Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment


Book Description

A dynamic and contextualized account of the processes and mechanisms underlying gendered career decisions and attainment across the life course.




Achievement for All


Book Description

All children deserve a good education, where barriers to learning are addressed and teachers have the knowledge and support to raise their aspirations and achievement. The Achievement for All programme is a tried-and-tested whole-school strategy for raising the aspirations and attainment of the most vulnerable learners in any school setting (0-19), including those with special educational needs, disabilities and English as an additional language. A two-year pilot demonstrated unprecedented impact for pupils with SEND, who progressed faster on average than all pupils nationally in English and M.




Narrowing the Attainment Gap: A handbook for schools


Book Description

The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is one of the most insidious social injustices in the developed world. It is a significant factor in the growing inequality of our societies and persists across time and nations. For this reason, narrowing the gap is a top priority for governments and policymakers, and an issue that all schools must tackle. Written by a leading expert in the field of inclusion, Narrowing the Attainment Gap is designed to support school leaders in understanding and reducing the attainment gap in the context of their setting. Drawing on research and his own extensive experience in leading a team that has worked with over 1,000 schools, Daniel Sobel examines the real issues behind the attainment gap and the barriers schools face when trying to narrow it. The book provides a unique approach with hands-on, practical guidance to enable every school leader to develop their own bespoke solutions to meet the needs of their community. Case studies and examples illustrate how these interventions can be put into practice and the impact they can have, while template resources help schools demonstrate to stakeholders the change they are driving at an individual, cohort and whole-school level.




Achievement for All in International Classrooms


Book Description

The organisation Achievement for All engaged in international projects in England, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, South Korea, the United States of America and Wales with the aim of raising the aspirations, access and achievements of vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people. These projects were united in bringing Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) back into the classroom by focusing on the relationship between parents, leaders, teachers and wider professionals. Achievement for All in International Classrooms examines these projects, looking at the context of each and the research findings, before considering how this could enhance knowledge and understanding in other international settings. Sonia Blandford examines the policy implications needed to bring SEND into the classroom, understanding of the scale of the issue, moral purpose, belief, commitment, collaboration and determination, through evaluation, research and practice. She also considers what it takes to change practice, bringing Achievement for All and SEND into the classroom, looking in particular at the implications for: - Leadership - Teaching and learning - Parent and carer engagement - Wider outcomes and opportunities - Professional development for all staff Drawing on her wealth of experience and expertise, Blandford then makes recommendations on what it would take to introduce Achievement for All in policy to bring SEND into the classroom, with particular reference to changes at national, regional and school level, as well as parental and carer engagement and a desire to improve outcomes for all children and young people.




Standards of English in Higher Education


Book Description

A frank and critical appraisal of English language proficiency as a key issue in higher education today.




Social Mobility: Chance or Choice?


Book Description

Social Mobility: Chance or Choice?, a sequel to `Born to Fail? Social Mobility, a Working Class View' (October 2017), sets out the current chances and choices available for those considered by the establishment to need social mobility. Revisiting mutuality, Sonia Blandford asks whether we care enough as a society by considering the issues, solutions and impact to the education and social issues that push against the chance or choice of social mobility. Citing the views from interviews with education and business leaders, Social Mobility: Chance or Choice? reflects on the changing skillsets and capacities of workers required by employers, business and industry and the inescapable conclusion that the skillsets and capacities will continue to change in ways that are almost impossible for us to predict. In these contexts, we must question whether the traditional acme and 'recognised journey' of educational achievement – maximising university entrance – is still relevant or useful for working-class children and young people and children facing disadvantage. Apprenticeships, at their best, can offer an updated and forward-facing solution to the providing choice for working-class and all children and young people. Despite current policy developments to encourage meaningful apprenticeships, apprenticeship programmes are experiencing challenges. Social Mobility: Chance or Choice? argues that applied learning and work-based learning should be more accessible and available to all children and young people. If we are serious about unleashing the talent of all children and young people, regardless of their background, challenges or needs, we must consider new and innovative approaches to post-14 education. If we are to unleash the potential of all children and young people, the role of Further Education needs to be respected and understood. Quality Further Education and training in partnership with business is a credible answer to social mobility. Further Education is an underused but ideally placed sector to develop meaningful change for working-class young people, providing real chances and choices. Beginning with Leaders - professionals, practitioners, parents or carers, and members of society have a shared responsibility to ensure that all children and young people have a right to chance or choice and support these opportunities. Building a society that is truly inclusive.




