The problem with conducting educational research in schools is that you immediately bump up against a knotty tangle of ethics. And, like hitting a dog with your car, once that bump has happened, there's no returning to the point where you haven't hit the dog with your car. The ethical bubble has been breached.
An 18 year old, let's call him 'Teenager A', collects his A level results. He has received a 'B' for maths. This is because he achieved 184/300. He would have needed 185, 1 more mark, to have received an 'A'.
In sport, it is an easy thing. To identify who can run the fastest, jump the highest or throw the furthest, one needs only eyes and Omega. Even disciplines that, on the surface, might seem subjective (dressage, diving) possess criteria that are either met or not. This binary application of success or otherwise is unequivocal; one imagines people...
It can take years for a family to secure a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) for a child. During the time between referral and diagnosis, the child inhabits a kind of diagnostic Schrodinger-esque hinterland, existing as both undiagnosed and diagnosed, with the family and teachers often continuing to challenge rather than manage...