Qualifications
- BA in Natural Sciences (Class 2 division 1) from Cambridge University, 1968.
- MSc in Statistics (Distinction) from Birkbeck College, University of London, 1974.
- PhD as a member of academic staff from Loughborough University of Technology, 1982. Thesis title: ‘Theory and Applications of Multidimensional Stationary Stochastic Processes’.
- Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and Chartered Statistician.
Career History
| 1968-77 | Petroleum Reservoir Engineer with British Petroleum Co. Ltd, in Great Yarmouth, Sunbury-on-Thames and London. |
| 1977-86 | Lecturer in Statistics and Operations Research in the Computer Studies Department at Loughborough University of Technology. |
| 1982-83 | Exchange Professor in the Mathematics Department of Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, USA. |
| 1986-96 | Senior Statistician at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). |
| 1996-2008 | Head of Statistics at NFER. |
| 2008-2009 | Chief Research Analyst, Research Division, Ministry of Education, New Zealand |
| 2009-2010 | Chief Research Analyst, Assessment & Qualifications Team, Schooling Group, Ministry of Education, New Zealand |
| 2011-2012 | Volunteer consultant with Omega Schools, Greater Accra, Ghana, helping to develop systems for analysing and reporting assessment data |
| Nov 2013-date | Educational and statistical consultant with ERA Educational Research and Analysis |
Details of Recent Positions
In April 2008 I retired as Head of Statistics and manager of the NFER’s Statistics Research and Analysis Group, responsible for fourteen qualified statisticians and for the analysis of all data connected to the Foundation’s research projects.
From April 2008 until April 2009 I worked with the Research Division of the New Zealand Ministry of Education, as Chief Research Analyst. My role involved capacity building for analysts in the division, helping with the analysis of international and other datasets, and advising on assessment and general educational issues.
In September 2009 I returned to New Zealand and the Ministry of Education, to work this time in the Assessment and Qualifications team of the Schooling Group, handling both technical and policy issues, mainly concerned with the introduction of the new National Standards.
In October 2011 I went to work as a volunteer with Omega Schools, a group of low-cost schools on the western outskirts of Accra. I worked with them for a year, developing systems to analyse the results of regular assessments and present to teachers and school management in ways which would enhance teaching and learning. I worked with local staff to improve their capacity to carry our such work independently.
In November 2013 I joined up with three other highly-experienced ex-colleagues from NFER to form ERA Educational Research and Analysis, a partnership of educational and statistical consultants. We have been engaged to provide expert assistance in proposal development for DfID and ESRC, as well as providing psychometric backup for NFER. I was also engaged by Omega Schools to produce feedback for teachers and school managers based on the mid-term tests taken in February 2014.
Selected Publications
SCHAGEN, I. (1990). ‘A method for the age standardisation of test scores’, Applied Psychological Measurement, 14, 4, 387–93.
SCHAGEN, I. (1990). ‘Analysis of the effects of school variables using multilevel models’, Educational Studies, 16, 1, 61–73.
SCHAGEN, I. (1991). ‘Beyond league tables. How modern statistical methods can give a truer picture of the effects of schools’, Educational Research, 33, 3, 216–22.
SCHAGEN, I. (1993). ‘Problems in measuring the reliability of National Curriculum assessment in England and Wales’, Educational Studies, 19, 1, 41–54.
SCHAGEN, I. (1994). ‘Graphical representation of the reliability of National Curriculum assessment.’ In: HUTCHISON, D. and SCHAGEN, I. How Reliable is National Curriculum Assessment? Slough: NFER.
SCHAGEN, I. (1994). ‘Multi–level analysis of the key stage 1 National Curriculum assessment data in 1991 and 1992’, Oxford Review of Education, 20, 2, 163–71.
HUTCHISON, D. and SCHAGEN, I. (1994). How Reliable is National Curriculum Assessment? Slough: NFER.
SCHAGEN, I. and HUTCHISON, D. (1994). ‘Measuring the reliability of National Curriculum assessment’, Educational Research, 36, 3, 211–21.
SAINSBURY, M., SCHAGEN, I. and WHETTON, C. (1995). ‘Issues in the evaluation of standard assessment tasks and the reliability of National Curriculum assessment’, British Educational Research Journal, 21, 2, 237–40.
SCHAGEN, I. (1995). ‘In the premier league’, Education Guardian, 23 May.
SCHAGEN, I. and SAINSBURY, M. (1996). ‘Multilevel analysis of the key stage 1 National Curriculum assessment data in 1995’, Oxford Review of Education, 22, 3, 265–72.
