Job Title
Associate Professor
Department
Education Studies
Web Link
Research Interests
Education and social policy; teachers and teaching; social justice and inequalities in education; widening participation and access to higher education; teaching and learning in HE; English and literacy; assessment and feedback; research methods; evidence use in education.
Biography
Biography
Becky joined the Department of Education Studies at Warwick in 2019. Prior to her career in higher education, she was a secondary English teacher, working in a number of schools in Birmingham. She also worked as a Lecturer and Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham (2014-2019) and a Research Fellow at Durham University (2015-2018).
Becky's research interests focus on education policy, inequalities and social justice in education, the education workforce, widening participation and access to higher education, curriculum, and English/literacy. She is interested in research informing education practice and policy and in supporting collaboration and knowledge exchange between researchers and practitioners.
Becky teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Education Studies and supervises PhD and EdD students. She served as the Widening Participation Lead (2019-2024) and is currently the Co-Director of Postgraduate Research (DPGR). She is also a leadership team member for the University's 'Society and Culture' interdisciplinary research Spotlight, a Fellow of the Warwick Institute of Engagement, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). In 2022, Becky was nominated for a Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence, and in 2023, she won the Warwick Award for Personal Tutoring Excellence.
Recent and Current Research Projects
- 2024-2027: Get Further Post-16 Resit Tutoring Trial (funded by EEF), Co-PI, £301,000
- 2024-2026: Faith schools and SEND inclusion in Wales (funded by Society of Educational Studies), Co-I, £20,000
- 2024-2025: Teacher Diversity in the UK and Australia (funded by Warwick Monash Alliance Fund), Co-I, £20,000
- 2023-2024: An evidence-informed approach to GCSE resits (funded by ESRC IAA), PI, £49,000
- 2022-2025: Frames for Learning ? Pilot Evaluation (funded by EEF), Co-I, £64,091
- 2022-2023: International review of youth services (funded by Dept of Culture, Media and Sport ? UK Government), Co-I, £189,624
- 2022-2023: Post-16 GCSE Resits ? Practice Review (funded by EEF), Co-I, £51,584
- 2019-2023: HeadSprout Early Reading Intervention Evaluation in Special School Settings, Co-I, £258,132
- 2018-2021: Examining the complex determinants of teacher shortage and supply (funded by ESRC), £477,000
- 2018-2019 DfE/Aspire Education Trust - Write Across evaluation (funded by DfE), Co-PI, £16,500
- 2017-2022 FLASH Marking evaluation (funded by EEF), Co-I, £201,000
- 2017-2018 Pupil Premium use and decision-making in schools (funded by School of Education, University of Birmingham), PI, £1,000
- 2017-2019 HEFCE-Transforming Transitions project HEFCE (now OFS), Research Fellow, £499,950
Academic Service
Department and University Roles and Responsibilities
- Leadership team member 'Society and Culture' Interdisciplinary Research Spotlight (2024-present)
- Fellow of Warwick Institute of Engagement (2020-present)
- Member of the Faculty of Social Sciences WP Forum (2020-present)
- Grant application reviewer for Warwick Policy Support Fund, ESRC Postdoctoral Awards, Spotlight research fund (2022-present)
- Member of Course Proposal Scrutiny Panel (2023-present)
- Member of University's WP Research and Evaluation Group (2020-2024)
- Mentor to Early Career Researchers
External Roles and Contributions
- Editorial board member for British Educational Research Journal (2020-present) and Educational Review (2017-present).
- Member of the ESRC Peer Review College (2023-present)
- EEF Post-16 Advisory Group (2024-present)
- Member of WERA International Research Network ? Research-informed education (2022-present)
- Research Advisory Group ? UKRI-funded free schools study (2024-present)
- Mentor on British Academy-funded Writing Programme for African Early Career Academics (2024-present)
- External course reviewer (MA Education) for Plymouth Marjon University (2024)
- External Examiner for the MA Education programmes at the University of Worcester (since 2021)
Education
Becky holds a BA English, a PGCE (Secondary English), and an MA Education. She completed her PhD in Education at the University of Birmingham in 2016.
Doctoral Supervision and Post-doctoral Mentoring
Becky currently has limited space for new students, but prospective applicants with an interest in the topics listed above are invited to get in touch by email with a proposed topic, CV, and a draft proposal.
Current PGR Students
- Rebecca Broadley: Education inequalities and family background, the disadvantage 'gap'.
- Sarah Emmerson: Teacher educators' experiences and perceptions of current ITE policy and practice.
- Luke Jackson: The Early Career Framework (ECF), teacher support and retention.
- Kris Koshmanova: Care leavers' access to, opportunities, and experiences of higher education.
- Chinyere Magulike: The influence of young people's mental health and wellbeing on their educational engagement and aspirations.
- Sam Mason: Teacher education policy and teacher professionalism.
- Stephanie Povey: School improvement and education policy enactment.
