CEE in the News 2009
Last year, scrutiny of academy results by the London School of Economics found that they "were statistically indistinguishable from matched schools."
This article appeared on the MorningStar Online on 14 December 2009.
Link to article
Related Publications
‘Academy schools and pupil performance’, by Stephen Machin and Joan Wilson in CentrePiece Vol 14 Issue 1 Spring 2009
Link to article
Related Links
Stephen Machin
webpage
Joan Wilson
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
webpage
Further to our meeting on 25 November, The Accord Coalition has a summary of recent research into faith schools (pdf) including this abstract for research by Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Sliva, London School of Economics. “ABSTRACT We provide estimates for the effect of attending a Faith school on educational achievement using a census of primary school pupils in England.
This article appeared on the Dorset Humanists website on 26 November 2009.
Link to article
Related publications
‘Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils?’, Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Silva, Centre for the Economics of Education Discussion Paper No.72, November 2006
Link to article
‘In brief: Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils?’, Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Silva. Article in CentrePiece Volume 12, Issue 1, Summer 2007
Link to article
Related links
Stephen Gibbons
webpage
Olmo Silva
webpage
CEE
webpage
Jenni Kellokumpu is a PhD student from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland and is visiting the Education Programme until July 2010.
Elena is a visitor to the Education Programme from the University of Padova in Italy where she is a Phd student. She is visiting CEP until July 2011.
"Unlike the U.S., students here don't have that debt around their necks all their lives," says
Anna Vignoles, an education and skills expert at the London School of Economics.
This article appeared in US News and World Report on 19th August 2009.
Link to article
Related links
Anna Vignoles’
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Following the recent government report, David Goodhart writes that ‘…the work (the Sutton Trust Report) of three economists –
Jo Blanden, Stephen Machin and
Paul Gregg … has arguably, had more influence on public debate than any academic paper of the past 20 years.’
This article appeared in the Sunday Times on July 26, 2009
Link to article
Related Publications
Project Summary Report
Recent Changes in Intergenerational Mobility in the UK: A Summary of Findings
Main Report,
Recent Changes in Intergenerational Mobility in Britain by Jo Blanden and Stephen Machin, December 2007
Report for the Sutton Trust
Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin
Social Mobility in Britain: Low and Falling by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin. Article appeared in
CentrePiece, Vol.10, Issue 1 Spring 2005
Related Links
Jo Blanden
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Paul Gregg
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
"The recent (London School of Economics)
Centre for Economic Performance report suggested that academies were only doing as well as their neighbouring schools, and this US report further undermines the basic tenet of academies, which is that they are better than normal schools. It's simply not true."
This article appeared in the Times Educational Supplement on July 3, 2009
Link to article
Related Publications
Academy schools and pupil performance by
Stephen Machin and
Joan Wilson in
CentrePiece Vol 14 Issue 1 Spring 2009
Related Links
Stephen Machin
webpage
Joan Wilson
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
webpage
According to a study by the University of Kent and LSE, students who go to independent schools go on to earn an average of 30% more than state school students. "This difference in earnings was especially pronounced when we looked at the top end of the salary scale," said co-author
Richard Murphy, from the
London School of Economics.
This article appeared in Independent Schools Magazine on 19 June 2009.
Link to article
Related Publications
‘What have private schools done for (some of) us?’ in Significance Magazine Volume 6, Issue 2 published by the Royal Statistical Society, June 2009, pp 63-67
Authors: Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu
Download article
Related links
Richard Murphy
webpage
Francis Green
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Yu Zhu
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
webpage
A study by the
centre for economic performance at the London School of Economics found no evidence that a school that is turned into an academy improves its exam results more than any other in its neighbourhood.
This article appeared on U.TV on 16th June 2009.
Link to article
Related publications
‘Academy schools and pupil performance’ by Stephen Machin and Joan Wilson in
CentrePiece Vol 14 Issue 1 Spring 2009 published June 4 2009.
Related links
Stephen Machin
webpage
Joan Wilson
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
website
Ball’s warning to schools: two years to improve. Comprehensives with worst exam results must turn themselves around by 2011 or be forced to close, merge with other schools or become academies.
