'Bridging work' and its role in improving progression and continuity: an example from science education

Science in English primary schools has been judged a success, yet few pupils make the progress in secondary schools that their performance at the end of primary school suggested. Projects where pupils start science work at the end of the primary school and complete it at the start of secondary schoo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British educational research journal 2007-12, Vol.33 (6), p.905-926
Main Author: Braund, Martin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Australia
Classroom communication
Educational research
Elementary education
Elementary school students
Elementary Schools
England
English Instruction
English language
Finland
Foreign Countries
Mathematics Instruction
Primary education
Retention (Psychology)
Science Education
Science Instruction
Science teachers
Secondary school curricula
Secondary school students
Secondary schools
Social impact
Student behavior
Student Reaction
Student teacher relationship
Students
Teacher Attitudes
Teaching Methods
Transfer Students
United Kingdom
United States
Wales
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Summary:Science in English primary schools has been judged a success, yet few pupils make the progress in secondary schools that their performance at the end of primary school suggested. Projects where pupils start science work at the end of the primary school and complete it at the start of secondary school-known as bridging units-have been suggested as one solution. This article reports an evaluation of bridging work in science in the north-east of England. Pupils' and teachers' views of bridging lessons were collected and data on pupils' performance before and after bridging lessons compared. Claims that pupils find this type of work repetitive and that their teachers would rather teach something else either side of transfer are challenged. Findings highlight areas that are still problematic, including the use made of transferred assessments and progression in pupils' abilities, to comment on relationships between variables and patterns in data. The future for bridging work is discussed.
ISSN:0141-1926
1469-3518
DOI:10.1080/01411920701657025