Equalities Division
Birmingham City Council
Congreve House
3 Congreve Passage
Birmingham
B3 3DA
Telephone: 0121 303 2545/2715
Fax: 0121 233 9117
Email: equalities@birmingham.gov.uk
Website: www.birmingham.gov.uk/equalities
Birmingham Race Action Partnership (B:RAP)
9th Floor, Edgbaston House
3 Duchess House
Hagley Road
Birmingham
B16 8NH
Telephone: 0121 456 7400
Fax: 0121 456 7419
Email: brap@brap.org.uk
Website: www.brap.org.uk
commissioned by:
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Contents
LIST OF TABLES
i
LIST OF FIGURES
i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ii
INTRODUCTION
1
FACTS & FIGURES
6
THE VIEWS OF KEY STAKEHOLDERS
24
MAKING CHANGES:
PLANNING, POLICY & PRACTICE
36
RECOMMENDATIONS
55
REFERENCES
57
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
List of Tables
Table 1: Pupil Population by Ethnic Origin, Birmingham, 2001.
Table 2: Trends in GCSE performance by Ethnic Group and Gender, Birmingham
1998 – 2001. (five or more GCSE higher grade (A*-C) passes)
Table 3: Baseline Assessments and Ethnic Origin: English & Mathematics,
Birmingham, 1997 & 2000.
Table 4: Permanent Exclusions by Ethnic Origin, Birmingham 1998/99-2000/01
Table 5: Permanent Exclusions by Ethnic Origin and Gender in Primary,
Secondary and Special Schools, Birmingham 1999/2000
Table 6: Fixed Term Exclusions by Ethnic Origin and Gender in Primary,
Secondary and Special Schools, Birmingham 1999/2000
List of Figures
Figure 1: Rising Attainments at 16, Birmingham and National trends,
1989 - 2001.(five or more GCSE higher grade (A*-C) passes)
Figure 2: Achievement by Ethnic Origin and Gender, Birmingham 2001.
(five or more GCSE higher grade (A*-C) passes)
Figure 3: Achievement by Ethnic Origin, Boys only, Birmingham 1998 - 2001
(five or more GCSE higher grade (A*-C) passes)
Figure 4: Achievement by Ethnic Origin, Girls only, Birmingham 1998 - 2001
(five or more GCSE higher grade (A*-C) passes)
Figure 5: Baseline to GCSE (2000/01): Boys by Ethnic Origin in English/literacy
Figure 6: Baseline to GCSE (2000/01): Boys by Ethnic Origin in
mathematics/numeracy
Figure 7: Baseline to GCSE (2000/01): Girls by Ethnic Origin in English/literacy
Figure 8: Baseline to GCSE (2000/01): Girls by Ethnic Origin in
mathematics/numeracy
Figure 9: Baseline to GCSE: the growing Black/White inequality of attainment
(percentage points) by gender and ethnic origin in maths and English (Birmingham, 2001)
Figure 10: Strategic Race Equality Framework
Figure 11: Core LEA Functions
Figure 12: Delivery Mechanisms
Figure 13: Managing the Gap
Figure 14: Complex Delivery Mechanism
i
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
RACE EQUALITY IN BIRMINGHAM
This report is the result of collaboration
between the Birmingham Race Action
Partnership (BRAP), Birmingham Local Education
Authority, Birmingham City Council's Equalities
Division, and the Institute of Education,
University of London. The report covers a wide
range of issues, beginning with some key facts
and figures about ethnic diversity and
education in the city. The statistics show
significant improvements in certain respects but
also raise some important concerns about race
equality. These are pursued in the next section,
which explores the perspectives of parents and
students from a diverse range of minority ethnic
backgrounds. This is followed by an analysis of
the LEA’s key policies and approaches in the
field. The ‘intended’ outcomes are compared
against the ‘realised’ picture which shows a
great deal of activity but again highlights
particular causes for concern. These issues are
then addressed in three key recommendations
which we believe would provide a strong
framework for further advances in race equality
in Birmingham education.
Birmingham has been identified nationally
as a leading authority in the field of race
equality: consequently, our findings (on the
progress that has been made and the
problems that persist) have significance
beyond the city itself.
