Centre for Equity in Education Making sure every child matters

1. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Making Sure that Every Child Matters in Education Regional Partnership North West Centre for Equity in Education University of Manchester

2. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters The Centre for Equity in Education The Centre aims to make a difference by: • Better understanding the challenges of inequity • Analysing best knowledge and practice • Working in partnership with practitioners and policy makers • Intervening - models and strategies • Provoking debate at all levels of the system

3. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters MONITORING EQUITY - Policy analysis - Monitoring - Indicators - Annual Report SYNTHESING RESEARCH - What do we know about… ADOPTING & ADAPTING -Dissemination - Field trials - Capacity building DEVELOPING ALTERNATIVES - Design/natural experiments

4. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Setting the agenda Alan Dyson

5. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters What do we mean by equity? • Equity as equality • Equity as minimising gaps between the most and least advantaged • Equity as everybody meeting a certain standard • Equity as meeting the needs of all individuals

6. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Worrying Trends • Improvement has hit a plateau • Gaps between the top and bottom have increased • Significant numbers are not hitting baseline targets • Current policies are not drawing effectively on existing resources in order to respond to diversity • The ECM agenda risks focusing on structures rather than underlying problems

7. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Discussion Points • What do we mean by equity? • How are policies for increasing equity playing out on the ground? • Who are the most vulnerable groups?

8. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Promising Practices Mel Ainscow

9. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Moving Forward • Untapped capacity for improvement in the system • National strategies – focused minds but blocked innovation • Need to strengthen collaboration – within and between institutions • Evidence – can bring a critical edge to such arrangements • Improvement efforts have to be linked to community developments • Requires new forms of leadership and principles of shared responsibility

10. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Example 1: The Calderdale Equity Research Network Four high schools working together to develop a greater capacity for responding to learners who lose out within current arrangements

11. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters The Process • Research teams of staff members set up in each school • Teams work closely with university researchers to investigate the experiences of students who lose out • Within and across school: meetings to share research projects, evidence gathering, sharing and critical support and discussion • Evidence gathering: analysing statistics, observations, student discussion forums, interviews, photography • Challenging and developing practice: report writing, dissemination at whole school staff meetings • Cross school celebration event for the wider community

12. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters The schools share a commitment to making sure the Every Child Matters. This has led them to focus on different groups of learners: • School A – Mobility - Significant numbers of pupils join at KS4 • School B – Attendance – Attendance is 82% indicating a large number of pupils who choose not to take part • School C – Underachievement – some learners underachieve, see themselves as failures and many drop out at post 16 • School D – Invisibility – a significant number of pupils go unnoticed, being neither outstanding nor challenging

13. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Example 2: Learning Halton • To improve achievement, attainment, attendance, participation and life chances for all in Halton; • To provide opportunities for the Halton community to embrace the Every Child Matters agenda • To develop a central unifying strategy for all phases of education

14. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Key Elements • The mission statement ‘LEARNING HALTON’ • The Halton Framework for Learning • A principled common language of practice • Collaboration and shared leadership • Strategy co-ordination and decision making within area networks

15. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Discussion Points • What is going on in the field that provides a lead for the future? 2. How can these practices be fostered?

16. Centre for Equity in EducationMaking sure every child matters Directions of Travel Discussion Points • Where should we be heading? • What should be the roles of local authorities? • What are the implications for national policy? • What does this mean for the work of the Regional Partnerships? • What role can the Centre for Equity play?