Updating Douglas - Factors affecting educational achievement
BBC NEWS | Education | Schools alone ‘cannot help poor’
The report mentioned in this article by Hirsch (2007) is actually a summary of a series of reports on research in progress published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and more details can be found here: Young children see poverty holding them back at school and even more detail here: Experiences of poverty and educational disadvantage. In summary, the round up report suggests that in-school factors when taken together are far less influential in affecting children’s educational achievement than out-of school factors such as socio-economic background, parental education, parental attitudes and housing. There seems to be a strong suggestion that attitudes to education are very important, forming part of social class cultures which affect children’s and parents aspirations and expectations.
This report effectively updates Douglas’ (1964) research which found that out of school factors were more important than in-school factors and that parental attitudes towards education were the most important of all.