Education

Education research in the ESRI covers all levels of the educational system, including early childhood education, the primary, second-level and tertiary sectors, and continuing education and training. 

 

Current research focuses on the following areas:

The ESRI’s Post-Primary Longitudinal Study, funded by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the Department of Education and Science (DES) has continued throughout 2008 and into 2009. This study is the first of its kind in Ireland and explores student experiences as they move through the schooling system. Analyses are currently being carried out on the experiences of fifth and sixth year students. Two supplementary projects, looking at parental perceptions of the schooling system and early school leaving among the student cohort, are also being conducted.

A large-scale study of provision for newcomer (immigrant) students in primary and post-primary schools has been completed. This study, designed to contribute to policy development in the area of provision for diversity within schools, was published as Adapting to Diversity: Irish Schools and Newcomer Students in June 2009.

 

Investing in Education: Combating Educational Disadvantage, commissioned by Barnardos, was published in May 2009. This report provides an analytical overview of current provision for disadvantaged children and young people across the Irish educational system. It assesses trends in education expenditure, the policy measures targeted on disadvantaged groups, and the relative costs associated with early school leaving.

 

Studies of post-school pathways have been a central feature of ESRI research. March 2009 saw the publication of the School Leavers’ Report 2007, which explored the labour market and education/training experiences of young people in the immediate period after leaving school. This report highlights key issues for education and labour market policy development. A large-scale study funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) has explored the reasons for low participation in higher education among the children of non-manual workers. This study, titled ‘Hidden Disadvantage? A study of the low participation in Higher Education by the Non-Manual Group’, is designed to contribute to informing policy in relation to increasing equity in educational participation. The HEA also funded a study of the costs of participating in higher education for previously under-represented groups, which contributes to the current debates on the funding of higher education. The findings of this research are due for publication shortly: ‘A Study on the Costs of Participating in Higher Education’.

Post-school pathways remain a central theme of a new programme of research, Leaving School in Ireland. This research builds upon two studies which have yielded vital information bases for policy development - the School Leavers’ Survey and the Post-Primary Longitudinal Study. The research is funded by grants from a consortium of organisations, which form a Steering Board overseeing the implementation of the study.

As well as looking at the national level, educational researchers at the ESRI have taken a comparative perspective. At the beginning of 2008, members of the education team took on the co-ordination of a large-scale European FP7-funded project on the relationship between religion and schooling. This study, Religious Education in a Multicultural Society, explores the transmission of religious and secular beliefs and values through the education system and the family and is part of a collaborative project involving institutions in Belgium (Flanders), Germany, Malta, Scotland and Italy. In addition, members of the education team were active in the EU-funded EQUALSOC network, with their involvement yielding published papers on the impact of field of study on gender segregation in the labour market and on students’ workload.

Over the past year, research on a variety of topics including transitions within and beyond the school system, truancy, private tuition (‘grinds’), gender and subject choice, part-time employment among third-level students, part-time higher education students, youth unemployment and the returns to education has been published in a range of international journals 

Future research will build upon existing research to explore:

Other members of staff who work in this area include: Selina McCoy, Merike Darmody, Delma Byrne,  Philip O’Connell, Seamus McGuinness , Elish Kelly and Joanne Banks.