%A Emer Smyth
%T Growing up in Ireland: National longitudinal study of children. Off to a good start? Primary school experiences and the transition to second-level education.
%X Primary schools can influence young people?s later engagement with education in a number of ways. First, having a positive experience of primary school and good relations with teachers can enhance children?s engagement with school and thus provide a firm foundation for later engagement. Secondly, having a positive experience of school subjects such as Irish and Maths at primary level is likely to influence young people?s attitudes to these subjects in the longer term. Thirdly, acquiring key skills in the form of literacy and numeracy provides the bedrock for later engagement with the second-level curriculum. The analyses presented in this report show that all of these factors came into play in shaping young people?s engagement with school at the age of 13. 

Having had conduct difficulties at age nine was associated with the nature of interaction with teachers four years later. However, teacher-student interaction was more strongly related to current levels of misbehaviour, suggesting some changes in the nature of student behaviour over the transition period. The frequency of positive interaction with teachers was associated with fewer transition difficulties among young people, while frequent negative interaction was related to transition difficulties among the most disadvantaged groups.

The study findings point to the importance of both primary and second-level experiences in shaping student perspectives and outcomes. Thus, even taking account of the profile of students, the individual primary and second-level school attended shape the nature of the transition and of skill development among young people.
%C Dublin
%D 2017
%I Stationery Office
%R Report 5
%L ndc28021

%T DEIS plan 2017.
%X The DEIS Plan 2017, which replaces the current Action Plan launched in 2005, sets out our vision for future intervention in the critical area of social inclusion in education policy.
%C Dublin
%D 2017
%I Department of Education and Skills
%L ndc27682

%A Karl O'Brien
%A Brian Foley
%T ?Its only weed?. Rethinking our response to young people?s cannabis use.
%X The origins of this report arose from the Equal Youth Initiative in Ballymun. Equal Youth aims to develop a model of inter-agency co-operation between service providers supporting young early school leavers between the ages of 16 and 24. In recent years, it had been noted that a particular profiled group of Equal Youth clients were not maintaining appointments and those who did attend were demonstrating low levels of motivation in key-working sessions with practitioners. The impact of this on retention and progression rates for this target group was concerning and needed further analysis to determine what factors were contributing to high drop off rates or poor progression options for this particular cohort.
%C Dublin
%D 2017
%I Ballymun Youth Action Project
%L ndc27246

%T Adolescent addiction service report 2016.
%C Dublin
%D 2016
%I Health Service Executive
%L ndc27959

%A Emer Smyth
%A Selina McCoy
%A Gillian Kingston
%T Learning from the evaluation of DEIS.
%C Dublin
%D 2015
%I Economic and Social Research Institute
%L ndc25567

%T Adolescent addiction service report 2014.
%C Dublin
%D 2014
%I Health Service Executive
%L ndc27961

%A Tunde Apantaku-Olajide
%A Philip James
%A Bobby P Smyth
%J Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse
%T Association of educational attainment and adolescent substance use disorder in a clinical sample.
%X This study explores substance use, psychosocial problems, and the relationships to educational status in 193 adolescents (school dropouts, 63; alternative education, 46; mainstream students, 84) who attended a substance abuse treatment facility in Dublin, Ireland. The study found that the 3 groups exhibited statistically significant differences in their substance use problems, with the school dropouts displaying significantly more problems. The need for early detection and intervention of at-risk students, and collaborative interagency work aimed at addressing substance use, cannot be overemphasized as strategies to ultimately prevent school dropout.
%N 3
%P 169-176
%V 23
%D 2014
%I Taylor & Francis
%L ndc21868

%A Tony Munton
%A Elaine Wedlock
%A Alan Gomersall
%T The efficacy and effectiveness of drug and alcohol abuse prevention programmes delivered outside of school settings.
%C Dublin
%D 2014
%I Health Research Board
%R HRB drug and alcohol evidence review 2
%L ndc23079

%A Nicola Tickner
%T Early leavers - What next?
%X Report on Early Leavers from Post-Primary schools ? pupils enrolled in 2009/2010 and not in 2010/2011.

This report and its companion report ?School Completers-What Next?? are the first in a series of reports by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) which track school leavers a year after they leave school. The reports are based on a detailed analysis of the records held in the Department on students who were enrolled in DES-aided post-primary schools (on the Post-Primary Pupils Database), focusing on those pupils who were enrolled in post-primary schools in one academic year but not enrolled in one of these schools one year later. These pupils, using a unique personal identifier (a protected identifier key based on the Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)), were tracked to other data sources that were available at the time.
%C Dublin
%D 2013
%I Department of Education
%L ndc20767

%T Growing up in Ireland. Key findings: 13-year-olds. No. 1. School experiences among 13 year olds
%X Almost all 13-year-olds had made the transition to second-level education and were broadly positive about their school. However, important gender and social background differences had emerged in relation to school engagement. Boys had more negative attitudes to school, and were more likely to misbehave at school and to experience negative interactions with their teachers than girls.

Those 13-year-olds from professional/managerial, high-income and highly educated households had more positive interaction with teachers, lower levels of misbehaviour and more positive attitudes to school.

