NPQSL: Closing the Gap Module - Learners First

1 npqsl : Closing the Gap Module Section 01: Introduction and overview About this Module Education allows individuals to choose a fulfilling job, to shape the society around them, to enrich their inner life. It allows us all to become authors of our own life stories. That is why it matters so much that access to educational opportunities is spread so inequitably in England. The gulf between the opportunities available to the wealthy and the chances given to the poor, is one of the Our schools should be engines of social mobility, helping children to overcome the accidents of birth and background to achieve much more than they may ever have imagined.

2 But, at the moment, our schools system does not close gaps, it widens them. ---Michael Gove, White Paper: The Importance of Teaching, 2010. Introduction The Module provides a flexible learning approach that allows leaders to engage with a wide range of high-quality online resources at a time and place that suits their commitments and chosen learning approach. Leaders have the choice of undertaking their learning individually or to work with other leaders within their own school, group of schools or teaching school alliance. This Module provides a case study and tasks which you will be able to relate to your leadership context.

3 On completion of the Module , senior leaders will have gained a greater awareness and understanding of the research into Closing the gap, as well as enhanced leadership skills in enabling analysis, establishment of a vision, management strategy and building partnerships in supporting Closing the gaps between learner groups. The Module includes work-based leadership activities, thereby providing a direct link between your leadership learning and leadership context. The purpose of the Module This Module will teach senior leaders how to close/reduce gaps in achievement and attainment that can occur across specific groups of pupils, particularly addressing the needs of disadvantaged pupils, including those entitled to free school meals.

4 The Module considers (from the perspective of a senior leader) how to identify gaps, diagnose causes and address in-school variation (for example, differences in performance by teachers with similar groups of pupils). Evidence drawn from research will be used to demonstrate which pupils perform least well nationally and why. Using examples drawn from the work of a range of leaders, participants will be taught about strategies for monitoring, evaluating, reviewing and improving pupil attainment, improving teacher performance and addressing in-school variation.

5 They will also learn how to make sure teachers work effectively together to close/reduce identified gaps. What leaders will know on successful completion of the Module how to carry out data collection, analysis and interpretation to identify the gap to be closed how to improve teaching to close/reduce pupil attainment gaps how to use best practice to address in-school variation how to use collaboration between teams both within school and across schools to close attainment gaps What leaders will be able to do on successful completion of the Module understand which (groups of)

6 Pupils underperform nationally and why identify which pupils are underperforming in their school and why use expertise to identify leadership action required to close gaps and reduce in-school variation between individual teachers ensure effective collaboration between teams to address (and improve) pupil outcomes Who is it for? Senior leaders who wish to develop their skills of how to close the gap in attainment between different groups of pupils and apply their learning in practice. npqsl : Closing the Gap Module What will be covered? the research relating to variations in achievement between groups of Learners and the impact of these analysis of potential gaps in achievement between learner groups leadership skills used in Closing the gap in learner achievement in schools Thinkpiece Professor Denis Mongon: The light is worth the candle Case study Closing the gap: The work of a senior leader npqsl : Closing the Gap Module Section 02: Why close the gap?

7 National context For some time, the average attainment and wellbeing of most groups of children has been improving year on year. There is, however, a clear gap between that majority and a significant minority now being left some way adrift of national averages. Closing that gap and preventing that minority being trapped from an early age in a spiral of continuing disappointment, low aspiration and underachievement are profound challenges. Some groups of children tend to be more vulnerable to low attainment than others: boys a bit more than girls, poor children more than the better off, some ethnic minorities considerably and some hardly at all, and looked-after children very much more than most.

8 For many commentators and practitioners who believe that the gaps undermine the rights of young people and the needs of a coherent society, Closing the gaps is both a moral and a pragmatic matter. Closing the gap means identifying which groups are least successful, reflecting on the causes and taking action to improve their wellbeing and bring their attainment levels closer to national norms. Watch this video clip in which other leaders talk about how they have identified gaps in their schools. For information on the powerful moral and practical reasons for Closing the gap in achievement, download or read the thinkpiece below written by Denis Mongon, creator of the Closing the gap leadership framework.

9 For information on the introduction of the pupil premium, which aims to help schools address disadvantage and reduce the gaps in achievement between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their non-FSM peers, please read the pupil premium information later on this page. The light is worth the candle Written by Professor Denis Mongon Introduction There are powerful reasons for believing that the gaps in educational attainment and other outcomes between different groups of young people should and could be closed. An education service with gaps as wide as those across the English system cannot provide the personal, social or economic returns to which it aspires.

10 Those gaps are harmful to individuals, dysfunctional for society and over-dependent on social background. Changes to the organisation of the system and to arrangements for curriculum and assessment have so far failed to produce the changes in outcomes and attainment that a post-industrial society demands if it is to be economically competitive, socially coherent or healthy in body and soul. The gaps are therefore a profound practical and moral matter. Parts of the system have shown how gaps can be closed without harming the vulnerable, without opening new gaps and while promoting self-esteem and resilience.