Opinion is divided over whether turning under-performing schools into academies improves results. A study by the
centre for economic performance at the London School of Economics found no evidence that a school that is turned into an academy improves its exam results more than any other in its neighbourhood.
This article appeared in the Guardian on 16 June 2009.
Link to article
Related publications
‘Academy schools and pupil performance’ by Stephen Machin and Joan Wilson in
CentrePiece Vol 14 Issue 1 Spring 2009 published June 4 2009.
Related links
Stephen Machin
webpage
Joan Wilson webpage:
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
website
The research by the University of Kent and the London School of Economics found that the higher grades achieved at independent schools were a crucial factor on high earnings.
This article appeared in Your Dover on June 15, 2009
Link to article
Related Publications
What have private schools done for (some of) us? by Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu in
Significance Magazine Volume 6, Issue 2 published by the Royal Statistical Society, June 2009, pp 63-67.
Related Links
Richard Murphy
webpage
Francis Green
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Yu Zhu
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
webpage
The research by the University of Kent and the London School of Economics found that the higher grades achieved at independent schools were a crucial factor on high earnings.
This article appeared on YourDover.co.uk
Link to article
‘What have private schools done for (some of) us?’ in Significance Magazine Volume 6, Issue 2 published by the Royal Statistical Society, June 2009, pp 63-67
Authors: Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu
Download article
Related Links
Richard Murphy
webpage
Francis Green
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Yu Zhu
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
webpage
The research by the University of Kent and the London School of Economics found that the higher grades achieved at independent schools were a crucial factor ...
This article appeared on Yourthanet.co.uk on 15th June 2009.
Link to article.
Related publications
‘What have private schools done for (some of) us?’ in Significance Magazine Volume 6, Issue 2 published by the Royal Statistical Society, June 2009, pp 63-67
Authors: Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu
Download article
Related links
Richard Murphy
webpage
Francis Green
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Yu Zhu
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
webpage
Research by Kent University and the London School of Economics, published in the journal Significance, suggests that the gap between earnings of state and private pupils has widened in the past 50 years.
This article appeared on BBC News on 11 June 2009.
Link to article
Related publications
‘What have private schools done for (some of) us?’ in Significance Magazine Volume 6, Issue 2 published by the Royal Statistical Society, June 2009, pp 63-67 Authors: Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu
Link to article
Related links
Richard Murphy
webpage
Francis Green
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Yu Zhu
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
webpage
Richard Murphy interviewed on research into earnings of privately-educated pupils.
This interview was broadcast on BBC Radio Kent on 11th June 2009. (No link avaliable).
Related publications
‘What have private schools done for (some of) us?’ in Significance Magazine Volume 6, Issue 2 published by the Royal Statistical Society, June 2009, pp 63-67
Authors: Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu
Download article
Richard Murphy
webpage
Francis Green
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Yu Zhu
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
webpage
A new study suggests that pupils who attend private schools earn an average of 30 per cent more than those who attend state schools in later life.
Co-author
Richard Murphy , from the London School of Economics, said: "This difference in earnings was especially pronounced when we looked at the top end of the salary scale. Even after adjustments for qualifications gained and family background, those in the top 10 per cent of earners who had attended independent schools earned on average 20 per cent more than state school pupils in the same salary band. Whether these benefits come through 'old boy networks', or through unmeasured broad competences that are obtained through private schooling, we cannot say."
This article appeared on AndhraNews.net on 11th June 2009.
Link to article.
Related Publications
‘What have private schools done for (some of) us?’ in Significance Magazine Volume 6, Issue 2 published by the Royal Statistical Society, June 2009, pp 63-67
Authors: Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu
Link to article.
Related Links
Richard Murphy
webpage
Francis Green
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Yu Zhu
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
webpage
People who have been to private school earn 30% more than those who went to state schools, research suggests. Research by Kent University and the London School of Economics confirms this but says higher grades achieved at private schools are the crucial factor. Researcher
Richard Murphy, from the London School of Economics.
This article appeared on BBC Online on 11th June 2009.
Link to aricle.
