Does Improving students’ behaviour improve exam results?

The link between students’ behaviour and academic achievement is well established. A proof can be seen in the case of two prominent people in education in recent history. Sir William Atkinson took over Phoenix School in Hammersmith and Sir Michael Wilshaw’s record at Mossbourne Academy in east London. Both leaders were able to achieve seismic improvement in examination results after they had transformed students’ behaviour and sent a very clear signal to teachers, parents and students that low expectation is not an option.

Behaviour in most state schools – many of which are called ‘academy’ these days – is well below one that is conducive to an effective learning environment. Bad behaviour is the main reason why so many parents will give their right arm to live in an area where the so-called good schools are located.
Can the best of comprehensive schools deliver real variety?
I was fortunate to have taught in all types of mainstream secondary schools – from comprehensive to grammar to independent schools. When I finished my teacher training in the early nineties, after attending 17 interviews – with locations ranging from Kent to the Midlands – I finally decided to accept an offer of a job. It was at a good comprehensive school in St Albans. The school used to be a Boys’ Grammar School and the head teacher who appointed me – an old Cambridge man, was the third head teacher at the school in over 50 years of its existence at the time. It was as traditional as you could get – religious assemblies, the headmaster wearing a gown, the school orchestra, prize-giving days, rugby as the main sport and all the features of a traditional grammar school.
I was teaching Physics to various groups, spread right across the secondary school age groups. I enjoyed teaching most groups, from Y7 to the upper sixth. The little ones in Y7 were as keen as could be and it was really pleasing to see them in their white lab coats, ready to experiment with circuits and light bulbs. Leading them dissecting rats was not that bad but they certainly enjoyed dissecting fish more than I did as the smell was not for me, but I survived! The difference in skills and intellect between teaching those little Y7 students on the one hand and the top set Y11 and the sixth form on the other was vast but at the same time a great pleasure.
The top set groups were comprised of the very bright boys and some who were not the most intellectually challenging but were hard workers and coped pretty well. The middle set was made up of the bright students who could not be bothered to do the work but usually did well in the exams as they had enough wit to bluff their way through the questions and score a decent mark. The bottom set consisted of young people, who were rather weak academically and the middle ability students, some of whom had an exaggerated opinion of their own ability or who for some reason had a very short attention span.
Many suffer as the unpleasant students dominate and dictate the culture
When I was teaching the top set students, most were curious about learning Physics, my subject, and you could see the values instilled in them by their parents coming through. Most were able to manage themselves and ignore the odd unruly young person who tried to distract them from learning. The middle sets were nearly unmanageable as some brighter ones chose to make the life of the teacher unbearable. Others really suffered. The weak ones in the middle set, who had worked very hard to be there were frustrated and had no intention of joining in with the disruption or messing about. The middle ability ones couldn’t really be bothered and were either passive or were too glad to join the obnoxious ones in the fun of taking the micky. For the reasons explained above there was not usually a huge difference in the academic performance of the middle set students, except on occasions when a low or middle ability pupil had worked very hard and achieved excellent test marks.

It is not all gloomy as teaching can be extremely rewarding and it is not just when you are teaching the brightest. In the second of my blogs this week I will be taking you though my experience of teaching in the variety of schools that I have had the privilege of teaching at.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this article and it would be appreciated if you could make a comment on what you have read.

 

Does Improving students’ behaviour improve exam results?

The link between students’ behaviour and academic achievement is well established. A proof can be seen in the case of two prominent people in education in recent history. Sir William Atkinson took over Phoenix School in Hammersmith and Sir Michael Wilshaw’s record at Mossbourne Academy in east London. Both leaders were able to achieve seismic improvement in examination results after they had transformed students’ behaviour and sent a very clear signal to teachers, parents and students that low expectation is not an option.
Behaviour in most state schools – many of which are called ‘academy’ these days – is well below one that is conducive to an effective learning environment. Bad behaviour is the main reason why so many parents will give their right arm to live in an area where the so-called good schools are located.
Can the best of comprehensive schools deliver real variety?
I was fortunate to have taught in all types of mainstream secondary schools – from comprehensive to grammar to independent schools. When I finished my teacher training in the early nineties, after attending 17 interviews – with locations ranging from Kent to the Midlands – I finally decided to accept an offer of a job. It was at a good comprehensive school in St Albans. The school used to be a Boys’ Grammar School and the head teacher who appointed me – an old Cambridge man, was the third head teacher at the school in over 50 years of its existence at the time. It was as traditional as you could get – religious assemblies, the headmaster wearing a gown, the school orchestra, prize-giving days, rugby as the main sport and all the features of a traditional grammar school.
I was teaching Physics to various groups, spread right across the secondary school age groups. I enjoyed teaching most groups, from Y7 to the upper sixth. The little ones in Y7 were as keen as could be and it was really pleasing to see them in their white lab coats, ready to experiment with circuits and light bulbs. Leading them dissecting rats was not that bad but they certainly enjoyed dissecting fish more than I did as the smell was not for me, but I survived! The difference in skills and intellect between teaching those little Y7 students on the one hand and the top set Y11 and the sixth form on the other was vast but at the same time a great pleasure.
The top set groups were comprised of the very bright boys and some who were not the most intellectually challenging but were hard workers and coped pretty well. The middle set was made up of the bright students who could not be bothered to do the work but usually did well in the exams as they had enough wit to bluff their way through the questions and score a decent mark. The bottom set consisted of young people, who were rather weak academically and the middle ability students, some of whom had an exaggerated opinion of their own ability or who for some reason had a very short attention span.
Many suffer as the unpleasant students dominate and dictate the culture
When I was teaching the top set students, most were curious about learning Physics, my subject, and you could see the values instilled in them by their parents coming through. Most were able to manage themselves and ignore the odd unruly young person who tried to distract them from learning. The middle sets were nearly unmanageable as some brighter ones chose to make the life of the teacher unbearable. Others really suffered. The weak ones in the middle set, who had worked very hard to be there were frustrated and had no intention of joining in with the disruption or messing about. The middle ability ones couldn’t really be bothered and were either passive or were too glad to join the obnoxious ones in the fun of taking the micky. For the reasons explained above there was not usually a huge difference in the academic performance of the middle set students, except on occasions when a low or middle ability pupil had worked very hard and achieved excellent test marks.

