Progress and Performance in the Primary Classroom

First published in 1980, Progress and Performance in the Primary Classroom assesses the performance of primary schoolchildren in a range of study skills as well as on the more conventional tests of mathematics, language use and reading. The findings indicate that the more successful styles are used by the more experienced teachers, who manage to increase the amount of contact with the pupils by a variety of organizational strategies. While pupils who receive the greatest amount of class teaching do best on mathematics, there is no evidence to suggest that the characteristics of teaching valued by critics of modern primary practice exert any significant influence on pupil progress.

The relationship between pupil progress and behaviour shows some remarkable patterns. For example, it was found that children who work on average one day per week less than other children still make the same progress in basic skills as the others. Such findings suggest that there is a need to examine how far teaching in the junior school is sufficiently stimulating and challenging, while at the same time acknowledging the difficulties of improving the situation while class sizes remain relatively high. This book will be of interest to students of education and pedagogy as well as to teachers.

Maurice Galton and Brian Simon