- Titik Ulfatun: Career aspirations of teacher education students in Indonesia.
- Amanda Wilkinson: The experiences of mature students in higher education.
- Xinyi Wu: Teacher preparation assessments/examinations in China.
- Yanjun Yang: Young people's aspirations for STEM-related careers.
- Morris, Rebecca, See, Beng Huat, Gorard, Stephen, Siddiqui, Nadia, 2023. Literacy for life : evaluating the National Literacy Trust?s bespoke programme for schools. Educational Studies, 49 (2), pp. 369-387
- Gorard, Stephen, Maria Ventista, Ourania, Morris, Rebecca, See, Beng Huat, 2023. Who wants to be a teacher? Findings from a survey of undergraduates in England. Educational Studies, 49 (6), pp. 914-936
- 'Perry, Thomas, 'Morris, Rebecca, 'Lea, R., 2022. 'A decade of replication study in education? A mapping review (2011-2020). Educational Research and Evaluation, 27 (1-2), pp. 12-34
- See, B. H., Morris, Rebecca, Gorard, S., Siddiqui, N., Easterbrook, M., Nieuwenhuis, M., Fox, K., Harrison, P., Banerjee, R., 2022. A conceptual replication study of a self-affirmation intervention to improve the academic achievement of low-income pupils in England. Educational Research and Evaluation, 27 (1-2), pp. 83-116
- Morris, Rebecca, Dobson, Graeme, 2021. Spending the pupil premium : what influences leaders? decision-making?. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 49 (2), pp. 284-302
- Morris, Rebecca, See, Beng Huat, Gorard, Stephen, 2021. Teacher shortage in England - new evidence for understanding and addressing current challenges. Impact : journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, 2021 (11), pp. 64-67
- Morris, Rebecca, Perry, Thomas, Wardle, Lindsey, 2021. Formative assessment and feedback for learning in higher education : a systematic review. Review of Education, 9 (3)
- Perry, Thomas, Morris, Rebecca, Asquith, Simon, 2020. Mind the gap : using evidence in education. Research Intelligence, pp. 28-29
- See, Beng Huat, Morris, Rebecca, Gorard, Stephen, Kokotsaki, Dimitra, Abdi, Sophia, 2020. Teacher recruitment and retention : a critical review of international evidence of most promising interventions. Education Sciences, 10 (10)
- Morris, Rebecca, Perry, Thomas, 2019. Private schools for free? parents' reasons for choosing a new free school for their child. Cambridge Journal of Education, 49 (5), pp. 535-552
- See, Beng Huat, Morris, Rebecca, Gorard, Stephen, Siddiqui, Nadia, 2019. Evaluation of the impact of Maths Counts delivered by teaching assistants on primary school pupils' attainment in maths. Educational Research and Evaluation, 25 (3-4), pp. 203-224
- Morris, Rebecca, Perry, Thomas, 2017. Reframing the English grammar schools debate. Educational Review, 69 (1), pp. 1-24
- Morris, Rebecca, 2015. Free schools and disadvantaged intakes. British Educational Research Journal, 41 (4), pp. 535-552
- Morris, Rebecca, 2014. The admissions criteria of secondary free schools. Oxford Review of Education, 40 (3), pp. 389-409
- Perry, T., Morris, R., 2023. A critical guide to evidence-informed education. Maidenhead, UK, Open University Press
- Morris, Rebecca, 2022. Free Schools in England : researching a (controversial) new policy reform using a mixed methods approach. In Siddiqui , N.; Gorard, S. (eds.), Making Your Doctoral Research Project Ambitious : Developing Large-Scale Studies with Real-World Impact, London, Routledge, pp. 167-180
- See, B. H., Gorard, S., Morris, Rebecca, Ventista, O., 2022. Rethinking the complex determinants of teacher shortage. In Menter, Ian (ed.), Palgrave Handbook of Teacher Education Research, Cham, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-28
- Morris, Rebecca, Perry, Thomas, Asquith, Simon, 2020. The opportunities and challenges of leaders using evidence in education. In Gorard, Stephen; Gorard, Stephen; Gorard, Stephen; Gorard, Stephen (eds.), Getting Evidence into Education : Evaluating the Routes to Policy and Practice, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, Routledge, pp. 199-216
- 'See, Beng Huat, 'Gorard, Stephen, 'Morris, Rebecca, 'El-Soufi, Nada, 2020. 'How to recruit and retain teachers in hard-to-staff areas : a systematic review of the empirical evidence. In Ovenden-Hope, Tanya; Passy, Rowena (eds.), Exploring Teacher Recruitment and Retention, London, Routledge, pp. 148-162
- See, Beng Huat, Gorard, Stephen, Morris, Rebecca, El-Soufi, Nada, See, Beng Huat, Gorard, Stephen, Morris, Rebecca, El-Soufi, Nada, 2020. How to recruit and retain teachers in hard-to-staff areas : a systematic review of the empirical evidence. In Ovenden-Hope, Tanya; Passy, Rowena; Ovenden-Hope, Tanya; Passy, Rowena (eds.), Exploring Teacher Recruitment and Retention, London, Routledge, pp. 148-162
