Middle School Research

Research on Middle school Effectiveness

Keele University were commissioned by the Forum to examine the effectiveness of middle schools through a study of Ofsted and other data, together with a survey of pupil attitudes.

Documents Available:

The ambiguities of comparing transfer effects between two and three tier systems - download
The ambiguities of comparing transfer affects between two and three tier systems; suggestions for improving pupil declines in attitude and achievement - A Review of the Literature.Jenny Symonds, PhD Researcher, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education. January 2007

Headteachers’ and Teachers’ Surveys: Preliminary Report - download
Interesting research into the perceptions in Dorset schools in both two adn three tier schools by Kathy Seymour, The University of Nottingham, School of Education, April 2008

Datafile Updated - Middle School Inspections to December 2007 - download
An updated version of the Excel database of middle schools inspected under the new inspection framework to the end of December 2007.

Report - Middle Schools' Experience of Ofsted Inspections - October 2007 - download
A survey of middle school experiences of Oftsed Inspections under the new framework for inspection. The report seeks to examine whether Ofsted teams are consistent in the way that they draw on school and other data to reach their conclusions about standards and progress.

Report - Middle Inspections to May 2007 - v3 - download
A revised analysis of the outcomes of middle school inspections under the new framework. Includes the results from 170 middle schools inspected to the end of May 2007.

Datafile - Ofsted inspections of middle schools to May 2007 v3 - download
A revised version of the Excel database of middle schools inspected under the new inspection framework to the end of May 2007.

Report - The first year of middle school inspections v2 - download
A revised report presenting the data from the first year of Ofsted inspections under the new inspection framework. The revised version contains data on 119 middle schools whose reports were published between September 2005 and November 2006. The data file on which this is based is available separately.

Datafile - Ofsted inspections of middles schools to November 2006 - version 2 - download
The excel file contains the data for the 119 middle schools whose inpection reports were published bewteen October 2005 and November 2006, together with comparative data for all schools.The file will enable you to compare schools by age range, size and local authority.

The Impact of School Transfer upon Pupils, Teachers and the Education Community. - download
An overview of evidence on middle school effectiveness prepared by the National Foundation for Educational Research in 2002.

KS3 results 2005 - middle schools in the 2 Year KS3 Project - download
A summary of the results of middle schools in the 2 year KS3 project - from the 2005 performance tables. This is a summary report in Word. The results compare very favourably with the national averages for Year 9!

KS3 results 2005 - extract from performance tables 2005 - download
The full table of figures for the middle schools in the 2 Year KS3 project as they appear in the 2005 KS3 performance tables - Excel file.

Does reorganisation raise standards? - download
Does reorganising from three tiers to two lead to raised standards? By comparing progress in LEAs that have reoganised over the last 10 years with those that have retained three tier systems this report shows that greater progress has been made in those areas which have retained middle school systems.

Middle School Effectiveness - download
Keele University study of middle school effectiveness drawing on Ofsted data and pupil surveys commissioned by the Forum in 1998.

Performance and Progress of pupils in Secondary Schools of Differing Types. - download
An analysis of progress to KS3 and KS4 for schools admitting pupils at 11,12 and 13