Evaluation of the discipline task group recommendations
This study investigates the deployment of additional staff to promote positive discipline in schools. Good discipline in schools is an end in itself, socialising children and young people into acceptable standards of behaviour. It is also a means to an end, promoting subject matter learning and attainment. Concerns about standards of discipline are nothing new. The Discipline Task Group of 2001 is the latest in a series of reports on the matter, reflecting the high policy interest in this area. The social exclusion unit in the Cabinet Office, highlighted exclusion and truancy from school as urgent matters for attention in the context of tackling wider social exclusion. These concerns were echoed by the Pack Committee of 1977, reporting on attendance and behaviour in Scottish schools and by the Elton Committee of 1989 which focussed on England and Wales.
The deployment of additional staff to promote positive school discipline
Summary
The project aims to:
- map how NPAF money is being used at both education authority and school level to employ additional staff and, where possible, examine issues of cost effectiveness
- explore the distribution and recruitment of additional staff and examine provision for their support and training
- assess how the roles of additional support staff, such as auxiliaries and home-school link workers and other staff have been developed to promote positive discipline
- explore the impact of these additional staff on positive discipline in schools
The research has the following components:
- analysis of the use of NPAF money
- national survey on school discipline
- case studies of local authorities
Funder
Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED)
Project team
University of Edinburgh: Professor Pamela Munn, Dr Gwynedd Lloyd, Professor Sheila Riddell, Dr Gale McLeod, Dr Gillean McCluskey.
University of Glasgow: Jean Kane
University of Strathclyde: Professor John Fairley and colleagues
Start date
1 November 2003
End date
31 October 2004