Primary and secondary education and poverty review Alice Sullivan, Roxanne Connelly, John Jerrim: Department of Quantitative Social Science, IOE

The nature and causes of disadvantage Socio-economic differentials trump race and gender Differentials are not simply due to income and wealth. Cultural and social resources matter too. Parental education is the biggest predictor. Differentials start early but widen throughout schooling.

Changing school systems Comprehensivisation made less difference to inequalities than hoped (or feared). Some evidence of narrowing inequalities in attainment during period of last government ( ).

International evidence Stronger relationship between parental social background and educational attainment in England than in many other rich countries. But we cannot infer that differences are due to the education systems.

School variation and competition No robust evidence that particular school types (e.g. academies, free schools, faith schools) are beneficial for improving poor children’s performance. Evidence suggests that competition from faith schools and self-governing schools has not driven up standards in neighbouring schools.

Differences in school performance Much variability between schools is due to pupil intake School composition effects Limits to scope for school desegregation Teacher quality matters School resources matter Support for various classroom methods/interventions in raising overall attainment, but not necessarily closing gaps

More high quality evidence needed Education evaluations often of poor quality. More evidence needed on the curriculum, and what works for poor children.

Wider social context Educational inequalities cannot be tackled via education policy alone Important risk factors include poor housing, frequent moves, parental stress and depression, poor health Importance of learning outside the school gates, e.g. reading

Recommendations 1.Stop investing in school differentiation. There is no evidence that it helps poor children. 2.Get excellent teachers into schools serving poor children. 3.Provide a high quality general curriculum for all children. 4.Improve the quality of evaluation evidence. 5.Education reform alone will not solve educational inequalities: addressing wider socio-economic inequalities is vital.