Reltated publications
‘What have private schools done for (some of) us?’ in Significance Magazine Volume 6, Issue 2 published by the Royal Statistical Society, June 2009, pp 63-67
Authors: Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu
Download article
Related Links
Richard Murphy
webpage
Francis Green
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Yu Zhu
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
webpage
City academies are failing to outdo poorly performing schools in their areas, according to academics at the London School of Economics (LSE). The study, undertaken by
Professor Stephen Machin and
Joan Wilson of the LSE's
Centre for Economic Performance, shows that while academies have boosted GCSE performance compared with the schools they replaced, other poorly performing schools in the same areas had recorded similar increases.
This article appeared in Children & Young People Now on June 6, 2009
Link to article
Related Publications
Academy Schools and Pupil Performance by
Stephen Machin and
Joan Wilson in
CentrePiece Vol 14 Issue 1 Spring 2009 published June 2009
Related Links
Stephen Machin
webpage
Joan Wilson
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
webpage
Improvements in GCSE results at the Government's controversial academy schools are no more impressive than those at similar schools nearby that have not become academies, a study says. The report, published by the
Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, says that GCSE results at poorly performing schools did improve after they changed their status.
This article appeared in Regen.net on June 5, 2009
Link to article (subscription necessary)
Related Publications
Academy Schools and Pupil Performance by
Stephen Machin and
Joan Wilson in
CentrePiece Vol 14 Issue 1 Spring 2009 published June 2009
Related Links
Stephen Machin
webpage
Joan Wilson
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
webpage
Education is always a big issue in public debate. It becomes even more important at a time of crisis, when the economy is in recession, unemployment is rising rapidly and disadvantaged members of society are in danger of becoming even worse off and perhaps permanently 'scarred' by job loss or inability to join the labour market at all.
So how is the UK's education system doing? Over a number of years, researchers at the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) have been assessing the effectiveness of the nation's educational policies in raising standards. A series of studies has evaluated efforts both to improve the quality of education overall and to tackle the 'long tail' of people without basic skills by giving better opportunities to low-achieving, 'hard-to-reach' children from poorer families.
This CentrePiece provides an overview of the most significant findings across a wide range of policies, including increased resources, the 'choice and competition' agenda and new structures such as academy schools. We also make comparisons with education systems in other countries, and take a look at teachers - both their career decisions and the impact of their expectations on pupil performance.
Key articles include:
Big ideas: education by Sandra McNally; Academy schools and pupil performance by Stephen Machin and Joan Wilson; Assessing pupils' abilities
by Stephen Gibbons and Arnaud Chevalier; What works in primary schools? by Olmo Silva; and Going private by Richard Murphy.
To read ALL the articles please go the
CentrePiece website at
http://cep.lse.ac.uk/CentrePiece - OR -
To keep
up to date with the very latest articles from the magazine subscribe to the new CentrePiece
webfeed 
An interim report by the
Centre for Economic Performance (London School of Economics) on the US-pioneered scheme called 'Resilience', has found a significant positive impact on pupils' wellbeing as measured by depression and anxiety symptom scores.
This article appeared in The Times on May 29, 2009
Link to article
Related Publications
UK Resilience Programme Evaluation: Interim Report by
Amy Challen,
Stephen Machin, Philip Noden and Anne West presents the initial findings of the evaluation, which was commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and is being carried out by the authors, all researchers at the London School of Economics.
The research brief is available to
Download
And more details are also available for
Download
The UK Resiliency Programme is one of seven strands of work under the Local Well-being Project, an initiative launched in 2006 to test practical ways of improving both individual and community well-being and resilience in three very different areas of the UK – Hertfordshire, Manchester and South Tyneside. The project brings together the three local authorities with the Young Foundation, (www.youngfoundation.org); Professor Lord Richard Layard from the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance (www.cep.lse.ac.uk), and the Improvement and Development Agency (www.idea.gov.uk).
Related Links
Amy Challen
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
A ground breaking programme aimed at helping children in South Tyneside to cope with whatever life throws at them is reaping encouraging results, according to a new survey.
Now, a report commissioned by the national Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has revealed that depression and anxiety levels went down in pupils taking part in the programme.
The DCSF report was drawn up after a comprehensive survey carried out by the London School of Economics, which collected information on pupils' emotional wellbeing through questionnaires they completed before and after the programme. The results were compared with those of control groups.
