Age or Stage? Influences
on the Transition to
Junior Cycle Education
Emer Smyth, ESRI
www.growingup.ie
Introduction
• Large body of research on changes in school
engagement and self-concept over the transition to
second-level education
• Difference of opinion over whether this reflects:
– Adolescent development, with a decline in subjective well-being
as children and young people grow older
– Lack of consistency between primary and second-level schooling
in terms of curriculum, approach to teaching and learning, and
social relationships
– Mismatch between developmental needs and educational
structures (Eccles)
Introduction (2)
• But are changes in engagement related only to the
transition period?
• Previous research on student experiences in
second-level education indicates that second year is
the key year for student engagement.
• Experiences at this stage have longer term effects
on student outcomes into senior cycle and even
beyond.
• But is it age or stage?
GUI Study
• Advantage of GUI child cohort wave 2: young people
are the same age but evenly divided between first
and second year of junior cycle
• Outcomes:
– School engagement (subjective): attitude to school
– School engagement (objective): attendance
– Engagement with learning: intellectual and school status (PiersHarris subscale)
• Use of multilevel models to take account of sampling
within schools at primary level
Explanatory variables
• Background factors:
–
–
–
–
–
Gender
Social class
Mother’s education
Immigrant
SEN
• Primary school experiences (age 9):
– School engagement
– Reading and maths achievement
• Second-level experiences:
– Transition difficulties
– Quality of interaction with teachers
Liking school
40
35
30
25
% 20
Boys
15
Girls
10
5
0
V. much
Quite a bit
A bit
Don't like it v. much
Hate it
Attitudes at 13 by attitudes
at 9
100%
90%
80%
Hate it
70%
Don't like it v. much
60%
A bit
50%
Quite a bit
40%
V. much
30%
20%
10%
0%
Always
Sometimes
Attitudes to school at age 9
Never
Influences on attitudes at
13
•
•
•
•
Gender
SEN
Social background: mother’s education, lone parents
Primary school experiences:
–
–
–
–
Attitudes to school
Relationship with teacher
Liking reading and maths
Reading achievement: lowest quintile v. others
• Second-level experiences:
– Transition difficulties
– Quality of interaction with teachers
Year group and liking
school
3
2.5
Second year
2
1.5
Second year cont.
teacher-student
interaction and transition
difficulties
1
0.5
0
Hating/not
liking
Liking a bit
Liking quite a
bit
Liking school and teacherstudent interaction
60
50
40
High positive/low negative
Average
% 30
High negative/low positive
20
10
0
Not like/hate
Like a bit
Like quite a bit
Live very much
Social class
Income quintile
Mother’s education
Two parents
Lone parent
Tertiary
Post-secondary
Leaving Certificate
Lower secondary or less
Highest
Lowest
Never worked
Semi/unskilled manual
Non-manual/skilled manual
Professional/managerial
Absent for 11+ days
20
18
16
14
12
% 10
8
6
4
2
0
Household type
Attendance and school
experiences
• Primary experiences:
– Significant relationship with attendance at age 9
– School engagement at age 9
– No consistent relationship with prior achievement
• Second-level experiences:
– Year group: absenteeism is significantly higher among those in
2nd year
– Transition difficulties
– Quality of interaction with teachers
0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1
-1.2
Migrant
Non-SEN
SEN
Irish
Mother's education
Newcomer
Degree
Post-sec.
Social class
LC
Lower sec.
Never worked
Semi/unskilled
Gender
Non-manual/skilled
Prof/managerial
Girls
Boys
Piers-Harris Intellectual
Status 9-13
SEN
Academic self-image
• Intellectual status at age 9 – stability and fluidity
• Primary school experiences:
–
–
–
–
School engagement
Relationship with teacher
Liking reading and maths
Maths achievement
• Second-level experiences:
– Transition difficulties
– Quality of teacher-student interaction
– Difficulty of, and interest in, second-level subjects
Year group and
intellectual status
0
-0.2
Second year
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1
-1.2
Second year cont.
teacher-student
interaction and transition
difficulties
Conclusions
• Stage within the junior cycle matters: second years
are less positive about school and their capacity to
cope with schoolwork than first years
• This difference partly reflects more negative
interaction with their teachers
• Engagement at primary level has longer term effects
on second-level engagement
• Second-level school climate (quality of teacherstudent interaction) is highly predictive of student
engagement – implications for policy (junior cycle
reform) and practice