Parents' aspirations key to bridging 'poverty gap' in school attainment

The report, Poorer children's educational attainment: how important are attitudes and behaviour? was published today. It suggested that the aspirations, attitudes and behaviour of both parents and children play an important part in explaining why poorer children typically do worse at school.

Alissa Goodman, co-author of the report, said: "This research reiterates the strong link between poverty and low educational attainment. The gap between rich and poor children is already large at the age of three, but it continues to widen in the primary and early secondary years. One of the biggest distinctions between poorer and richer families is the extent to which they aspire towards higher education, and how much they believe their own actions can make a really big difference in their lives. "

The report recommended that parenting programmes and a focus on improving children's behaviour, which are common in early years settings, should be more prevalent in primary and secondary schools as well. The authors also claimed that programmes to raise educational aspiration typically start in secondary school, but suggested that earlier interventions — such as in primary school — would be beneficial.  

"These findings suggest that if more focus was put on improving aspirations and attitudes during the primary and early secondary years, it could make a big difference in the gap between rich and poor children's attainment," said Helen Barnard, JRF programme manager.

According to the report, there is also a lack of evidence at present on the impact on attainment of school and local-based interventions to improve young people's social and emotional skills, behaviour, and participation in positive activities.