Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This group of six surveys assesses children's attainments in a sample of English and Welsh primary and secondary schools. The children in each age group were given a battery of tests and the results related to detailed information on the schools attended and to background, biographical and personal information on each child. In the case of Welsh children, linguistic information was also included.

Main Topics:

This survey covers children in primary schools throughout England. Information consists of test scores on a variety of tests (specific test content is confidential and not deposited with the Data Archive, but descriptions follow): Number Concept: 22 items orally administered, designed to measure basic understanding using ideas adapted from Piaget's works on item content. Mechanical Arithmetic: four separate sub-tests of 20 items each on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, administered untimed on different occasions. Problem Arithmetic: 24 item untimed test orally administered. English Reading Comprehension: 30 sentence-completion items, the right answer to be selected by underlining one of four answers printed opposite each sentence. Further information obtained by means of a form sent to each school in sample for completion by class or head teacher includes: birth date; sex and school class of child; rating of amount of parental encouragement given (3-point scale); rating of parental occupation on a five-point scale (professional - managerial - unskilled etc.); number of terms of previous schooling and, if known, information as to whether attended nursery school or class. Information on school includes: type; size and denomination; age of school buildings; character of school locality; amenities provided and organization of classes and teaching within the school.

One-stage stratified or systematic random sample

schools as the sampling unit. The schools were those on the Ministry of Education list of maintained and assisted schools in England effective in January 1959. For each school chosen all children seven or older but not yet ten years old were selected. The strata were defined by type of area and by type of school; within each stratum the school was selected from the list by use of the relevant sampling interval for the stratum concerned

Educational measurements