Memorandum submitted by Granada Learning
1. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
1.1 Pupil attitudes are strongly linked
to behaviour and levels of attainment. To address discipline issues
within schools, it is essential to analyse underlying attitudes.
Where those attitudes reveal that a pupil is at risk of developing
behavioural difficulties, targeted interventions can be implemented
to lessen the incidence of poor behaviour.
1.2 In each aspect of behaviour, discipline
and attainment within schools, a process of measuring pupil attitudes,
implementing targeted interventions, re-measuring attitudes and
adjusting interventions, can have a profound effect both on avoiding
negative developments and encouraging positive outcomes.
1.3 Attitudinal surveys—such as the
Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (P.A.S.S.) Rating Scale—can
be used in a range of educational environments to help understand
pupil motivation and learner attitudes. Attitudinal surveys also
inform therapeutic interventions and reintegration planning in
Pupil Referral Units.
1.4 Central to the effectiveness of this
approach is the quality of the data gathered by schools and the
skill of teachers in using it to inform their interventions. For
example, although two pupils may display the same behaviour, the
causes could be different and therefore the right interventions
will also be different. Understanding this and being able to respond
appropriately avoids negative behaviours being inadvertently reinforced.
2. INTRODUCTION
2.1 W3 Insights Ltd was founded in 2002
by educational psychologists following their development of attitudinal
surveys in conjunction with four universities and 20 local authorities.
The company is now involved in assessing up to 5,000 pupils a
day and works with schools spanning approximately 100 local authorities.
In 2010 it became part of the Granada Learning Group of educational
companies, which also includes GL Assessment and Kirkland Rowell.
2.2 Through six years of research and development,
W3 Insights created the Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (P.A.S.S.)
Rating Scale. P.A.S.S. measures specific aspects of children's
attitudes towards themselves as learners and their attitudes towards
school. It enables early identification of pupils at risk of developing
behavioural problems, as well as early intervention based on informed
analysis, so reducing or avoiding the negative impact of disaffection.
Around 3,000 primary and secondary schools in the UK have completed
P.A.S.S. audits. Further background information about P.A.S.S.
is contained in Annex I.
3. THE IMPORTANCE
OF LEARNER
ATTITUDES TO
EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES
3.1 Attitudes are judgments and a student's
attitude to learning influences his or her experience of education,
with significant effects on overall levels of attainment. Whereas
tastes can change on a week-by-week basis, a core attitude is
much more stable. Regularly assessing these attitudes in an educational
context helps to build a picture of a student's strengths and
weaknesses and likely future behaviour. Core attitudes are expected
to change as a function of experience, so by developing well-targeted
interventions, problems can be averted.
3.2 For example, "preparedness for
learning"—that is, whether pupils have the skills they
need to learn within the classroom setting—is a factor highly
correlated with learning and behavioural difficulties. Identifying
a lack of preparedness for learning gives schools both an explanation
for poor behaviour as well as an indication of how to target study
support. In analysing this attitudinal dimension, P.A.S.S. examines
a pupil's study skills, attentiveness, powers of concentration
and emotional responses to learning demands. In one case, a primary
school found a weakness in its students' preparedness for learning
and consequently designed appropriate targeted interventions.
Its exclusion rate fell from 20 short-term exclusions to none
in a two year period.[118]
Approaches taken by schools and local authorities
to address challenging behaviour, including fixed-term and permanent
exclusions
3.3 Without analysis of their core attitudes,
factors which fundamentally affect a student's ability to achieve
can go un-noticed while suppositions—rather than evidence—about
the causes of poor behaviour form the basis of school-pupil interactions.
Schools therefore use attitudinal surveys to design worthwhile
preventive, corrective and supportive interventions.
3.4 Specifically, the schools that W3 Insights
works with use P.A.S.S. in order to:
— understand the causes of current and
likely behaviours;
— target and support individual students
through intervention programmes;
— inform their pastoral review and guidance
processes;
— decide how to allocate resources effectively;
— raise standards of attainment and pupil
well-being; and
— develop an understanding of the systemic
contribution of whole school policy and practice to the behavioural
climate.
