Tackling educational inequality - CentreForum

Tackling educational inequality
Figure 15: Attainment of pupils with FSM, relative to
baseline attainment of non-deprived girls, 2006
Non-FSM girls
FSM girls
Non-FSM boys
FSM boys
100
80
%
60
40
Key Stage 1 Key Stage 2
Source: DfES/CentreForum, 2006
Key Stage 3
Key Stage 4
The relationship between SES and relative attainment grows stronger as
pupils progress through school. Figure 15 (above) compares the national
attainment at Key Stages 1-4 for boys and girls, according to whether
pupils are eligible for FSM. The gap between FSM and non-FSM attainment
rises progressively over time.
It is crucial to understand how SES influences educational attainment
to gain a better understanding of how best to fund, and teach, deprived
school children.
Parental income
One way of looking at the issue is to explore the direct correlation
between parental income and levels of attainment. 6 Many recent studies
have concluded that it is the effects of permanent income that is
significant. In other words, it is not immediate cash flow that affects
attainment, but the long term factors associated with having a higher
household income, such as family background and parental education.
These help to produce important intellectual and social skills, as well
high expectations of, and interest in, education. All of these are key
to immediate educational success and to further sustained progress in
education and in employment. 7
24