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Schools in disadvantaged areas: recognising context and raising quality

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  • Lupton, Ruth

Abstract

Both educational attainment and school quality are typically lower in disadvantaged areas than others and much recent policy attention has been focused on each. This paper looks at the quality problem, exploring the relationships between disadvantaged contexts, what schools do, and the quality of schooling that they provide. The findings suggest that disadvantaged contexts impact on the organisation and processes of schools and that these effects differ significantly from one area to another, in ways that are not reflected by the usual indicators of disadvantage. School managers respond by adapting organisational design and processes. They are, however, constrained in these responses by the limited and short-life funding available, by the lack of evidence of good practice in specific contexts, and by lack of flexibility over major issues of organisation design and curriculum. Challenging contexts and the constraints on school responses together exert a downward pressure on quality. The paper argues that because school processes and quality are affected by context, school improvement in disadvantaged areas will not be achieved by generic measures, but only by policies tailored to disadvantaged areas and sensitive to differences between these areas. It suggests ways in which school improvement policies could be contextualised in order to raise quality in the poorest areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Lupton, Ruth, 2004. "Schools in disadvantaged areas: recognising context and raising quality," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 6321, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:6321
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/6321/
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    Cited by:

    1. Gibbons, Stephen & Silva, Olmo, 2008. "Urban density and pupil attainment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 631-650, March.
    2. Anne Power & Nicola Serle & Helen Willmot, 2011. "Obstacles and Opportunities: Today’s children, tomorrow’s families," CASE Reports casereport66, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    3. Roman Zvyagintsev, 2021. "Personality Traits of Students in Resilient and Struggling Schools: Different Children or Different Schools," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 33-61.
    4. Gambaro, Ludovica & Stewart, Kitty & Waldfogel, Jane, 2015. "A question of quality: do children from disadvantaged backgrounds receive lower quality early childhood education and care?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60010, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Brain, Isabel & Prieto, Joaquin, 2021. "Understanding changes in the geography of opportunity over time: the case of Santiago, Chile," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 109915, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Gómez Soler, Silvia C., 2016. "Educational achievement at schools: Assessing the effect of the civil conflict using a pseudo-panel of schools," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 91-106.
    7. Joeke Kuyvenhoven & Willem R. Boterman, 2021. "Neighbourhood and school effects on educational inequalities in the transition from primary to secondary education in Amsterdam," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(13), pages 2660-2682, October.
    8. Power, Anne & Serle, Nicola & Willmot, Helen, 2011. "Obstacles and opportunities: today’s children, tomorrow’s families," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 43806, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Brooke Sykes & Sako Musterd, 2011. "Examining Neighbourhood and School Effects Simultaneously," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(7), pages 1307-1331, May.
    10. Мarina Pinskaya & Tatiana Khavenson & Sergey Kosaretsky & Roman Zvyagintsev & Aleksandra Mikhailova & Tatiana Chirkina, 2018. "Above Barriers: A Survey of Resilient Schools," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 2, pages 198-227.
    11. Звягинцев Р. С., 2021. "Личностные Характеристики Учащихся Резильентных И Неблагополучных Школ: Разные Дети Или Разные Школы," Вопросы образования // Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 33-61.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; schools; poverty; area deprivation; neighbourhoods; quality; OFSTED; educational attainment; context;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General

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