This presentation was delivered by Emer Smyth, ESRI, at the launch of her report Off to a Good Start? Primary School Experiences and the Transition to Second-Level Education. This Growing Up in Ireland report looks at the way in which primary school experiences can provide a crucial foundation for a successful transition to second-level education. Download the publication here: http://bit.ly/2yAGxwU Read the accompanying press release here: http://bit.ly/2ikVDT5

1. Off to a Good Start?
Primary School Experiences
and the Transition to Second-Level Education
Emer Smyth

2. Introduction
• Transition from primary to second-level education involves new
subjects, different relationships with teachers and a new peer group
• Focus of the report:
– To what extent are young people’s social relationships with
significant others (parents, peers, teachers) associated with their
adjustment to second-level education?
– Is young people’s engagement with school at age 13 related to
their earlier experiences at primary level?
– To what extent are the ease of transition and school engagement
associated with initial experiences of second-level education?

3. Outcomes
• Adjustment to second-level education:
– Transition difficulties, as reported by the primary care-giver
– Academic self-image (Piers Harris scale)
• School engagement:
– Attitudes to school
– Attitudes to school subjects (English, Irish, Maths, Science)
– Attendance
• Analytical approach: multilevel modelling, using a range of
background factors and taking account of longitudinal measures

4. Transition difficulties
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Settled well into secondary school
Missed primary school friends
Anxious about making new friends
Coped well with school work
Made new friends
Involved in extracurricular activities
Gets too much homework
Strongly agree Agree Neither Disagree Strongly disagree

5. Transition difficulties and
background
11
11.5
12
12.5
13
13.5
14
14.5
15
Male
Female
Lowersec.
Degree
Irish
Immigrant
SEN
Non-SEN
Lowest
Highest
Gender Parental
education
Migrant status SEN Maths at 9
Predictedtransitiondifficulties

6. Transition difficulties and
social relationships
12.2
12.4
12.6
12.8
13
13.2
13.4
13.6
13.8
14
14.2
Everyday Rarely 0/1 6+ Low High Low High
Talk with parents No. of close friends Trust in friends Positive teacher
interaction
Predictedtransitiondifficulties

7. Formal parental involvement
• Help with homework: fewer transition
difficulties among those who rarely/never
received help – academic preparedness
• Attendance at parent-teacher meetings (age 9)
and school-based events (13) are associated
with fewer difficulties

8. Change in academic self-image
between 9 and 13 years of age
-1.2
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
Boys
Girls
Prof/managerial
Non-manual/skilled
Semi/unskilled
Neverworked
Lowersec.
LC
Post-sec.
Degree
Newcomer
Irish
SEN
Non-SEN
Gender Social class Mother's education Migrant SEN

9. Influence of school factors
on academic self-image
• Primary school:
– Not liking their teacher and not liking reading or Maths are
associated with poorer self academic-self image 4 years later
• Experiencing transition difficulties leads to young people feeling
less confident as learners
• Second-level school:
– The quality of interaction with teachers is a strong influence
on self-image: role of praise v. reprimand
– Being in second year is associated with a decline in self-
image
– Subject difficulty and interest

10. Attitudes to school at age 13
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
V. much Quite a bit A bit Don't like it v.
much
Hate it
%
Boys
Girls

11. Stability in attitudes
between 9 and 13
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Always Sometimes Never
Attitudes to school at age 9
Hate it
Don't like it v.
much
A bit
Quite a bit
V. much

12. Negative attitudes to school
at 13
• Background factors:
– Boys
– Families with lower levels of education
– Lone parent families
– Young people with SEN
• Primary school experiences:
– Negative attitudes to school, teachers and subjects at age 9
– Lowest reading scores at 9
• Second-level experiences:
– Transition difficulties
– Being in second year
– Nature of interaction with second-level teachers
– Finding second-level subjects not interesting
– Finding second-level subjects difficult

13. Does the school attended
matter?
• Significant differences in transition difficulties,
academic self-image and attitudes to school by
both primary and second-level school,
controlling for background factors and prior
reading achievement
• Type of school makes less difference
• But greater transition difficulties and more
negative attitudes to school in DEIS schools
(Urban Band 1)

14. Conclusions
• Social and gender differentiation in experience of
transition process
• Greater difficulties for young people with SEN
• Relationships play a protective role in easing the
transition to second-level education: parents, peers,
teachers
• Primary school experiences are highly influential:
positive experience of school and subjects, acquisition
of foundational skills (especially Maths)
• Second-level experiences: interaction with teachers;
subject interest and difficulty

15. Implications for policy
• Engaging primary school experience for all; early experience of
Maths is particularly important (NCCA review of primary
curriculum)
• Role of foundational skills highlights importance of literacy and
numeracy strategy
• Evidence of social inequality in experiences and outcomes at
individual and school level; implications for DEIS programme
• Inclusion of young people with SEN
• Dip in student engagement in second year reinforces case for
junior cycle reform; importance of a broader repertoire of
teaching and assessment methods
• Positive school climate; implications for school discipline policy