Tackling educational disadvantage and raising achievement for all Chris McIlroy

A dream of high standards, a dream of justice!

Looking outward: lessons from PISA for the United States OECD 2010 Reforms were unable to achieve deep and lasting changes in practice because: they focused on things that were too distant from the core of teaching and learning; they assumed that teachers would know how to do things they actually didn’t know how to do; too many conflicting reforms asked teachers to do too many things simultaneously; and teachers and schools did not buy in to the reform strategy.

Looking outward: Ontario Small number of continuing broad priorities Space (though limited by self-denying ordinance from politicians) for additional priorities, particularly local priorities based on self-evaluation. Engagement of all the layers in leadership, enquiry and problem-solving Schools often differ in the detail and in the ‘how’.

Priorities for Improvement:National Improvement Framework Improvement in attainment, specifically in reading, writing and numeracy Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing Improvement in sustained school leaver destination for all young people Hgios 4 reflects these priorities.

‘ Universal’ approaches: raising achievement for all Leadership Partnerships Learning and teaching Assessment Professional learning

Why are there gaps and how do they develop? Social and economic influences on the child and family, poverty –health, employment, housing, resources, access to networks to support education. Educational ‘capital’, language, familiarity with schooling, match between home and school culture, emotional and social development, parental support and out-of-school enrichment. School factors, successful experience and relationships, breadth and quality of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, development and application of literacy, numeracy and H and W (basic and higher order), expectations.

Rowntree Report 2014 There is clear evidence of a persistent gap in attainment between pupils from the richest and poorest households in Scotland. This gap starts in pre-school years and continues throughout primary and secondary school. In most cases, it widens as pupils progress through the school years. The poverty-attainment gap has a direct impact on school leaver destinations and thus the potential to determine income levels in adulthood... and so much more!

The link between poverty and educational attainment is even stronger for some groups. Jerrim (2013) using the 2009 PISA survey found that the brightest boys from poor homes in Scotland are almost three years behind those from the richest homes in reading. Scotland’s gap in reading for boys was the highest in the developed world, comparatively worse than that in emerging economies like Chile, Turkey and Mexico.

Misconceptions It is about a gap -when it is many different gaps Children in poverty are mostly in schools serving disadvantaged areas. Schools can eliminate the gap, schools can have no impact on the gap. It is about low achievers, when poverty and its surrounds can affect achievement at all levels. It is only about basic skills in reading and number, when it about the rich and broad CfE curriculum

‘ Targeted’ approaches: Early and sustained action Using research to match inclusive, additional, enriched provision to learners’ needs.

Teams for change using all levels Whole school team and groups Class teachers! Trios, shared observation and problem solving. Learning communities, Existing networks, ad hoc groups Authority, university and national support. HT and T visits across schools, better use of data. Virtual networks

Closing the gap: focusing leadership to  reduce the impact of poverty on participation in school and extra-curricular activities? Who gets ‘left out’?  identify when gaps in progress open for disadvantaged learners and actively address issues of expectations/ challenge?  promote emotional development, positive behaviour, relationships and high attendance for disadvantaged learners?  provide workshops for ‘less engaged’ parents in ways of supporting learning at home?

Closing the gap: focusing leadership to  make strong links with agencies that support vulnerable children?  provide additional/enriched/ different support where progress is at risk? ensure that teachers and other leaders have frequent and extended conversations with disadvantaged learners about their progress and life at school?

Building in key messages from research e.g. ‘What works?’: disadvantaged pupils Feedback***+8months Meta cognition/ self regulation ****+8months Peer tutoring****+6months Early years intervention****+6months 1-1 tuition****+5months Cooperative learning****+5months Homework***sec +5, pri +1mth Phonics****+4 months