Tackling the disadvantage gap

This article was first published as part of a global conversation about the future of teaching. How can we close the attainment gap in schools for children of all backgrounds? This is a perennial question for educators, and one I set out to address by exploring the experience and history of teachers who have a determined, no-nonsense approach to providing an excellent standard of education to all young people from differing backgrounds (Luby, 2020). These teachers were known to me through my prior work with the Ad Astra primary partnership - a group of seven schools in the Nottinghamshire area. Through the use of professional conversations, voices are given to schools and teachers striving successfully to tackle the disadvantage gap through evidence-based practices. This extract from chapter five of my book, Closing the Attainment Gap in Schools: Progress through Evidence-based Practices (2020), investigates a school in a Nottinghamshire village in which the majority of the pupils