SCHAGEN, I.. (1997). ‘Value added taxes the statisticians’, Times Educ. Suppl., 4210, 7 March, 14.
BROOKS, G., SCHAGEN, I. and NASTAT, P. (1997). Trends in Reading at Eight: a Report on the 1995 Survey of Reading Attainment in Year 3 in England and Wales. Slough: NFER.
SAINSBURY, M., WHETTON, C., MASON, K. and SCHAGEN, I. (1998). ‘Fallback in attainment on transfer at age 11: evidence from the Summer Literacy Schools evaluation’, Educational Research, 40, 1, 73–81.
SCHAGEN, I. and MORRISON, J. (1998). QUASE: Quantitative Analysis for Self–Evaluation. Overview Report 1997: Analysis of GCSE Cohorts 1994 to 1996. Slough: NFER.
SCHAGEN, I. and WESTON, P. (1998). ‘Insights into school effectiveness from analysis of OFSTED’s school inspection database’, Oxford Review of Education, 24, 3, 337–44.
SCHAGEN, I. (1998). ‘Statistics for dummies’, Managing Schools Today, 8, 3, 33–4.
SCHAGEN, I. (1999). ‘An inexact science’, Managing Schools Today, 8, 5, 24–6.
SCHAGEN, I. (1999). ‘Large can – not many worms: an evaluation of the role of age–standardised scores in the presentation of assessment data’, British Educational Research Journal, 25, 5, 691–702.
SCHAGEN, I. (1999). ‘Testing, testing testing’, Managing Schools Today, 8, 4, 28–9.
SCHAGEN, I. (1999). ‘True lies’, Managing Schools Today, 8, 6, 42–3.
SCHAGEN, I. and MORRISON, J. (1999). ‘A methodology for judging departmental performance within schools’, Educational Research, 41, 1, 3–10.
SCHAGEN, I., SAINSBURY, M. and STRAND, S. (1999). ‘Statistical aspects of baseline assessment and its relationship to end of key stage one assessment’, Oxford Review of Education, 25, 3, 359–67.
SAINSBURY, M., SCHAGEN, I., WHETTON, C. and CASPALL, L. (1999). ‘An investigation of hierarchical relationships in children’s literacy attainments at baseline’, Journal of Research in Reading, 22, 1, 45–54.
SCHAGEN, I. (2000). Statistics for School Managers. Westley: Courseware Publications.
FELGATE, R., MINNIS, M. and SCHAGEN, I. (2000). ‘Some results from the analysis of data from the National Numeracy Project’, Research Papers in Education, 15, 2, 163–84.
SCHAGEN, I. (2002). ‘Attitudes to citizenship in England: multilevel statistical analysis of the IEA civics data’, Research Papers in Education, 17, 3, 229–59.
SCHAGEN, I. (2002). ‘Well, what do you know?’ Education Journal, 63, 27–8.
SCHAGEN, I., KENDALL, L. and SHARP, C. (2002). ‘Measuring the success of “Playing for Success”’, Educational Research, 44, 3, 255–67.
SCHAGEN, I. and GOLDSTEIN, H. (2002). ‘Do specialist schools add value? Some methodological problems’, Research Intelligence, 80, 12–15.
SCHAGEN, I & HUTCHISON, D. (2003) “Adding value in educational research – the marriage of data and analytical power”, in British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 29, No. 5, pp. 749-765.
SCHAGEN, I. and SCHAGEN, S. (2002). ‘A fair comparison: selective v. comprehensive education’, Education Journal, 60, 26–7, 30.
SCHAGEN, I. and SCHAGEN, S. (2002). ‘What kind of school is best?’ NFER News, Autumn, 10.
SCHAGEN, S., DAVIES, D., RUDD, P. and SCHAGEN, I. (2002). The Impact of Specialist and Faith Schools on Performance (LGA Research Report 28). Slough: NFER.
SHARP, C., KENDALL, L. & SCHAGEN, I. (2003) “Different for girls? An exploration of the impact of Playing for Success”, in Educational Research, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp.309-324.
SCHAGEN, I. and SCHAGEN, S. (2003). ‘Analysis of national value–added datasets to estimate the impact of specialist schools on pupil performance’, Educational Studies, 29 , 1, 3–18.