This article appeared online on southtyneside.info on May 18, 2009
Link to article
Related Publications
UK Resilience Programme Evaluation: Interim Report by
Amy Challen,
Stephen Machin, Philip Noden and Anne West presents the initial findings of the evaluation, which was commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and is being carried out by the authors, all researchers at the London School of Economics.
The research brief is available to
Download
And more details are also available for
Download
The UK Resiliency Programme is one of seven strands of work under the Local Well-being Project, an initiative launched in 2006 to test practical ways of improving both individual and community well-being and resilience in three very different areas of the UK – Hertfordshire, Manchester and South Tyneside. The project brings together the three local authorities with the Young Foundation, (www.youngfoundation.org); Professor Lord Richard Layard from the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance (www.cep.lse.ac.uk), and the Improvement and Development Agency (www.idea.gov.uk).
Related Links
Amy Challen
webpage
Stephen Machin
webpage
Wellbeing Programme
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Research by the LSE and the Institute of Education has found that faith schools fail to improve standards and create "social sorting" of children along lines of class, ability and religion, researchers. The research suggests that government policies to promote a market in education - by promising parents a choice of school in the belief that the competition for children will improve standards - only create a more socially fragmented system.
This article appeared in the Guardian on April 18, 2009
Link to article
Related Publications
‘Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils?’, by Steve Gibbons and Olmo Silva,
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE) Discussion Paper No.72, November 2006.
In brief: Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils? by Steve Gibbons and Olmo Silva in
CentrePiece Volume 12 Issue 1 Summer 2007
Related Links
Steve Gibbons
webpage
Olmo Silva
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Professor Francis Green, of the University of Kent, in collaboration with colleagues at the London School of Economics, where he is a visiting professor, sought to discover whether independent schools really conferred lifelong economic benefits to more than a select group of pupils. Their conclusion was unequivocal.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on the 21st March 2009.
[No link avaliable]
Related publications
‘The Changing Economic Returns to Private Education’ by Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu. Paper forthcoming.
An early version of this
paper debated at the Nuffield Foundation on 11/1/08, and an
abstract are currently available.
Related links
Francis Green
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
webpage
Previously a full article published in February 2008 in the Independent.
Why are these opportunities not better known by school leavers? The main reason is that the great majority of schools don't tell their students that they exist. Talking to half a dozen engineering apprentices, we learnt that not one had been told about apprenticeship at school. Most had chanced upon the training through press advertisements or careers guidance.
This article appeared in The Independent – Independent minds blog on the 7th March 2009.
Link to article.
Related Links
Hilary Steedman LSE experts
webpage
Peter Wilby comments on school selection: "As research from the London School of Economics has shown, the differences between intakes even among community comprehensives is enormous
This article appeared in the Guardian on 5th March.
Link to article.
Related Publications
‘School segregation and its consequences’ by Stephen Gibbons and Shqiponja Telhaj. Article in
CentrePiece, Volume 12, Issue 3, Winter 2007/08.
Related Links
Steve Gibbons
webpage
Shqiponja Telhaj
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
Professor
Peter Dolton of Royal Holloway, University of London, and the London School of Economics’
Centre for the Economics of Education, notes fewer graduates now take vocational courses, leaving them open to uncertainties of the current jobs market.
This article appeared in the Guardian on the 10th January 2009.
Link to article.
Related Links
Peter Dolton
wepage
Centre for the Economics of Education
webpage
Control over admissions is what makes a difference to a school, writes Peter Wilby.
Unfortunately, there is not a scrap of evidence that the success of church or other faith schools has anything to do with religious teaching, moral ethos or principled commitment to equality. All the research, mostly from the London School of Economics, shows the schools' apparent success is almost entirely explained by the characteristics of the pupils who attend them.
This article apperared in the Guardian on the 6th January 2009.
Link to article.
Related Publications
‘Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils?’, by Steve Gibbons and Olmo Silva,
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE) Discussion Paper No.72 , November 2006.
Related Links
Sandra McNally
webpage
Steve Gibbons
webpage
Olmo Silva webpage
webpage
Education and Skills Programme
webpage
