Scottish Survey of Achievement: 2005 English Language and Core Skills

Scottish Survey of Achievement: 2005 English Language and Core Skills - Practitioner's Report

Section J: Teacher questionnaire results

J.1 The respondents

A total of 2108 primary and secondary teachers responded to the questionnaire: 249 S2 English teachers, 243 S2 mathematics teachers, and 1616 primary class teachers. Over 90% of the primary class teachers were female (over 95% at P3). At S2, 74% of the responding teachers were female compared with 56% in mathematics.

Throughout the following sections, findings are presented as sample statistics, not weighted estimates.

J.2 Teaching experience

Tables J1 and J2 show, respectively, the results of the enquiries into length of teaching experience and time in current post.

Table J1
Length of teaching experience
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

How long have you been teaching?	Stage	< 1 year	1-5 years	> 5 years
English language	S2	4	18	78
	P7	3	12	85
	P5	5	13	82
	P3	6	14	80
Mathematics	S2	2	13	85
	P7	1	14	85
	P5	9	13	78
	P3	5	10	85

There are no statistically significant differences in length of teaching experience between stages or between subjects.

Table J2
Time in current post
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

How long have you been in your current post?	Stage	< 1 year	1-5 years	> 5 years
English language	S2	14	29	57
	P7	15	22	63
	P5	18	24	58
	P3	18	20	62
Mathematics	S2	10	28	62
	P7	11	30	59
	P5	21	24	55
	P3	13	22	66

There are no statistically significant differences in time in current post between stages or between subjects.

J.3 Time spent in teaching and preparation

Table J3
Time spent teaching
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

How much time do you spend teaching [subject] at [stage] in a typical week?	Stage	< 1 hour	1- 5 hours	6-10 hours	> 10 hours
English language	S2	4	84	8	4
	P7	1	32	64	3
	P5	1	36	59	4
	P3	2	33	61	4
Mathematics	S2	2	85	9	4
	P7	2	56	41	2
	P5	2	58	39	<1
	P3	1	64	33	2

There is a statistically significant sector difference in each subject, and between subjects in the primary school, but no difference between subjects at S2.

Table J4
Time spent in preparation
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

How much time do you spend in preparation in [subject] at [stage] in a typical week?	Stage	< 1 hour	1- 5 hours	6-10 hours	> 10 hours
English language	S2	12	78	6	4
	P7	4	84	9	3
	P5	4	88	6	2
	P3	3	86	9	2
Mathematics	S2	12	80	6	2
	P7	5	84	8	3
	P5	6	87	7	<1
	P3	7	88	4	1

There is a statistically significant between sector difference in preparation time, but no subject difference in either sector.

J.4 Professional development

Tables J5 and J6 show, respectively, the results of the enquiries into the teachers' professional development: experience and satisfaction with opportunities.

Table J5
Professional development
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

Have you had any professional development in [subject] in the last two years?	Stage	Yes
English language	S2	67
	P7	78
	P5	77
	P3	82
Mathematics	S2	89
	P7	58
	P5	62
	P3	63

There are statistically significant sector differences in each subject, and also between subjects in each sector.

Table J6
Satisfaction with professional development opportunities
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

Are you satisfied with the number of professional development opportunities available to you in [subject]?	Stage	Yes
English language	S2	48
	P7	72
	P5	72
	P3	82
Mathematics	S2	51
	P7	72
	P5	69
	P3	73

There are no between subject differences here, but a statistically significant difference between sectors.

J.5 Pupils' lesson attendance, class behaviour and learning motivation

Table J7
Pupils' lesson attendance
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

Please indicate your opinion about your pupils' lesson attendance (in general):	Stage	Very good	Good	Poor	Very poor
English language	S2	47	50	3	0
	P7	72	27	1	0
	P5	67	31	2	0
	P3	64	35	1	0
Mathematics	S2	40	56	4	0
	P7	67	32	1	0
	P5	62	38	1	0
	P3	65	34	1	<1

There is a statistically significant difference in pupils' lesson attendance between the primary school and S2, but no subject-related differences.

