Research briefings 2010

The Department of Education (DE) Research briefings are designed to provide attractive, interesting and easy access to research findings for policy makers, researchers, teachers, lecturers, employers and the public to facilitate informed discussion of educational issues.

Effective Pre-school Provision Northern Ireland (EPPNI) Pre school experience and Key Stage 2 performance in English and mathematics RB 1/2010 (PDF87kb)

The Effective Pre-school Provision in Northern Ireland (EPPNI) project is a longitudinal study that has investigated the development of children between the ages of 3 and 11 years.  This Research Briefing presents finding from the latest stage of the project and considers children’s educational attainment in English and mathematics at the end of primary school (age 11).  Children’s educational attainment in English and mathematics was derived from their national Key Stage 2 assessments. The project considered the child’s level of Key Stage 2 attainment in terms of the effects of child, family, home environment and preschool experience as well as the child’s ability at the start of primary school.

School Governors - The Guardians of Our Schools RB 2/2010 (PDF 113KB)

PriceWaterhouseCoopers were commissioned in March 2010 to carry out a School Governors Research Project in the 2009/10 school year.  The researchers collected information through interviews with a number of stakeholders and a survey of governors. Key aims of the research were to assess if governors have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to discharge successfully their responsibilities, including those relating to equality; assess how representative school governors are of the community and to survey governors on the training and support available to them to discharge their responsibilities.

PISA 2009 Achievement of 15 year olds in Northern Ireland RB 3/2010 (PDF 155kb)

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a survey of educational achievement organised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). PISA focuses on the ability of 15 year old pupils to use their knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges. This research briefing presents the findings from the latest PISA report. It details the local PISA scores of pupils in reading, mathematics and science. PISA 2009 also reports on school and pupil questionnaires to describe school and pupil attitudes.

This page was last updated on 14th December 2010.