Academic Barbarism, Universities and Inequality


Book Description

The image of the university is tarnished: this book examines how recent philosophies of education, new readings of its economics, new technologies affecting research and access, and contemporary novelists' representations of university life all describe a global university that has given up on its promise of greater educational equality.




Making a Difference in Education


Book Description

What is working in education in the UK - and what isn't? This book offers a highly readable guide to what the latest research says about improving young people's outcomes in pre-school, primary and secondary education. Never has this issue been more topical as the UK attempts to compete in the global economy against countries with increasingly educated and skilled work-forces. The book discusses whether education policy has really been guided by the evidence, and explores why the failings of Britain's educational system have been so resistant to change, as well as the success stories that have emerged. Making a Difference in Education looks at schooling from early years to age 16 and entry into Further Education, with a special focus on literacy, numeracy and IT. Reviewing a large body of research, and paying particular attention to findings which are strong enough to guide policy, the authors examine teacher performance, school quality and accountability, and the problematically large social gap that still exists in state school education today. Each chapter concludes with a summary of key findings and key policy requirements. As a comprehensive research review, Making a Difference in Education should be essential reading for faculty and students in education and social policy, and of great interest to teachers and indeed to anyone who wants to know about the effectiveness of UK education policy and practice, and where they should be going.




Bloomsbury CPD Library: Raising Attainment in the Primary Classroom


Book Description

Bloomsbury CPD Library: Raising Attainment in the Primary Classroom is a complete guide for primary teachers to assess, plan and excel in raising the attainment of every child. Children begin school with considerable differences in their literacy and maths skills. For some children, this gap widens as they go through school and may never close, leaving them without the basic levels required to succeed at secondary school. Experts Sonia Blandford and Catherine Knowles set out to help you understand the theory underpinning aspiration, access and achievement, and what you can do to close the achievement gap in your school. Bloomsbury CPD Library: Raising Attainment in the Primary Classroom specifically focuses on increasing access and raising aspirations of pupils as a means to improving attainment. This easy-to-follow title in the Bloomsbury CPD Library uses self-evaluation tasks and a full set of helpful, ready-to-use training plans for hours of CPD sessions so you can offer your colleagues effective training in this crucial area to ensure every child in your school fulfils their potential. It is a full guide to raising attainment in the primary classroom that is split into two sections: teach yourself and train others. All hand-outs and presentations are provided in the book and are available as a free download from the companion website.




Teaching and Learning to Unlock Social Mobility for Every Child


Book Description

Teaching and Learning to Unlock Social Mobility for Every Child is a topical and insightful text that guides readers through evidence-based practice that will improve outcomes for all involved in education, increasing social mobility and inclusion in every sense. In the past 30 years, how children and young people learn has changed considerably as challenges of social mobility become more apparent. Cultural and social economic disadvantage is evident, as is the need to focus on mutuality in education, whereby all children and young people are valued regardless of their background, challenges or needs. In this context, Teaching and Learning to Unlock Social Mobility for Every Child is the first work to capture and clearly explain practical teaching and learning approaches that can be used in any school. It circles around the creativity and technology of pedagogy, exploring an educational agenda that is genuinely rooted in social mobility for all children. Written accessibly and full of case studies, this book is intended to guide practitioners and stakeholders at all levels of education from school leaders to researchers, students and teachers. It will help them to impart the skills and capacities which children and young people require to drive their future social mobility and address the challenges they will face on their own terms.