Tackling educational inequality: Lessons from London schools

Abstract

This research paper explores the lessons from London schools in driving school improvement and addressing inequalities. Drawing upon evidence from trend attainment data by ethnic background, a literature review of academic research, the London Challenge, Ofsted and London Local Authorities publications, and case studies of schools, the paper will identify areas of good practice that contribute to raising achievement in London schools. The overall findings showed that attainment at GCSE (General Certificate for Secondary Education) has risen much faster in London than nationally since the London Challenge school improvement programme was launched to improve outcome. There are several reasons why London schools are bucking the national trend. The paper identified many success factors and strategies which contributed to the raising achievement and tackling inequalities such as effective school leadership, quality of teaching and learning, use of data, use of multi-ethnic workforce that reflect the community, and effective support for ethnic minorities and EAL pupils and targeted interventions. The overall conclusion of this study is that improvement in schools in London is an exceptional achievement and offers a worthwhile example of a success story that policymakers at both national and international levels can learn from. Lessons from London schools in tackling inequality and the policy and research implications are discussed critically in the final section.

Ethnic disproportionality in the school teaching workforce in England

“…Demie's research on what works in successful multicultural schools also suggests that it is not always doom and gloom and it is possible to tackle the underachievement of BAME pupils and narrow the gap nationally. The research identified many success factors and strategies which contributed to the raising achievement and tackling inequalities including: 'Headteachers' excellent leadership on diversity and equality issues; effective teaching and learning; use of a relevant inclusive curriculum; parental engagement, good link with the community and parents; a clear stand on racism; diversity in the school workforce; a celebration of cultural diversity; and effective use of pupil's voice' (see Demie, 2019a: 192); Demie and Mclean 2017b: 75) This article builds on previous research in UK (see Miller, 2020Miller, , 2021Miller, , 2018Demie, 2022bDemie, , 2021Demie, , 2019aDemie, , 2019bMclean 2017a, 2017b;Callender, 1995 and and provides empirical evidence and trends in the teaching workforce by ethnic background and its disproportionality when compared to their peers in the context of England. It uses the diversity gap and the Teacher-Student Parity Index, for comparing the proportions of teachers and students from different ethnic groups to gain an understanding of the demographic reality of today's schools.…”

“…The third major argument in support of increasing teacher diversity is that Black and ethnic minority teachers are more likely to have high expectations for ethnic minority students (Demie, 2022b(Demie, , 2019aFerguson, 2003;McKown and Weinstein, 2008;Villegas and Irvine, 2010). This is important because students, especially Black students, appear to be more sensitive to teacher expectations (McKown and Weinstein, 2008;Demie, 2022aDemie, , 2022b.…”

“…A review of the literature suggests that Black students are more likely to be disciplined and suspended from school than other students (e.g. Demie 2019aDemie , 2021Demie , 2022aDemie , 2022b. There are disparities in disciplinary actions that are based in part on teacher interpretation of student behaviour, and teachers' negative stereotypes (Demie, 2021(Demie, , 2022a(Demie, , 2022b.…”

“…There are disparities in disciplinary actions that are based in part on teacher interpretation of student behaviour, and teachers' negative stereotypes (Demie, 2021(Demie, , 2022a(Demie, , 2022b. Equally research on school exclusions also suggests several ways that increasing the diversity of the teacher workforce improves outcomes for students of ethnic minority background (Demie, 2019a(Demie, , 2022a.…”

“…Research evidence also shows that the ethnic gap between ethnic minority students and their teachers has become even more mismatched over time despite the increased number and proportion of minority teachers in schools (Demie and See. B.H, 2021;Ingersoll et al, 2021;Demie, 2019aDemie, , 2022aIngersoll et al, 2020;Villegas and Irvine, 2010). However, we would argue that those gains have been eclipsed by the rapid growth of the minority student population, and students from some minority backgrounds are underachieving leading to an achievement gap.…”