3.5 Local authorities also have a role to
play in analysing and reacting to pupil attitudes. For example,
Local authority A announced plans in November 2009 to start regular
surveys in all its schools, starting with those taking part in
the Targeted Mental Health in Schools programme. One of the schools
involved had in 2009 been given "notice to improve"
by Ofsted, but by 2010 its overall effectiveness was judged as
"satisfactory" and the school's capacity for sustained
improvement was "good". The school cites P.A.S.S. as
having been central to achieving significantly higher attainment,
its results having informed interventions with their most vulnerable
pupils, as well as having informed whole-school change where re-measurement
showed little change in particular dimensions.[119]
3.6 P.A.S.S. can be used in a range of educational
contexts, having been standardised to incorporate most types of
SEN provision, including pupil referral units and segregated and
integrated provision. Consequently, and especially in a multiagency
context, local authorities use P.A.S.S. reports to help support
joined-up casework and increase opportunities for collaborative
problem-solving. In addition, P.A.S.S. is often used by local
authorities to gain clarity on aspirations across their locality.
The nature and level of challenging behaviour
by pupils in schools, and the impact upon schools and their staff
3.7 Using attitudinal surveys can uncover
the causes of behaviour and so support targeted interventions,
but it can also indicate likely future behaviours. This enables
early intervention strategies, potentially avoiding the negative
impact on the pupil, their cohort and the school. Moreover, the
impact and progress of any intervention can be measured by re-testing
pupils, giving confidence in the intervention and enabling teachers
to refine their techniques.
3.8 At School C, a mixed 11-16 specialist
arts college, two children who had exhibited similar disruptive
behaviour completed attitudinal surveys. The results showed completely
different causes: one pupil had low self-worth, while the other
had a poor attitude about attending school. As their teacher commented,
"It was the same behaviour, but we had to deal with it in
different ways." By understanding the pupils' attitudes,
teaching strategies could be adjusted and consequently their behaviour
improved.
3.9 By using P.A.S.S., School D—a
mixed comprehensive secondary school in Flintshire—found
that the progression of some pupils was being hindered by low
learner confidence and perceived learning capability. Thirty students
across a mix of years were targeted to improve communication and
self esteem. A youth leader was brought in to run sessions including
team building activities and ice breakers. The result was that
many students became more involved in the school community, joining
various clubs and extra-curricular activities, and teachers observed
an immediate improvement in confidence and the ability to communicate
with others.
Links between attendance and behaviour in schools
3.10 Before a pupil's attendance and behaviour
deteriorate, their attitudes can deteriorate. Indeed, during the
piloting of P.A.S.S., the University of Exeter validated the predictive
correlation between current attitudes to attendance and future
actual attendance as being 0.9.[120]
3.11 By measuring a pupil's attitude towards
school attendance, teachers can identify those pupils who are
at significant risk of developing a pattern of non-attendance
while they are still attending school. In turn, teachers can design
pupil-specific interventions—while the pupil is still at
school—to address the attitudinal factors which are likely
to contribute to the predicted non-attendance.
3.12 For example, based on P.A.S.S. scores,
one school—a mixed 11-16 specialist sports college—identified
a high number of students with low self-esteem. Teachers then
worked with those students to develop their SEAL skills (Social
and Emotional Aspects of Learning) and set up three projects to
raise their self-regard: boxing for boys, self-defence for girls
and a K9 project (working with dogs) with their KS3 students.
As a result of the programme, the college saw significant improvements
in the attitudes of each pupil, with the rate of exclusion reduced
and attendance improved.[121]
3.13 However, it is important to look at
the full range of a student's attitudes, rather than analyse attitudes
to attendance in isolation. Attendance gives a sense of whether
or not a student can cope with structure and routine. To support
longer-term positive outcomes, the student's attitude to themselves
as a learner needs to addressed. As one teacher commented, "in
the three years that I have been in the College the [persistent
absence] figure has fallen from 10% to 4.9% … This is through
a number of systems and attitudinal changes but the P.A.S.S. data
has been invaluable."[122]
How to support and reinforce positive behaviour
in schools
3.14 By baselining attitudes and modelling
evidence-based explanations of behaviour, teachers and schools
can identify opportunities to encourage positive behaviour and
target their approach accordingly. For example:
— teachers can improve their understanding
of pupils' learning preferences, as well as attitudes towards
themselves and their lessons; and
— progression for students of differing
abilities can be modelled, explained and encouraged.
