Free School Meals: It's time for a better measure of disadvantage

I read with interest an article in a recent edition of SecEd, relating to the research into performance “gaps” undertaken by Professor Steve Strand of the University of Oxford (Research raises questions about attainment gap accountability, SecEd 393, October 2014: http://bit.ly/1ArRNsg).

The research stated that those who accuse schools of “failing” when they do not close the attainment gap have misunderstood the nature of the problem. Prof Strand’s analysis finds that the “pervasiveness” of the attainment gap throughout all types of institutions suggests that it is not a problem caused by a school’s policies, but by wider factors outside of their gates.

While the findings echo my own experience of working and leading schools in both London and Somerset, I remain bemused by the failure of anyone in a position of influence to question the notion that students on free school meals are in some way “homogenous”.