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Prof Rob Coe

Contact Prof Rob Coe

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

• Education: Examination standards
• Education: Assessment
• General policy: Evaluation of policy impact

Biography

Robert Coe is Professor in the School of Education and Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM), Durham University. CEM is the largest educational research centre in a UK university and has provided assessment and monitoring systems to many thousands of schools since 1983. Well over a million children take our assessments every year in more than 40 countries; we are the largest provider of computer adaptive assessments outside the US.

Before embarking on an academic career, Rob Coe was a teacher of mathematics, with experience in a range of secondary schools and colleges. He left teaching in 1995 to study full-time for a PhD at Durham University, and then stayed on as a Research Associate and Lecturer.

His research interests are wide-ranging and include: evaluation methodology; Evidence-Based Education and the involvement of practitioners in research; school effectiveness and improvement, including the methodology of school effectiveness research; the use and effects of feedback, especially in performance monitoring information systems; and the statistical comparability of examinations in different subjects and over time.

His teaching is also varied, including research methods courses from undergraduate to Ed.D. level, and specialist Masters level courses in Experiments in Education and in Educational Assessment, as well as contributing to initial teacher training. His methodological expertise lies in areas such as general statistical analysis, experimental design, meta-analysis, multilevel modelling, construct measurement and item response models.

Rob is keen to work with good PhD students in any areas that overlap with his research interests and expertise.

Completed Supervisions (since 2008)

Reflective Outcomes in Asynchronous Computer Mediated Communication: A Case Study Using a Comparative Method

Research Interests

• Evidence-based policy and practice
• Statistical analysis and inference
• Value added and school effectiveness

Publications

Books: edited

• Arthur, J., Waring, M., Coe, R. & Hedges, L.V. (2012). Research Methods and Methodologies in Education. Sage.

Books: sections

• Coe, R. (2012). Conducting your research. In Research Methods and Methodologies in Education. Arthur, J., Waring, M., Coe, R. & Hedges, L.V. Sage. 41-52.
• Coe, R. (2012). Effect size. In Research Methods and Methodologies in Education. Arthur, J., Waring, M., Coe, R. & Hedges, L.V. Sage. 368-377.
• Coe, R. (2012). The nature of educational research - exploring the different understandings of educational research. In Research Methods and Methodologies in Education. Arthur, J., Waring, M., Coe, R & Hedges, L.V. Sage. 5-14.
• Tymms, P. & Coe, R. (2009). Conclusions: Assessment in an Era of Globalization. In Multicultural Psychoeducational Assessment. Grigorenko, E. Madison, WI: Apex. 469-485.

Journal papers: academic

• Coe, R. (2010). Back to the linking construct: A commentary on 'Thinking about Linking' by Paul E Newton. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives 8(1): 38-56.
• Archer, E., Scherman, V., Coe, R. & Howie, S.J. (2010). Finding the best fit: the adaptation and translation of the Performance Indicators for Primary Schools (PIPS) for the south African context. Perspectives in Education 28(1): 77-88.
• Hodgen, J., Kuchemann, D., Brown, M. & Coe, R. (2010). Lower secondary school students' attitudes to mathematics: evidence from a large-scale survey in England. Research in Mathematics Education 12(1): 75-76.
• Hodgen, J. Kuchemann, D., Brown, M. & Coe, R. (2010). Lower secondary school students' knowledge of fractions. Research in Mathematics Education 12(1): 75-76.
• Coe, R. (2010). Understanding comparability of examination standards. Research Papers in Education 25(3): 271-284.
• Hodgen, J., Kuchemann, D., Brown, M. & Coe, R. (2009). Children's understandings of algebra 30 years on. Research in Mathematics Education 11(2): 193-194.
• Davies, P., Davies, N., Hutton, D., Adnett, N. & Coe, R. (2009). Choosing in schools: locating the benefits of specialisation. Oxford Review of Education 35(2): 147-167.
• Davies, P., Telhajb, S., Hutton, D., Adnett, N. & Coe, R. (2009). Competition, cream-skimming and department performance within secondary schools. British Educational Research Journal 35(1): 65-81.
• Telhaj, S., Admnett, N., Davies, P., Hutton, D. & Coe, R. (2009). Increasing within-school competition: a case for department level performance indicators? Research Papers in Education 24(1): 45-55.
• Coe, R. (2009). School Improvement: Reality and Illusion. British Journal of Educational Studies 57(4): 363-379.
• Coe, R. (2009). Unobserved but not unimportant: The effects of unmeasured variables on causal attributions. Effective Education 1(2): 101-122.
• Coe, R.J. (2008). Comparability of GCSE examinations in different subjects: an application of the Rasch model. Oxford Review of Education 34(5): 609-636.
• Tymms, P.B., Merrell, C. & Coe, R.J. (2008). Educational Policies and randomized Controlled Trials. The Psychology of Education Review 32(2): 3-7 & 26-29.
• Luyten, H., Peschar, J. & Coe, R. (2008). Effects of Schooling on Reading Performance, Reading Engagement and Reading Activities of 15-year-olds in England. American Educational Research Journal 45(2): 319-342.
• Davies, Pl., Telhaj, S., Hutton, D, Adnett, N. & Coe, R. (2008). Socioeconomic background, gender and subject choice in secondary schooling. Educational Research 50(3): 235-248.

Journal papers: professional

• Coe, R. (2010). Standards Issue. Make the Grade 18-21.

Other media: research

• Thomas, J., Graiosi, S., Higgins, S., Coe, R., Torgerson, C. & Newman, M. (2012). Teaching meta-analysis using MetaLight. BMC Research Notes 5(571).

Reports: official

• Torgerson, C.J., Wiggins, A., Torgerson, D.J., Ainsworth, H., Barmby, P., Hewitt, C., Jones, K., Hendry, V., Askew, M., Bland, M. Coe, R., Higgins, S., Hodgen, J., Hulme, C. & Tymms, P. (2011). Every Child Counts: The Independent evaluation executive Summary. Department for Education (DfE).
• Torgerson, C.J., Wiggins, A., Torgerson, D.J., Ainsworth, H., Barmby, P., Hewitt, C., Jones, K., Hendry, V., Askew, M., Bland, M., Coe, R., Higgins, S., Hodgen, J., Hulme, C. & Tymms, P. (2011). The Every Child Counts Independent Evaluation Report to DfE.
• Merrell, C., Jones, P., Bolden, D., Jones, K., Defty, N. & Ndaji, F. (2010). Evaluation of procedures for calculating National Ratings: A report for the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
• Coe, R. & Kokotsaki, D. (2010). How can Educational Accountability Systems help the Poorest Children? A Report for Save the Children. Durham.
• Tymms, P. & Coe, R. (2010). Me and My School: Preliminary Findings from the first year of the National Evaluation of Targeted Mental Health in Schools (2008-09).
• Sykes, R. et al. (2010). The Sir Richard Sykes Review. London.
• Wiggins, A., Coe, R., Jones, K. & Kan, M-Y. (2009). Evidence of educational support outside of school. London.
• Coe, R., Jones, K., Searle, J., Kokotsaki, C., Mohd Kosnin, A. & Skinner, P. (2008). Evidence on the effects of selective educational systems. London.
• Coe, R.J., Searle, J., Barmby, P., Jones, K. & Higgins, S. (2008). Relative difficulty of examinations in different subjects. CEM Centre, School of Education.
• Coe, R.J. & Tymms, P.B. (2008). Summary of research on changes in educational standards in the UK. Institute of Directors. London.