SCHAGEN, I. & SCHAGEN, S. (2003) Evidence to House of Commons, in Secondary Education: Diversity of Provision, 4th Report of Select Committee on Education, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmeduski/94/94.pdf
SCHAGEN, I. & SCHAGEN, S. (2003) “Analysis of national value-added datasets to assess the impact of selection on pupil performance”, in British Educational Research Journal, Vol.29, No.4, pp.561-582.a
SCHAGEN, I. & SCHAGEN, S. (2003) “Analysis of national value-added datasets to estimate the impact of specialist schools on pupil performance”, in Educational Studies, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp.3-18.
SCHAGEN, I. (2004) “Data – does it really speak for itself?”, in TOPIC, Spring 2004, Issue 31.
SCHAGEN, I. (2004) “Multilevel analysis of PIRLS data for England”, in Proceedings of the IRC-2004 (IEA International Research Conference), Nicosia, Cyprus, Volume 3, pp.82-102.
SCHAGEN, I. (2004) “Further statistical analysis of the IEA Civics data to investigate attitudes to citizenship in England”, in Proceedings of the IRC-2004 (IEA International Research Conference), Nicosia, Cyprus, Volume 4, pp.115-125.
SCHAGEN, I. (2004) “Presenting the Results of Complex Models – Normalised Coefficients, Star Wars Plots, and Other Ideas”, in But What Does it Mean? The Use of Effect Sizes in Educational Research (editors Schagen, I. & Elliot, K.). Slough: NFER, pp.25-41.
SCHAGEN, I. & ELLIOT, K. (2004) But What Does it Mean? The Use of Effect Sizes in Educational Research (editors). Slough: NFER
SCHAGEN, I. and SCOTT, E. (2004). ‘Study of the performance of maintained secondary schools in England’, NFER News, Spring, 7.
SAINSBURY, M. & SCHAGEN, I. (2004) ‘Attitudes to reading at ages nine and eleven’, in Journal of Research in Reading, Vol. 27, Issue 4, pp.373-386.
TWIST, L., GNALDI, M., SCHAGEN, I. & MORRISON, J. (2004) ‘Good readers but at a cost? Attitudes to reading in England’ in Journal of Research in Reading, Vol. 27, Issue 4, pp.387-400.
GRAY, M., SCHAGEN, I., & CHARLES, M. (2004) ‘Tracking pupil progress from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2: how much do the ‘route’ taken and the primary school attended matter?’, Research Papers in Education, 19, 4, 389-413.
SHARP, C., SCHAGEN, I. & SCOTT, E. (2004) Playing for Success: The Longer Term Impact. A Multilevel Analysis. London: DfES (Research Report 593).
RUDDOCK, G., STURMAN, L., SCHAGEN, I., STYLES, B., GNALDI, M. & VAPPULA, H. (2004) Where England Stands in the trends in international mathematics and science study (TIMMSS) 2003. London: DfES. See: http://www.nfer.ac.uk/research/timms/full_report.pdf
SCHAGEN, I. (2004) “Improving schools through data. Part 2: How is it going to work?”, in Managing Schools Today, November/December 2004, pp.49-51.
SCHAGEN, I., BENTON, T. & RUTT, S. (2004) Study of Attendance in England: Report for the National Audit Office [online].
SCHAGEN, I. & SCHAGEN, S. (2005) ‘The impact of faith schools on pupil performance’, in Faith Schools: Consensus or Conflict? (Gardner, J., Cairns, J. & Lawton, D. eds) London: RoutledgeFalmer.
GNALDI, M.; SCHAGEN, I., TWIST, L. & MORRISON, J. (2005) “Attitude items and low ability students: the need for a cautious approach to interpretation”, in Educational Studies, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 103-113.
SCHAGEN, I., RUDD, P., RIDLEY, K., JUDKINS, M., JONES, G. & HUTCHISON, D. (2005) Review of Schools Education Statistics. Report to Statistics Commission.
SCHAGEN, I & SCHAGEN, S. (2005) “Combining multilevel analysis with national value-added data sets – a case study to explore the effects of school diversity”, in British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp.309-328.
NODEN, P. and SCHAGEN, I. (2006). ‘The Specialist Schools Programme: golden goose or conjuring trick?’ Oxford Review of Education, 32, 4, 431–448.
SCHAGEN, I. & SCHAGEN, S. (2006). ‘Using national value-added datasets to explore the effects of school diversity.’ In: Hewlett, M., Pring, R. and Tulloch, M. (Eds) Comprehensive Education: Evolution, Achievement and New Directions. Northampton: Centre for the Study of Comprehensive Schools.
SCHAGEN, I. (2006) ‘The use of standardized residuals to derive value-added measures of school performance’, in Educational Studies, Vol.32, No.2, June 2006, pp.119-132.
