What is the nature of the achievement gap, why does it persist and are government goals sufficient to create social justice in the education system?

Abstract

The ‘achievement gap’ – the term typically used to refer to differences in pupil attainment associated with social class, ethnicity and gender – remains an enduring obstacle to government goals of creating a socially just society. This article explores the nature of the achievement gap and some of the mechanisms that serve to perpetuate disadvantage in education systems providing a context in which to consider the appropriateness of government policies aimed at addressing the gap. Accessing predominantly English research but also consulting studies conducted in other education systems including the US and elsewhere in the UK, we argue that in contrast to its noble rhetoric, government approaches to addressing the achievement gap are preoccupied with standardised assessment and accountability (such as the latest attempt at raising pupil standards in England, the introduction of Academies) while paying little more than lip service to the persistent, underlying roots of inequality.

Keywords:

• social justice
• assessment
• achievement gap
• England
• academies

Notes

Subsequent to the acceptance of this manuscript, the government has revised the criteria by which the pupil premium will be allocated so that children entitled to FSM will all receive the same pupil premium, set at £430 per student (DfE 2010c). Although this change in the way that the pupil premium will be allocated has been praised on the grounds of improved fairness andtransparency compared to the original approach (Sibeta 2010), it is difficult to see how such a modest sum could have any meaningful impact on addressing the needs of deprived students.