Dr Tom Perry

School of Education
Lecturer
Research and Knowledge Transfer Lead

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 3475
Email
t.w.perry@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@TWPerry1
View my research portal
Address
School of Education
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT, United Kingdom

Tom is an education researcher, lecturer and former school teacher working to foster research- and evidence-informed policy and practice in education. His research and teaching centres on school improvement and educational leadership, equipping school and system leaders at all levels to use research and evidence for school improvement. Tom is a nationally-recognised expert in quantitative research and secondary data analysis.

Tom’s current work and affiliations include:

  • Research Associate, Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence in Education (CUREE)
  • Editorial board member, Educational Review
  • Associate Analyst, UK Government Department for Education(Quantitative Research and Secondary Data Analysis specialism)
  • Fellow, Higher Education Academy
  • Professional Affiliate, Chartered College of Teaching 

Find out more about Tom’s work and publications on his personal website: www.thomasperry.education

Qualifications

  • PhD Education, University of Birmingham
  • PGCE – Secondary Business Education, University of Warwick
  • MSc Economics, University of Leicester
  • BSc Economics, University of Leicester

Teaching

MA Social Research Methods

Doctoral research

PhD title
PERRY, T. (2016). The validity, interpretation and use of school value-added measures (Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham, School of Education). Available: http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/6773/ Funding: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (Studentship with enhanced Advanced Quantitative Methods Stipend) Tom’s PhD research was on school value-added measures. He examined the validity of the value-added method in relation to its uses in education policy, research and practice. The core research concern was the various threats to measure validity and the robustness of the method to evaluate whether various areas of application are justified.

Other activities

  • Editorial board member for Educational Review
  • DfE Associate Analyst pool member (Quantitative Research and Secondary Data Analysis specialism)
Tom has reviewed for British Educational Research Journal, Educational Review, Review of Education, the LINK journal, the Journal of Professional Capital and Community, and Harvard Education Press.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Jørgensen, C, Perry, T & Dobson, G 2020, 'Migrant Children with Special Educational Needs: Emerging findings from a recent review and their implications for educational practice', The Education Exchange. <https://theeducation.exchange/migrant-children-with-special-educational-needs-emerging-findings-from-a-recent-review-and-their-implications-for-educational-practice/>

Dobson, G, Jørgensen, C & Perry, T 2020, 'Migrant children with SEN', NASEN Connect, no. 23, pp. 28-30. <https://nasen.org.uk/uploads/assets/99e3f5e2-2eee-4c1e-97f19d3a0a2d74cf/nasen-Connect-September20-Combined.pdf>

Jørgensen, C, Dobson, G & Perry, T 2020, 'Migrant children with Special Educational Needs in European schools – a review of current issues and approaches', European Journal of Special Needs Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2020.1762988

Perry, T, Davies, P & Brady, J 2020, 'Using video clubs to develop teachers’ thinking and practice in oral feedback and dialogic teaching', Cambridge Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2020.1752619

Davies, P, Diamond, C & Perry, T 2019, 'Implications of autonomy and networks for costs and inclusion: Comparing patterns of school spending under different governance systems', Educational Management Administration & Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143219888738

Morris, R & Perry, T 2019, 'Private schools for free? Parents’ reasons for choosing a new Free School for their child', Cambridge Journal of Education, vol. 49, no. 5, pp. 535-552. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2019.1571561

Perry, T 2019, '‘Phantom’ compositional effects in English school value-added measures: the consequences of random baseline measurement error', Research Papers in Education, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 239–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2018.1424926

Perry, T, Davies, P & Qiu, T 2018, 'Great grade expectations? The role of pupil expectations in target setting', International Journal of Educational Research, vol. 89, pp. 139-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2017.10.010

Perry, T 2017, 'Inter-method reliability of school effectiveness measures: a comparison of value-added and regression discontinuity estimates', School Effectiveness and School Improvement, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 22-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2016.1203799

Perry, T 2016, 'English value-added measures: examining the limitations of school performance measurement', British Educational Research Journal, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 1056–1080. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3247

Morris, R & Perry, T 2016, 'Reframing the English grammar schools debate', Educational Review, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2016.1184132

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Irwin-Rogers, K & Perry, T 2015, Exploring the impact of sentencing factors on sentencing domestic burglary. in JV Roberts (ed.), Exploring Sentencing Practice in England and Wales. Palgrave, pp. 194-220. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137390400_11

Other report

Day Ashley, L, Skinner, R, Meyer, A & Perry, T 2020, Private education and disadvantaged children in India: A literature review of three models of private school provision. Save the Children. <https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/library/private-education-and-disadvantaged-children-india-literature-review-three-models-private>

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Selected Media Impact

PERRY, T. (2018). School progress measures are a missed opportunity for a fairer and more informative approach. Social Sciences Birmingham Blog. Available: https://blog.bham.ac.uk/socialsciencesbirmingham/2018/05/25/school-progress-measures-are-a-missed-opportunity-for-a-fairer-and-more-informative-approach/

BBC RADIO (2018) Expert interview for BBC Radio 4 More or Less programme for a feature on school progress measures (programme to be aired in April).

ROBERTSON, A. (2018) How Progress 8 disguises grammar school pupils’ true performance. News Report - Schools Week. Available: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/how-progress-8-disguises-grammar-school-pupils-true-attainment/

PERRY, T. (2018) Progress 8 is biased towards grammar schools – here’s the solution. Expert Piece - Schools Week. Available: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/progress-8-is-biased-towards-grammar-schools-heres-the-solution/

SANDERSON, D (2018) Education undervalued in Scotland, teachers say. The Times. 3rd January 2018. Available:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/education-undervalued-in-scotland-teachers-say-hrz8znnbk
(Times article based on survey results from CUREE international teacher professionalism comparative research)

PERRY, T. (2017) How much confidence should we place in a progress measure? SSAT Blog. Available:
https://www.ssatuk.co.uk/blog/confidence-progress/

PERRY, T. (2017) Why new school performance tables tell us very little about school performance, The Conversation. Available: https://theconversation.com/why-new-school-performance-tables-tell-us-very-little-about-school-performance-71235

PERRY, T. and MORRIS, R. (2016) Time for an honest debate about grammar schools. The Conversation. Available: https://theconversation.com/time-for-an-honest-debate-about-grammar-schools-62370