SCHAGEN, I. (2006). ‘Statistical literacy is the essential skill for educational managers’, Education Journal, 98, 21.
SCHAGEN, I. & RIDLEY, K . (2006) ‘How good are our educational statistics?’, in Practical Research for Education, Issue 35, May 2006, pp. 62-67.
SCHAGEN, I. & SAVORY, C. (2006) “Post-16 Education: shining a light on the effects of different patterns of provision”, in Education Journal, Issue 95, June 2006, pp.33-35.
SCHAGEN, I. (2006). ‘The devil is in the detail: what can experience tell us about the use of data to facilitate the new relationship with schools?’ In: Department for Education and Skills Department for Education and Skills Research Conference 2005: ‘Putting the Evidence into Education, Skills and Children’s Well-being’ (Research Report CR2005) [online]. Available: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/general/CR2005.pdf [7 August, 2006].
SCHAGEN, I., LOPES, J., RUTT, S., SAVORY, C. and STYLES, B. (2006). Evaluating Patterns of Post-16 Provision [online]. Available: http://nfer.ac.uk/publications/pdfs/downloadable/esq.pdf [5 July, 2006].
SCHAGEN, I. and BENTON, T. (2006). ‘Don’t judge schools purely on raw attendance data or examination results’, Education Journal, 96, 30–31.
SCHAGEN, I. (2006). Review of Data Systems Underpinning DfES SR2004 PSA Targets. London: DfES. [online]. Available: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STA/t000700/SFR2004_PSA_TargetV1.pdf
SCHAGEN, I. and STYLES, B. (2006). ‘Value-added analysis is useful: a response to Gorard’, Research Intelligence, 96, 9.
SCHAGEN, I. and HUTCHISON, D. (2006) ‘Comparisons between PISA and TIMMS – Are we the Man with Two Watches?’, keynote address at IEA Research Conference, Washington DC, November 2006.
SCHAGEN, I., HUTCHISON, D. and HAMMOND, P. (2006). ‘League Tables and Health Checks: The Use of Statistical Data for School Accountability and Self-evaluation.’ In: DOBBELSTEIN, P. and NEIDHARDt, T. (Eds) Schools for Quality – What Data-based Approaches Can Contribute. Brussels: CIDREE/CVO.
Schagen, I., Lopes, J., Rutt, S., Savory, C. and Styles, B. (2006) Evaluating patterns of post-16 provision. London: Learning and Skills Network.
Schagen, I. ‘National and international performance data and government policy’, presented in the symposium ‘Optimising the impact of research on policy’ at BERA 2007, November 2007, London University Institute of Education.
Schagen, I. and Hutchison, D. (2007). ‘Comparisons between PISA and TIMSS – we could be the man with two watches’, Education Journal, 101, 34-35.
Schagen, I. (2007). ‘Why ‘data’ is singular’, RSS News, 35, 3, 1-2.
Schagen, I. (2007). ‘Comments on ‘Cognitive ability and school improvement”, Practical Research for Education, 38, October 2007, 34-36.
Hutchison, D. and Schagen, I. (2007). ‘Comparisons between PISA and TIMSS – are we the man with two watches?’ In: Loveless, T. (Ed) Lessons Learned : What international assessments tell us about math achievement. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institute Press.
Schagen, I. and Hutchison, D. (2008). ‘Multilevel modelling methods.’ In: Newton, P., Baird, J., Goldstein, H., Patrick, H. and Tymms, P. (Eds) Techniques for monitoring the comparability of examination standards. London: QCA.
Schagen, I. and Hutchison, D. (2008). ‘Response to commentaries on Chapter 10.’ In: Newton, P., Baird, J., Goldstein, H., Patrick, H. and Tymms, P. (Eds) Techniques for monitoring the comparability of examination standards. London: QCA.
Hutchison, D. and Schagen, I. (2008) ‘Concorde and discord: the art of multilevel modelling’ in International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 31, 1, 11-18.
Schagen, I. (2008) ‘What evidence is there from TIMSS about changes in the relationship between school decile and attainment?’, in in evidence, issue 16th July 2008, 1-3.
Schagen, I. and Lawes, E. (2009) ‘Well-being and educational level’, Education Counts Factsheet. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Tooley, J., Dixon, P., Shamsan, Y. and Schagen, I. (2010). ‘The relative quality and cost-effectiveness of private and public schools for low-income families: a case study in a developing country.’ In School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 21, 2, 117-144.
ERA 