Abstract
ABSTRACT This paper aims to examine the case for a focus on place-based drivers of inequalities in educational attainment among secondary school students in Scotland. Using desk-based sources, it provides an account of the post-2015 policy episode around improving educational attainment among children from disadvantaged areas. This started with the Scottish Government claiming that its ‘defining mission’ was to ‘close the gap’ but the place-based focus of policy was soon dissipated and the legislation that intended to be the flagship of reform was shelved. The paper shows that international evidence prompts a need for the impact of disadvantage based on place to be factored into approaches to schooling and provides a regretful account of its insecure traction in Scottish policy. It argues that a serious weakness of the case for place in Scotland is the underlying evidence base and concludes by suggesting how existing data sources could be used more effectively and by outlining some alternative policy approaches.
Highlights
This paper aims to examine the case for a focus on place-based drivers of inequalities in educational attainment among secondary school students in Scotland
Ahead of the 2016 Scottish General Election, there was a stirring within the educational policy community in Scotland, prompted by Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister as she made a series of speeches about educational inequalities, highlighting that the school careers of children from disadvantaged areas too often culminated in lower attainment and unsatis factory post-school destinations
This paper aims to examine the case for ‘a place for place’ in educational attainment policy in Scotland and to explore why it failed to gain traction
Summary
Ahead of the 2016 Scottish General Election, there was a stirring within the educational policy community in Scotland, prompted by Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister as she made a series of speeches about educational inequalities, highlighting that the school careers of children from disadvantaged areas too often culminated in lower attainment and unsatis factory post-school destinations. This paper aims to examine the case for a focus on place-based drivers of inequalities in educational attainment among secondary school students in Scotland. Using desk-based sources, it provides an account of the post-2015 policy episode around improving educational attainment among children from disadvantaged areas.
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