- Myhill, Debra, Morris, Rebecca, 2019. Assessment practices : student voices on their experiences of assessment across the transition. Banerjee, Pallavi Amitava; Myhill, Debrah (eds.), Transitions from Vocational Qualifications to Higher Education : Examining Inequalities, Emerald Publishing Limited
- Mackenzie, Helen, Morris, Rebecca, 2019. Students' voiced experiences of social transitions : facilitating a sense of belonging. Banerjee, Pallavi Amitava; Myhill, Debrah (eds.), Transitions from Vocational Qualifications to Higher Education : Examining Inequalities, Emerald Publishing Limited
- Gorard, Stephen, See, Beng Huat, Morris, Rebecca, 2016. The most effective approaches to teaching in primary schools : rigorous evidence on effective teaching. Saarbrücken, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing
- Morris, R., Perry, T., Smith, E., Pilgrim-Brown, J., 2023. Education : the state of the discipline. A survey of education researchers' work, experiences and identities. British Educational Research Association
- Pulsford, Mark, Morris, Rebecca, Purves, Ross, 2021. The health, status and future of undergraduate education programmes : a comparison of programme leaders' views on leading and developing the subject within different institutions ; project findings initial report. British Education Studies Association, pp. 1-10
- 'Perry, Thomas, 'Morris, Rebecca, 'Abdi, S., 2020. 'Aimhigher Plus West Midlands maths outreach project : evaluation report, short report and executive summary. Available on request
- See, B. H., Gorard, S., Morris, Rebecca, Siddiqui, N. S., See, B. H., Gorard, S., Morris, Rebecca, Siddiqui, N. S., 2019. Evaluation of the National Literacy Trust's Literacy for Life programme. Durham University Evidence Centre for Education
- See, B. H., Gorard, S., Morris, Rebecca, Siddiqui, N. S., 2019. Evaluation of the National Literacy Trust's Literacy for Life programme. Durham University Evidence Centre for Education
- See, Beng Huat, Morris, Rebecca, Gorard, Stephen, Siddiqui, Nadia, 2018. Maths counts : evaluation report and executive summary. Education Endowment Foundation
- See, Beng Huat, Morris, Rebecca, Gorard, Stephen, Siddiqui, Nadia, 2018. Writing about values : evaluation report and executive summary. Education Endowment Foundation
- Gorard, Stephen, Boliver, Vikki, Siddiqui, Nadia, Banerjee, Pallavi, Morris, Rebecca, 2017. Which are the most suitable contextual indicators for use in widening participation to HE?. School of Education, Durham University
- See, Beng Huat, Morris, Rebecca, Gorard, Stephen, Griffin, Naomi, 2017. UK Space Agency Principia education programme report : the reach and spread of its projects. Durham University
| Title | Funder | Award start | Award end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teacher Comparison Project | ESRC | 01 Jun 2022 | 31 May 2025 |
| Professional Development in post-16 settings practice review (Led by Sheffield Hallam) | Education Endowment Foundation | 31 Oct 2024 | 01 May 2025 |
| Frames for Learning (2nd stage) | Education Endowment Foundation | 01 Oct 2022 | 31 Mar 2025 |
| Proposal to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport by SQW-led consortium | Department for Culture Media and Sport | 01 Oct 2022 | 30 Sept 2023 |
| Post-16 practice review (led by the Centre for Education & Youth) | Education Endowment Foundation | 16 Oct 2022 | 30 May 2023 |
| : A survey of education researchers' perceptions of their work and identities in relation to education research in universities in the United Kingdom (BERA - state of the discipline) | British Educational Research Association (BERA) | 06 Dec 2021 | 01 Sept 2022 |
| Headsprout® Early Reading in Special Schools (EEF Framework) | Education Endowment Foundation | 04 Nov 2019 | 29 Apr 2022 |
| Addenda to: FLASH Marking: Replacing Grades with Skills-based Feedback project | Education Endowment Foundation | 01 Jul 2021 | 28 Feb 2022 |
| Understanding the complex determinants of teacher shortages: an integrated approach | ESRC | 07 Jan 2019 | 30 Sept 2021 |
| Meols Cop High School Feedback Project | Education Endowment Foundation | 07 Jan 2019 | 30 Jun 2021 |
| The health, status and future of undergraduate Education programmes: a comparison of course leaders' views on leading and developing the subject within different institutions | British Education Studies Association (BESA) | 01 Jul 2019 | 31 Dec 2020 |
| Understanding the Impact of targeted Maths Support in five Schools in the Aimhigher West Midlands National Collaborative Outreach Programme | Aim Higher West Midlands | 03 Mar 2020 | 31 Jul 2020 |