Table J8
Pupils' behaviour in class
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

Please indicate your opinion about your pupils' behaviour (in general):	Stage	Very good	Good	Poor	Very poor
English language	S2	24	68	6	2
	P7	42	51	6	1
	P5	48	48	3	0
	P3	46	48	5	0
Mathematics	S2	24	64	11	1
	P7	44	53	3	<1
	P5	39	56	5	1
	P3	47	50	3	<1

There is a statistically significant difference in pupils' class behaviour between the primary school and S2, but no subject-related differences

Table J9
Pupils' motivation to learn
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

Please indicate your opinion about your pupils' motivation to learn (in general):	Stage	Very good	Good	Poor	Very poor
English language	S2	20	70	9	1
	P7	39	57	4	0
	P5	50	48	2	0
	P3	53	45	2	0
Mathematics	S2	19	58	22	1
	P7	40	58	2	<1
	P5	46	50	4	0
	P3	55	44	<1	1

There is a clear downward trend in pupils' motivation to learn as pupils progress through their schooling.

J.6 Use of and experience with 5-14 National Assessments

Table J10
Degree of coincidence between National Assessment results and own level judgments
(% giving each response: 250-300 teachers per group)

If you use National Assessments with your [stage] pupils, for how many pupils would you say the test results and your own judgments coincide?	Stage	Fewer than half	Over half	The majority	Almost all
Reading	S2	2	11	54	33
	P7	0	5	41	54
	P5	<1	2	40	57
	P3	1	3	35	61
Writing	S2	4	17	47	32
	P7	<1	8	43	49
	P5	2	6	38	54
	P3	0	1	37	62
Mathematics	S2	<1	8	56	35
	P7	0	2	41	57
	P5	0	2	48	50
	P3	1	1	38	60

There are statistically significant primary-S2 differences for all subjects.

J.7 Characteristics of subject lessons

Table J11a
Frequency of activities in English Language lessons
(% teachers giving indicated responses: 239 P3 teachers, 247 P5, 274 P7, 249 S2)

For English Language at [stage], how often do pupils spend time…	Stage	during most lessons	most weeks	once- twice/ term	once a year or less
with the whole class being taught by you	S2	64	36	0	0
	P7	43	52	5	1
	P5	40	57	3	0
	P3	51	42	6	<1
in a small group being taught by you	S2	5	34	50	12
	P7	44	53	3	<1
	P5	48	49	2	0
	P3	66	32	2	<1
talking on their own with you	S2	13	48	31	8
	P7	15	60	22	3
	P5	18	58	22	1
	P3	23	60	16	1
working in a group on a shared task	S2	8	61	30	1
	P7	11	71	17	<1
	P5	15	71	13	<1
	P3	14	64	21	<1
working with a partner on a shared task	S2	14	74	12	<1
	P7	7	73	18	1
	P5	10	71	19	<1
	P3	7	69	24	<1
working quietly on their own	S2	40	59	1	0
	P7	46	52	2	0
	P5	49	50	1	0
	P3	57	42	1	<1
working at a computer with partner/small group	S2	0	18	58	24
	P7	4	65	28	3
	P5	2	65	30	3
	P3	3	64	30	2
working at a computer on their own	S2	<1	28	48	24
	P7	4	61	32	3
	P5	3	63	29	5
	P3	3	58	33	6
reading textbooks or reference books	S2	21	62	15	2
	P7	30	66	4	0
	P5	27	70	3	0
	P3	25	68	7	0

There are statistically significant sector differences for all activities, with the exception of 'working with a partner or in a group on a shared task'. Statistically significant differences appear between P3 and P5/P7 for 'being taught' as a whole class or in a small group.

Table J11b
Frequency of activities in English Language lessons
(% teachers giving indicated responses: 239 P3 teachers, 247 P5, 274 P7, 249 S2)

