Publications

Publications from the Best practice in grouping students research project.

Books | Journal articles | Reports and resources | Media coverage | Podcasts and live events 

Books

• B, Francis., B, Taylor. and A. Tereshchenko. (2019). Reassessing ‘ability’ grouping: improving practice for equity and attainment’ 

Journal articles

• Attainment grouping in English secondary schools: A national survey of current practices. July 2020
• The impact of tracking by attainment on pupil self-confidence over time: demonstrating the accumulative impact of self-fulfilling prophecy. June 2020
• The misallocation of students to academic sets in maths: A study of secondary schools in England. June 2019 
• Students' university aspirations and attainment grouping in secondary schools. January 2019 
• 'The reality is complex': teachers' and school leaders' accounts and justifications of grouping practices in the English key stage 2 classroom. January 2019
• Teacher ‘quality’ and attainment grouping: The role of within-school teacher deployment in social and educational inequality. October 2018
• Nurturing learning or encouraging dependency? Teacher constructions of students in lower attainment groups in English secondary schools. March 2018
• Learners' attitudes to mixed-attainment grouping: examining the views of students of high, middle and low attainment. March 2018
• The symbolic violence of setting: A Bourdieusian analysis of mixed methods data on secondary students' views about setting. January 2018
• Why is it Difficult for Schools to Establish Equitable Practices in Allocating Students to Attainment 'Sets'? January 2018 
• Attainment Grouping as self-fulfilling prophesy? A mixed method exploration of self-confidence and set level among Year 7 students. October 2017
• Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice. November 2016
• Exploring the relative lack of impact research on 'ability grouping' in England: a discourse analytic account. January 2016

Reports and resources

• Remote mathematics teaching during COVID-19: intentions, practices and equity. IOE: London, UK. September 2020
• Dos and Don'ts of Attainment Grouping. UCL Institute of Education: London, UK. 2018
• Developing Best Practice in Mixed Attainment English. UCL Institute of Education: London. 2018
• Best Practice in Mixed-Attainment Grouping Resource Book. 2015

Media coverage

• The importance of children’s academic self-perception. Tes. October 2020
• Have you got your attainment groupings right this term? Tes. September 2020
• How are maths departments responding to the challenge of blended learning? Schools Week. September 2020
• Opportunities to learn maths in lockdown were limited, research shows. UCL Institute of Education. September 2020
• Ability setting 'widens students' self-confidence gap'. Tes. June 2020
• Classes set by ability are hitting children’s self-confidence, study finds. Taylor & Francis Group. June 2020
• How schools can address social inequality. Tes. November 2019
• 4 questions you need to ask about ability grouping. Tes. September 2019
• Setting would not exist in an ideal world, says leading academic. Tes. March 2019
• Tes people of the year 2018: Becky Francis. Tes. December 2018
• Black students more likely to be incorrectly put in lower ability maths set, new research finds. Independent. September 2018
• Pupils ‘learn best together not in sets’. The Times. September 2018
• Low teacher expectations 'hindering' bottom-set pupils, research finds. Tes. March 2018
• We Need to Break the 'Class Ceiling' in UK Politics. VICE. March 2018
• Selective schooling might not be lifting anyone, study finds. The Sydney Morning Herald. March 2018
• Setting pupils 'incompatible with social justice'. Tes. February 2018
• What every teacher needs to know about setting. Tes. February 2018
• Schools are harming low-ability pupils' chances by teaching in sets, academics say. Tes. September 2017
• Mixed-ability classes barely exist in schools, researchers find. Schools Week. September 2017
• Student allocation to maths sets not always based on previous achievement. Best Evidence in Brief. January 2017
• Ask The Expert: Explaining socio-economic inequalities in educational attainment. Social Market Foundation. November 2016
• BCF-BERA Routledge Curriculum Journal Prize. British Educational Research Association (BERA). October 2016
• Why grouping students doesn't work. Tes. November 2015
• ‘The glaring gap in the English education system is social class’. The Guardian. October 2015
• Better together? Leader Magazine. February 2015
• Why the problem with ability grouping might be how it's done. Tes. February 2015
• Becky Francis to lead UCL Institute of Education. Tes. February 2015 
• Teaching Matters More Than Setting. Sutton Trust. December 2014
• Setting by ability to be focus of major academic study. Tes. September 2014

Podcasts and live events

• Online Seminar: School contexts, grouping practices and social (in)equality - keynote at University of Helsinki 5 May 2021
• Attainment Grouping with Dr Becky Taylor. Teachers Education Review. September 2020
• Attainment grouping and maths: learning from mistakes. Research for the Real World. August 2020
• Lunch Hour Lecture: Impact of tracking school pupils by 'ability' on educational & social inequality. UCL Institute of Education. October 2019
• Examining the impact of ability grouping (Soundcloud website). UCL Institute of Education. September 2019
• Setting with Becky Francis. Tes Podagogy. February 2018