to address this. The belief that it would raise the academic achievement of young people was an important catalyst in the development of study support. This research explores the extent to which participation in study support benefits pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and whether it could be adopted as a strategy for tackling the effects of disadvantage. The study used the dataset gathered for the National Evaluation of Study Support – a three-year longitudinal evaluation of the impact of study support on the attainment, attitudes and school attendance of 8,390 secondary school pupils. The study extended the National Evaluation by focusing on pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, with entitlement to free school meals being used as the indicator of social disadvantage. In relation to these pupils it: 1. explored additional outcomes (the National Evaluation was limited to attainment and one of the five factors from the attitude questionnaire); 2. investigated school effects (the National Evaluation explored school effects for the entire sample, but not for FSM pupils specifically). The study confirmed the finding from the National Evaluation that study support has a greater affect for FSM than non-FSM pupils in relation to attainment (when using the Best 5 score). No such difference was found with regard to the additional outcomes (school attendance and attitudes). No school effects were found for FSM pupils in relation to any outcomes although, as with the National Evaluation, school effects were identified in relation to all pupils. While the National Evaluation relied on regression analysis, the present study used multilevel modelling which is statistically more powerful.
Advisor / supervisor
  • McCall, Jim
Resource Type
DOI
EThOS ID
  • uk.bl.ethos.501788

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