For English Language at [stage], how often do pupils spend time…	Stage	during most lessons	most weeks	once- twice/ term	once a year or less
writing in their jotters or files	S2	72	27	<1	0
	P7	67	33	<1	0
	P5	64	36	0	0
	P3	69	31	0	0
completing worksheets	S2	13	57	26	4
	P7	10	67	20	3
	P5	17	68	14	1
	P3	32	59	9	0
talking with other pupils about a topic	S2	21	68	11	0
	P7	18	69	12	<1
	P5	15	73	12	0
	P3	17	67	15	<1
making or using maps, pictures or diagrams	S2	1	20	57	22
	P7	1	52	45	2
	P5	2	59	38	1
	P3	2	53	41	3
handling objects or artefacts	S2	0	3	27	70
	P7	<1	13	71	15
	P5	1	17	67	15
	P3	0	27	65	8
watching/responding to TV, radio, video-audio	S2	<1	17	77	6
	P7	<1	34	60	5
	P5	<1	40	53	6
	P3	<1	46	47	7
using tools/instruments to investigate things	S2	0	1	10	89
	P7	0	13	64	23
	P5	<1	19	57	23
	P3	0	21	61	18
working in the school grounds	S2	<1	<1	3	96
	P7	<1	5	45	50
	P5	1	5	49	45
	P3	0	5	56	39
visiting places outside the school	S2	0	<1	13	87
	P7	0	2	56	42
	P5	0	1	54	45
	P3	0	<1	52	47

There are statistically significant sector or stage differences for all activities, with the exception of 'writing in jotters or files' and 'talking with other pupils about a topic'. P3 pupils significantly more often than P5/P7 pupils spent time 'completing worksheets' and 'handling objects and artefacts'.

Table J12a
Frequency of activities in Mathematics lessons
(% teachers giving indicated responses: 293 P3 teachers, 306 P5, 257 P7, 243 S2)

For Mathematics at [stage], how often do pupils spend time…	Stage	during most lessons	most weeks	once- twice/ term	once a year or less
with the whole class being taught by you	S2	93	7	<1	0
	P7	36	45	16	3
	P5	40	41	14	5
	P3	46	43	8	3
in a small group being taught by you	S2	7	25	43	25
	P7	70	28	2	<1
	P5	68	29	2	<1
	P3	71	25	4	0
talking on their own with you	S2	33	40	18	9
	P7	33	53	13	<1
	P5	35	55	9	1
	P3	35	57	8	1
working in a group on a shared task	S2	1	21	56	22
	P7	16	64	20	0
	P5	17	62	21	0
	P3	14	66	20	<1
working with a partner on a shared task	S2	4	29	49	18
	P7	9	71	19	<1
	P5	9	64	27	1
	P3	4	67	29	<1
working quietly on their own	S2	80	17	1	2
	P7	64	35	1	0
	P5	67	32	<1	0
	P3	65	33	1	<1
working at a computer with partner/small group	S2	<1	12	34	53
	P7	3	55	39	3
	P5	2	54	39	5
	P3	4	62	30	4
working at a computer on their own	S2	2	17	26	55
	P7	5	46	42	7
	P5	4	47	42	7
	P3	5	60	30	5
reading textbooks or reference books	S2	43	11	9	37
	P7	45	45	5	4
	P5	47	44	5	4
	P3	26	61	9	4

There are statistically significant sector differences for all activities, but no stage differences within the primary school, with the exception of computer use, which was significantly more common at P3 than at P5/P7, and reading textbooks/reference books, which featured less at P3.

Table J12b
Frequency of activities in Mathematics lessons
(% teachers giving indicated responses: 293 P3 teachers, 306 P5, 257 P7, 243 S2)

For Mathematics at [stage], how often do pupils spend time…	Stage	during most lessons	most weeks	once- twice/ term	once a year or less
writing in their jotters or files	S2	95	4	1	0
	P7	77	23	0	0
	P5	79	21	0	0
	P3	61	38	1	0
completing worksheets	S2	10	47	39	4
	P7	14	74	12	0
	P5	20	73	7	0
	P3	25	70	5	0
talking with other pupils about a topic	S2	15	37	29	19
	P7	20	63	15	2
	P5	23	56	19	1
	P3	17	68	14	1
making or using maps, pictures or diagrams	S2	12	44	35	9
	P7	2	52	45	<1
	P5	3	44	52	1
	P3	2	43	54	1
handling objects or artefacts	S2	1	6	44	49
	P7	0	29	55	16
	P5	2	28	60	9
	P3	3	37	54	5
watching/responding to TV, radio, video-audio	S2	0	2	25	73
	P7	0	13	34	54
	P5	0	10	41	49
	P3	0	20	44	36
using tools/instruments to investigate things	S2	<1	19	49	32
	P7	3	37	60	<1
	P5	2	35	57	6
	P3	2	35	62	1
working in the school grounds	S2	0	<1	9	91
	P7	<1	5	63	32
	P5	0	6	62	32
	P3	0	2	64	34
visiting places outside the school	S2	0	<1	2	98
	P7	0	1	22	77
	P5	0	0	21	79
	P3	0	1	30	69

There are statistically significant sector differences for all activities, and several significant stage differences within the primary school: P3 pupils significantly less often than P5/P7 spent time 'writing in jotters or files' and significantly more time 'completing worksheets', 'handling objects & artefacts', experiencing multimedia (a clear stage trend here, P3 to S2) and 'visiting places outside school'.