3.15 Especially when used in conjunction
with wider information and datasets, attitudinal data can play
a significant role in supporting and focusing a school's approach
to standards and self-evaluation: "The College had an Ofsted
inspection in January 2010 and we moved from a `satisfactory'
school in 2007 to a `good school with outstanding features' in
the latest inspection. We achieved `outstanding' for care, guidance
and support and the P.A.S.S. work definitely contributed to this
grading."[123]
The efficacy of alternative provision for pupils
excluded from school because of their behaviour
3.16 Local authority B uses attitudinal
surveys in every school and pupil referral unit (PRU). In one
case, a five-year-old boy was transferred to a PRU and found to
have consistently low attitudes across all nine core attitudinal
dimensions. This profile is statistically quite unusual, and indicated
potential mental health and emotional issues. The PRU decided
to implement a broad package of clinically intensive and therapeutic
interventions to address the full spectrum of his needs. A term
later, they took a second attitudinal measure. In the subsequent
profile, some attitudes remained low, but the areas of greatest
positive change appear consistent with a student who feels listened
to and validated. The second profile was then used as the basis
for designing and implementing a successful reintegration plan
for the student back into his mainstream primary school; "successful"
meaning that he stayed and made a go of the return placement,
without a great deal of additional support.
3.17 The behavioural curriculum is often
modified extensively using such feedback in these settings. P.A.S.S.
is widely used to inform and evaluate child-centred approaches
to intervention in the most challenging behavioural contexts:
— working with pupils who have been repeatedly
excluded and placed in a pupil referral unit;
— informing and evaluating referral criteria
for more intensive provision;
— evaluating the impact of provision where
pupils are being supported outside the mainstream framework (such
as Playing for Success); and
— supporting effective reintegration planning
and programmes.
4. CONCLUSION
4.1 Rather than responding solely to the
behaviour displayed by pupils, schools should analyse the attitudes
on which behaviour is based.
4.2 Attitudinal surveys, such as P.A.S.S.,
uncover the causes of behaviour, as well as likely future behaviour.
This enables schools to develop early intervention strategies,
potentially avoiding the negative impact on the pupil, their cohort
and the whole school. Moreover, the impact and progress of any
intervention can be measured by re-testing pupils, giving confidence
in the intervention and enabling teachers to refine their techniques.
In short, schools can address the causes of behaviour, rather
than simply managing discipline issues.
5. ANNEX I—THE
DEVELOPMENT BY
W3 INSIGHTS OF
P.A.S.S.
About P.A.S.S.
5.1 P.A.S.S (Pupil Attitudes to Self and
School) is a 50 item pupil attitude rating scale. It assesses
nine core dimensions linked to behavioural difficulties and well-being:
— Feelings about school: sometimes
called "school connectedness", this dimension can indicate
feelings of social exclusion and bullying.
— Perceived learning capability:
offers a snapshot of a learner's impressions of self-efficacy
and can reveal early warning signs of demoralisation and disaffection.
— Self regard: self esteem focused
on learning. It therefore has a greater correlation with achievement.
— Preparedness for learning: the
questions around this dimension prompt pupils to ask themselves,
"Do I have the tools to do the learning job?"
— Attitudes to teachers: a student's
perception of relationships with teachers.
— General work ethic: the motivation
to succeed in life. It is about purpose and direction, not just
at school but beyond into adult life.
— Confidence in learning: a measure
of perseverance in the face of challenge.
— Attitudes to attendance: a pupil's
attitudes about attendance are highly correlated with his or her
future actual attendance.
— Response to curriculum demands:
this motivational measure is focused narrowly on a pupil's motivation
to undertake and complete the tasks set within the school's curriculum.
P.A.S.S. reliability and robustness
5.2 P.A.S.S. was originally developed over
six years by educational psychologists working with four universities
and 20 local authorities, and was piloted with more than 100 schools.
Subsequently, P.A.S.S. provides standardised attitude reporting
based on a national sample of more than 250,000 pupils at individual,
cohort, whole school and local authority levels. Results can be
broken down to show how the school compares nationally, as well
as to show attitudes according to year group, gender and ethnicity.
Integrating the data with other database systems enables risk
modelling and highly contextualised interventions.
5.3 P.A.S.S. has been verified for test-retest
reliability, demonstrating that it measures core attitudes rather
than shifting attitudes and tastes. Without this validity, scores
would vary significantly when re-measured at another time and
be skewed by unknown and tangential influences. Having a stable
indication enables schools to intervene appropriately and allocate
resources efficiently. P.A.S.S. has a minimum test-retest interval
of ten weeks, meaning that within a term a school can analyse
the effectiveness of any interventions informed by P.A.S.S. within
a single term.
September 2010
118 School A. Back
119
School B. Back
120
Tricia Nash (2001), Exeter School of Education. Commissioned by
Sandwell LA. Back
121
School E. Back
122
School E. Back
123
School E. Back
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