Is there a place for place in educational attainment policy?

Kintrea, K. (2021) Is there a place for place in educational attainment policy? Oxford Review of Education, 47(2), pp. 207-223. (doi: 10.1080/03054985.2020.1824901)

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.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kintrea, Professor Keith
• Authors: Kintrea, K.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
• Journal Name: Oxford Review of Education
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 0305-4985
• ISSN (Online): 1465-3915
• Published Online: 18 October 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Oxford Review of Education 47(2): 207-223
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
190698		Urban Big Data Research Centre	Nick Bailey	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/L011921/1	S&PS - Urban Big Data