J.8 Resource use in subject teaching

Table J13
Frequency of use of different resources in English Language lessons
(% teachers giving indicated responses: 239 P3 teachers, 247 P5, 274 P7, 249 S2)

For English Language at [stage], how much use do you make of …	Stage	during most lessons	most weeks	once- twice/term	once a year or less
commercial textbooks/resource packs	S2	13	62	20	5
	P7	49	46	4	<1
	P5	49	49	2	0
	P3	55	42	2	<1
National Guidelines 5-14	S2	28	45	22	4
	P7	50	34	15	1
	P5	43	32	23	2
	P3	46	32	23	2
your own local authority 5-14 guidelines	S2	17	28	27	28
	P7	32	35	25	8
	P5	34	35	21	10
	P3	37	33	21	10
materials produced by another local authority	S2	<1	10	38	51
	P7	6	30	36	28
	P5	3	34	30	33
	P3	5	38	30	27
materials produced by a teachers' group/assoc.	S2	1	12	38	49
	P7	1	21	38	40
	P5	3	21	35	41
	P3	6	21	36	37
materials produced by another school/dept	S2	1	9	42	47
	P7	<1	12	40	47
	P5	1	13	33	53
	P3	1	11	35	53
the school's/dept's own course materials	S2	51	42	5	2
	P7	16	41	18	25
	P5	14	43	22	21
	P3	18	46	19	17
course materials you have written yourself	S2	51	41	7	1
	P7	9	45	33	13
	P5	9	46	34	11
	P3	17	51	22	10
5-14 National Assessments	S2	2	9	57	32
	P7	<1	5	60	35
	P5	1	7	58	34
	P3	4	5	48	44

There are statistically significant sector differences for all resources, with the exception of 'materials produced by another school/department', where the difference is between P3/P5 and P7/S2. Within primary schools, National Assessments were used significantly less often and self-produced course materials significantly more often at P3 than at P5/P7.

Table J14
Frequency of use of different resources in mathematics lessons
(% teachers giving indicated responses: 293 P3 teachers, 306 P5, 257 P7, 243 S2)

For Mathematics at [stage], how much use do you make of …	Stage	during most lessons	most weeks	once- twice/term	once a year or less
commercial textbooks/resource packs	S2	93	6	1	0
	P7	84	16	0	0
	P5	83	17	0	0
	P3	74	25	1	0
National Guidelines 5-14	S2	56	22	14	8
	P7	57	25	17	1
	P5	47	31	20	2
	P3	51	27	19	3
your own local authority 5-14 guidelines	S2	31	18	14	37
	P7	52	26	14	8
	P5	47	27	14	12
	P3	46	27	17	11
materials produced by another local authority	S2	<1	6	24	69
	P7	11	17	26	36
	P5	11	23	29	37
	P3	13	16	30	41
materials produced by a teachers' group/assoc.	S2	6	12	27	55
	P7	6	18	25	51
	P5	4	19	29	48
	P3	4	17	30	49
materials produced by another school/dept	S2	1	6	29	64
	P7	2	8	24	66
	P5	2	9	29	60
	P3	1	6	26	67
the school's/dept's own course materials	S2	42	37	17	4
	P7	18	29	22	31
	P5	19	24	23	34
	P3	18	37	18	26
course materials you have written yourself	S2	20	36	33	11
	P7	7	37	39	16
	P5	8	39	35	18
	P3	12	51	28	10
5-14 National Assessments	S2	2	1	34	63
	P7	2	6	42	50
	P5	2	3	44	51
	P3	2	4	39	55

There are statistically significant sector differences for all resources, with the exception of 'materials produced by a teachers' group/association' and 'materials produced by another school/department'. Within primary schools, National Assessments were used significantly less often and self-produced course materials significantly more often at P3 than at P5/P7.

Page updated: Thursday, June 29, 2006

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