These gender and social background differences are of policy concern, given the importance of school engagement for longer-term achievement and retention.
%C Dublin
%D 2012
%I Department of Children and Youth Affairs
%L ndc18857

%A Jo-Hanna H Ivers
%A Valerie McLoughlin
%A Paul Downes
%T Current Steps and future horizons for CASPr : review of CASPr North-East Inner City after schools project.
%X CASPr (Community Afterschools Project) is a community development agency whose overall mission is to counter educational disadvantage in Dublin?s North East Inner City in order to contribute to the elimination of poverty in their community. This review seeks to assess the quality and effects of CASPr?s work on children, parents and the local community, in order to guide CASPr?s future work and offer independent examination of CASPr?s activities. A review of the profile of the area of North East Inner City Dublin clearly indicates the area?s need for such a project, while international and Irish research illustrates the potential social and economic gains of investment to prevent early school leaving. Furthermore, based on international and Irish research on afterschool projects, it is evident that the potential benefits of such projects are with regard to a number of dimensions. These dimensions include afterschool projects to modify the impact of poverty, as a protective factor against early school leaving, as a space to foster social skills and social support for positive mental health in contexts of psychological stress. The potential benefits according to research is also with regard to helping overcome pupil fear of failure, to develop a positive climate of self directed learning which can also impact on a child?s language development and safety. Research further emphasises the potential of the Arts in afterschool projects, as well as its role in offering supports for parents minding children, while being cognisant of the importance of staff quality in producing better outcomes for children at risk of social exclusion.

This evaluation of CASPr consisted of focus groups, individual interviews and qualitative questionnaires. Focus groups involved children currently attending the after school programme, a group of early school leavers currently attending a local alternative education programme and Home-School Liaison teachers. 26 individual interviews with children currently participating in CASPr were undertaken, approximately one quarter of the total sample of children attending CASPr. These interviews were based on an adaptation of indicators of satisfaction with a service adapted from McKeown et al (2001). 7 individual interviews with parents of children currently using the service took place, while 6 individual interviews with current CASPr staff were undertaken. 10 past participants of CASPr?s training programme provided questionnaire responses.
%C Dublin
%D 2012
%I CASPr
%L ndc17335

%A Trutz Haase
%A Jonathan Pratschke
%J Youth Studies Ireland
%T Risk and protection factors for substance use among young people. A comparative study of early school-leavers and school-attending students.
%X Summary of a report commissioned by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs.
%N 2
%P 1-9
%V 6
%D 2011
%I Irish Youth Work Press
%L ndc20807

%A Martin Keane
%J Drugnet Ireland
%T Commentary on NACD study on risk and protective factors for substance use.
%D 2011
%I Health Research Board
%P 19
%L ndc14702
%V Issue 36, Winter 2010

%A Jean Long
%A Martin Keane
%J Drugnet Ireland
%T NACD study on risk and protective factors for substance use among young people.
%D 2011
%I Health Research Board
%P 16-18
%L ndc14701
%V Issue 36, Winter 2010

%A Rachel Lillis
%J Irish Probation Journal
%T Ballyrunners.
%X This paper describes the author?s experience of the development of an initiative in the Ballymun area1 that began as a simple idea of engaging young people in structured activities over the summer months and grew into a 10-week accredited health and fitness programme called ?Ballyrunners?. The programme was facilitated by existing interagency networks.
%P 162-167
%V 7
%D 2010
%I The Probation Service & Probation Board for Northern Ireland
%L ndc16536

%T Houses of the Oireachtas; Joint Committee on Education and Skills. First report. Staying in education: a new way forward. School and out-of-school factors protecting against early school leaving.
%X The ?one size fits all? instruction and assessment approach in Ireland?s current school system is fundamentally wrong, does not facilitate many young people to grow or demonstrate and realize their full range of talents and skills and is a major contributory factor in early school leaving, particularly among boys, according to this report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Science.
%C Dublin
%D 2010
%I Houses of the Oireachtas
%L ndc13116

%A Delma Byrne
%A Emer Smyth
%T No way back? The dynamics of early school leaving.
%X Disengagement from school is a significant source of inequality in the Irish context, given the strong links between early school leaving and subsequent disadvantage. No Way Back? highlights the persistence of early school leaving and estimates that one in six young people continue to leave school without a Leaving Certificate qualification. This book offers a unique contribution to what we know about earlyschool leaving by taking a more dynamic approach, placing emphasis on the interaction of family, individual and school factors which shape a gradual process of disengagement from school. This study is part of a series which follows a cohort of young people as they move through the second-level education system. No Way Back? explores the experiences of young people who have left school before completion of senior cycle. It documents their negative school experiences and withdrawal from school life, suggesting options for future policy development to improve retention and student engagement. No Way Back? will be of interest to policymakers, school management, guidance counsellors, teachers, young people, parents and the wider academic community.
%C Dublin
%D 2010
%I The Liffey Press
%L ndc13003

%A Trutz Haase
%A Jonathan Pratschke
%T Risk and protection factors for substance use among young  people: a comparative study of early school-leavers and school-attending students.
%X This report presents the results of a study of substance use among young people in Ireland based on information collected in 2008 during face-to-face interviews with 991 people, aged between 15 and 18. The target population comprised school-attending students and young people who, having left school, were attending either a Youthreach centre for education or F?S Community Training Centre. This latter population is described in this study as ?early school-leavers? and represents approximately 12% of the full annual cohort of early school-leavers.
%C Dublin
%D 2010
%I Stationery Office
%L ndc14100

%A Sue Redmond
%A Eva Devaney
%J Youth Studies Ireland
%T Drug and alcohol-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour: a study of early school leavers in the West of Ireland.
%N 1
%D 2010
%I Irish Youth Work Press
%L ndc15896
%V 5