Research conducted by academics at london and Oxford universities reveals that parental educational background and family income are far more accurate predictors of pupils achievement than factors such as gender or month of birth. So given that,as the son of a miner born in the month of august in South Yorkshire, I feel pretty successful in reaching the heady height of a head teacher.
Here lies the crux....in the 1960's social mobility through the comprehensive schooling system provided a ladder of opportunity. Many of us, boys and girls, who attended the local comp went on to university and ended up in teaching trying to make a difference to the next generations. Now 35 years later we find that girls achieve higher than boys in reading and English and are on a par in maths. Autumn born babies achieve better than summer born classmates and that pupils from families with an income of over £35,000 outperform those from a lower income. Notably, pupils whose mothers had a degree achieved higher scores than those who did not - sorry mum your years working in a knitwear factory didn't help!
The research also goes on to show that the combination of all these factors could be used to predict which pupils are likely to be diagnosed special needs. Perhaps this explains my hyper activity, the need to get as much fresh air as possible and my poor handwriting!
The academics conclude by saying ' there has been greater success in raising standards of attainment for all groups than in narrowing the equity gap related to social advantage.'
So is it a fact that a mine worker and factory worker would be the new middle class of today and that the mobility of the 60's resulted in developing over the last 35 years a new underclass whose chances of such upward mobility are far less achievable.
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