Essentially, highly qualified teachers prefer to teach in schools achieving low progress with affluent pupils than ones achieving high
progress with disadvantaged pupils.
The researchers compared pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in England
with disadvantaged pupils in other countries using PISA's economic, social and cultural status index.
Schools
with disadvantaged pupil intakes, however, who find it harder, starting from a low base, to demonstrate the requisite level of progress, will find themselves burdened by multiple, and contradictory, accountability measures.
Described as «interesting schools in England — especially those that achieve outstanding
results with disadvantaged pupils» (p. 7), each school has a dedicated chapter that charts its recent history and defining characteristics.
Those chains that were most
successful with disadvantaged pupils also tended to be successful with their more affluent pupils, while less successful chains tended to have poor results for both groups
«Local authorities should continue to exercise their arm's - length support for all state schools funded wholly or partially with public funds with particular emphasis on their
work with disadvantaged pupils.»
This inevitably shrinks the number of middle - class students who remain to «integrate»
with disadvantaged pupils.