It is not all gloomy as teaching can be extremely rewarding and it is not just when you are teaching the brightest. In the second of my blogs this week I will be taking you though my experience of teaching in the variety of schools that I have had the privilege of teaching at.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this article and it would be appreciated if you could make a comment on what you have read.

 

Does Improving students’ behaviour improve exam results?

The link between students’ behaviour and academic achievement is well established. A proof can be seen in the case of two prominent people in education in recent history. Sir William Atkinson took over Phoenix School in Hammersmith and Sir Michael Wilshaw’s record at Mossbourne Academy in east London. Both leaders were able to achieve seismic improvement in examination results after they had transformed students’ behaviour and sent a very clear signal to teachers, parents and students that low expectation is not an option.
Behaviour in most state schools – many of which are called ‘academy’ these days – is well below one that is conducive to an effective learning environment. Bad behaviour is the main reason why so many parents will give their right arm to live in an area where the so-called good schools are located.
Can the best of comprehensive schools deliver real variety?
I was fortunate to have taught in all types of mainstream secondary schools – from comprehensive to grammar to independent schools. When I finished my teacher training in the early nineties, after attending 17 interviews – with locations ranging from Kent to the Midlands – I finally decided to accept an offer of a job. It was at a good comprehensive school in St Albans. The school used to be a Boys’ Grammar School and the head teacher who appointed me – an old Cambridge man, was the third head teacher at the school in over 50 years of its existence at the time. It was as traditional as you could get – religious assemblies, the headmaster wearing a gown, the school orchestra, prize-giving days, rugby as the main sport and all the features of a traditional grammar school.
I was teaching Physics to various groups, spread right across the secondary school age groups. I enjoyed teaching most groups, from Y7 to the upper sixth. The little ones in Y7 were as keen as could be and it was really pleasing to see them in their white lab coats, ready to experiment with circuits and light bulbs. Leading them dissecting rats was not that bad but they certainly enjoyed dissecting fish more than I did as the smell was not for me, but I survived! The difference in skills and intellect between teaching those little Y7 students on the one hand and the top set Y11 and the sixth form on the other was vast but at the same time a great pleasure.
The top set groups were comprised of the very bright boys and some who were not the most intellectually challenging but were hard workers and coped pretty well. The middle set was made up of the bright students who could not be bothered to do the work but usually did well in the exams as they had enough wit to bluff their way through the questions and score a decent mark. The bottom set consisted of young people, who were rather weak academically and the middle ability students, some of whom had an exaggerated opinion of their own ability or who for some reason had a very short attention span.
Many suffer as the unpleasant students dominate and dictate the culture
When I was teaching the top set students, most were curious about learning Physics, my subject, and you could see the values instilled in them by their parents coming through. Most were able to manage themselves and ignore the odd unruly young person who tried to distract them from learning. The middle sets were nearly unmanageable as some brighter ones chose to make the life of the teacher unbearable. Others really suffered. The weak ones in the middle set, who had worked very hard to be there were frustrated and had no intention of joining in with the disruption or messing about. The middle ability ones couldn’t really be bothered and were either passive or were too glad to join the obnoxious ones in the fun of taking the micky. For the reasons explained above there was not usually a huge difference in the academic performance of the middle set students, except on occasions when a low or middle ability pupil had worked very hard and achieved excellent test marks.

It is not all gloomy as teaching can be extremely rewarding and it is not just when you are teaching the brightest. In the second of my blogs this week I will be taking you though my experience of teaching in the variety of schools that I have had the privilege of teaching at.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this article and it would be appreciated if you could make a comment on what you have read.