Estimating Differences in the Examination Performances of Secondary Schools in Six LEAs: a multi‐level approach to school effectiveness

Abstract

Examination results for fifth‐year pupils in six different local education authorities are analysed with a view to establishing what differences in their performance can be assigned to the schools they attend. Using multi‐level models it is shown that, whilst in general the differences between schools are relatively small, the actual size in examination points is certainly not trivial. These differences are estimated for the schools in each LEA. Distinctions are drawn between explanatory models based on information about pupils’ background as opposed to prior attainment; the latter are shown to be more appropriate for comparisons between schools. Amongst the 11 data sets analysed there was little evidence that schools were differentially effective with different groups of pupils.