From Leaving CertiFiCate to Leaving SChooL a Longitudinal Study ...

Leaving Certificate Exam Performance 121
The first model is a baseline model, that is, it presents the average
grade across schools without taking account of prior differences in the
students attending each school. It indicates that the average exam score
across the case-study schools is 16 (out of a maximum of 28), equivalent
to an average of a B2 grade on an ordinary level paper. The school-level
variance term is statistically significant, that is, the twelve schools vary
significantly in their raw student exam scores. Comparing the schooland
student-level variances indicates that 27 per cent of the variation in
exam scores is between schools and 73 per cent between individuals
within schools. Model 2 looks at the effects of characteristics prior to
second-level entry, namely, gender, social class background and prior
achievement. Prior achievement is measured on the basis of student performance
in the Drumcondra Level 6 (sixth class of primary school)
reading and mathematics tests, taken by the student cohort on entry to
second-level education. These standardised tests were developed for
primary school-children in Ireland, with national norms derived for different
year groups. Using these test scores as measures of prior achievement
allows us to explore which school factors influence later achievement
relative to students’ initial starting-point.
In model 2, students from professional backgrounds are found to
achieve significantly higher grades than other students, even relative to
their initial starting-point in terms of test scores on entry. Test scores in
the Drumcondra reading and maths tests are also predictive of later
Leaving Certificate performance, with higher-scoring students achieving
significantly higher exam grades five to six years later. Comparing the
variances between models 1 and 2, we can see that student intake factors
explain over half (58 per cent) of the initial difference between schools.
Thus, much of the ‘raw’ difference between schools is due to differences
in the kinds of students who attend that school but significant differences
remain between schools serving similar groups of students (in keeping
with previous Irish research, see Smyth, 2009). Gender, social background
and prior reading/maths score are found to account for 22 per
cent of the initial variation between individual students.
Models 3 to 6 allow us to explore the school-level processes which
enhance achievement, over and above the effects of gender, social class
and prior achievement; in other words, they indicate which school fac-