Prof Judy Sebba

Biography

After graduating from Sussex in Psychology,  Judy worked on the Anson House Preschool Project at the Hester Adrian Research Centre in the University of Manchester. After 12 years in Manchester involved in research and postgraduate teaching she moved to University of Cambridge as a lecturer and was involved in research on inclusion and school improvement. From there she was seconded and later appointed as Senior Adviser (Research) to the Standards and Effectiveness Unit at the Department for Education and Skills where she was responsible for developing the research strategy. This included setting up the National Education Research Forum, the EPPI centre developing and supporting systematic reviews, the National Teacher Research Panel (with the TTA) and advising on research centres and projects. She was actively involved in using research to inform policy in particular, in assessment for learning, thinking skills, pupil grouping and inclusion.

Judy was a member of the review panel for the revision of the TTA INSET funding and a member of the Cabinet Office panel which reviewed the use of pilots across government.

Role

Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange, School of Education and Social work

At Sussex Judy co-directs, with Professor Jo Boaler the Centre for Inquiry & Research in Cognition, Learning and Teaching (CIRCLETS) which explores the socio-cultural nature of learning and considers the classroom processes that establish deep and transferable learning skills, such as problem-solving, interpretation and analysis, both for students and professionals working with children and young people. She has been involved in externally-funded research on assessment for learning (see Jersey report and OECD chapter), pupil grouping (with Universities of Brighton, Cambridge and Manchester - see Literature Review, Case Studies, Low Ability Pupil Grouping) and Personalised Learning (with the University of Cambridge and Institute of Education). She collaborated with Professor Anne Edwards from University of Oxford and Mark Rickinson on an ESRC-funded seminar series about user engagement in research (see chapter). She is also involved nationally and internationally with issues relating to systematic reviewing in the social sciences (TLRP briefing) and how research influences policy and practice (AERA paper).

Judy was involved in the research strand of the 5-year Portsmouth Learning Community Project and has undertaken two systematic reviews on social work education with the School of Social Work and Social Care (SCIE review) and one on self and peer assessment with Bristol University. The final report on the Portsmouth Learning Community Project can be found HERE.

Currently, she is undertaking an evaluation with Carol Robinson on UNICEF's Rights Respecting Schools Programme (information sheet) and they are working with others on Becta-funded research on student-led personalised learning using ICT (information sheet). She chairs the Sussex Institute Research Ethics Committee.

Judy teaches on the PGCE, GTP and EdD programme and supervises MPhil and doctoral work.

Gazeley, Louise, Jacklin, Angela, Sebba, Judy and Aynsley, Sarah (2012) Evaluation of the Villiers Park Scholars Programme. Project Report. Villiers Park Educational Trust.

Sebba, Judy, Kent, Phillip, Altendorff, Lori, Kent, Geoffrey, Hodgkiss, Claire and Boaler, Jo (2011) Raising Expectations and Achievement Levels for All Mathematics Students (REALMS). Unset. Unset.

Rickinson, Mark, Sebba, Judy and Edwards, Anne (2011) Improving User Engagement through Research. Routledge. ISBN 9780415461696

Dunne, Máiréad, Humphreys, Sara, Dyson, Allan, Sebba, Judy, Gallannaugh, Frances and Muijs, Daniel (2011) The teaching and learning of pupils in low-attainment sets. Curriculum Journal, 22 (4). pp. 485-513. ISSN 0958-5176

Sebba, Judy, Griffiths, Vivienne, Luckock, Barry, Hunt, Frances, Robinson, Carol and Flowers, Steve (2009) Youth-led innovation: enhancing the skills and capacity of the next generation of innovators. Project Report. National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, London.

Sebba, Judy, Crick, Ruth Deakin, Yu, Guoxing, Lawson, Hilary, Harlen, Wynne and Durant, Keren (2008) Systematic review of research evidence of the impact on students in secondary schools of self and peer assessment. Technical Report. Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Robinson, Carol, Sebba, Judy, Mackrill, Duncan and Higgins, Steve (2008) Personalising Learning: the learner perspective and their influence on demand. Documentation. British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA), Coventry.

Fielding, Michael, Sebba, Judy and Carnie, Fiona (2008) Portsmouth Learning Community: Final Report on the partnership between Portsmouth Local Authority and University of Sussex. Project Report. Portsmouth Local Authority.

Sebba, Judy (2007) Enhancing impact on policy-making through increasing user engagement in research. In: Educational Research and Policy-Making: Exploring the Border Country Between Research and Policy. Routledge, London & NY, pp. 152-168. ISBN 9780415411745

Sebba, Judy, Brown, Nick, Steward, Susan, Galton, Maurice and James, Mary (2007) An Investigation of Personalised Learning Approaches Used by Schools. Project Report. DfES Publications.

Dunne, Mairead, Humphreys, Sara, Sebba, Judy, Dyson, Alan, Gallannaugh, Frances and Muijs, Daniel (2007) Effective Teaching and Learning for Pupils in Low Attaining Groups. Unset. Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Edwards, Anne, Sebba, Judy and Rickinson, Mark (2007) Working with users: some implications for educational research. British Educational Research Journal, 33 (5). pp. 647-661. ISSN 0141-1926

Taylor, Imogen, Sharland, Elaine, Sebba, Judy, Le Riche, Patricia, Keep, Elaine and Orr, David, eds. (2006) The Learning, Teaching and Assessment of Partnership Work in Social Work Education. SCIE Knowledge Reviews . Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). ISBN 9781904812340

Sebba, Judy and Crossouard, Barbara (2006) An Evaluation of Assessment for Learning Initiatives in Jersey: Final report. Project Report. States of Jersey.

Sebba, Judy (2006) Policy and practice in assessment for learning: The experience of selected OECD countries. In: Assessment and Learning. Sage Publications, London, pp. 185-196. ISBN 9781412910507

Kutnick, Peter, Hodgkinson, Steve, Sebba, Judy, Humphreys, Sara, Galton, Maurice, Steward, Susan, Blatchford, Peter and Baines, Ed (2006) Pupil grouping strategies and practices at Key Stage 2 and 3: Case studies of 24 schools in England. Project Report. DFES.