Birmingham has one of the largest minority
ethnic populations in Britain and previous
studies suggest that patterns of race equality
in the city often resemble the overall picture
nationally. Any issues arising from our
research, therefore, may point to problems
that are currently undetected elsewhere.
For the sake of clarity we have highlighted key
findings as they emerge throughout the main
text. These are also gathered below for ease of
reference. We must emphasise, of course, that
although this report is the result of a
collaboration with numerous partners, the views
expressed here are those of the authors and do
not necessarily reflect those of any other
organisation(s).
ii
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
FACTS AND FIGURES
Attainment and Progress from 5 to 16:
Ethnic differences in baseline assessments
Achievement at 16: the picture
nationally and locally
Baseline assessments offer a picture of
children’s skills when they enter compulsory
schooling at age 5. In several English LEAs
it is known that Black children are the
highest attaining group in baseline
assessments.
Standards of attainment have risen
significantly since the late 1980s. This is
true nationally and for Birmingham LEA.
Overall attainment in the city is less than
the national level, which partly reflects the
city’s urban character and the way that
national statistics are calculated.
In Birmingham in 1997 African Caribbean
children were the most likely to attain the
desired levels in their baseline assessments.
This was true for both sexes and was
repeated in English and maths tests.
The rate of improvement in Birmingham has
been significantly higher than the national
pattern since the mid-1990s.
However, the picture had changed
dramatically a few years later. In
Birmingham in 2000 African Caribbean
children were no longer the most likely to
attain the desired levels in their baseline
assessments. This position had now been
assumed by white children: a pattern that
is true for both sexes and is repeated in
both maths and language and literacy.
Patterns of attainment by ethnic
origin and gender
At age 16 girls in Birmingham are achieving
better results than boys in each ethnic group.
For both sexes, African Caribbeans are the
least likely to attain five higher grade
passes and Indian pupils are the most
successful.
Because of changes to the assessment
system, it is not possible to isolate the
cause(s) for the relative decline of African
Caribbean children in baseline assessments.
This should be examined further as a matter
of priority.
The gender gap is increasing within each
ethnic group.
Boys in different ethnic groups have
experienced different rates of improvement.
Indian and Pakistani boys have improved
most.
One possibility is that the new assessments
are less inclusive or accessible than was
true of the previous system.
Bangladeshi and African Caribbean boys
experienced a fall in their attainments
between 1999 and 2001. Consequently,
inequalities of achievement have grown
between white boys and their peers of
Bangladeshi and African Caribbean
backgrounds.
It is also possible that the LEA’s range of
Early Years initiatives have disproportionately
benefited certain groups, particularly white
children.
Ethnic origin and differences in
progress 5 to 16
There is a general pattern of improvement
for girls in each of the main ethnic groups.
Educational statistics make it possible to
Differences in the rates of girls’
examine how different groups of children
perform, relative to others, as they move
through the school system from age 5 to
16. The quality of statistics in Birmingham
means that we can look at these questions
in greater detail than has been possible in
any previous research.
improvement, however, mean that Indian
girls are now further ahead of other groups,
while African Caribbean girls remain as
far behind their white peers as they were
in 1998.
iii
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
The data show that despite entering the
African Caribbean students are permanently
school system with assessments that are
generally in advance of the LEA average,
Black pupils experience a dramatic decline
in their performance relative to other
groups. In other words, pupils in other
ethnic groups draw more benefit (make
greater progress) during their time in school.
excluded more than twice as often as
predicted by their numbers in the
Birmingham population.
Mixed race (dual heritage) children are
over- represented by a factor of 4 in the
latest figures: this is the highest rate of
over- representation and appears to be
worsening each year.
The over-representation of African
Caribbean and mixed race students is
common to boys and girls in both primary
and secondary schools.
This pattern is true for African Caribbean
children of both sexes and is visible in both
the curriculum areas for which data are
available (English/literacy and
maths/numeracy).
The inequality in attainment between Black
African Caribbean and mixed race students
pupils and their white peers (the so-called
Black-White gap) tends to increase
significantly in secondary school: for both
sexes and in both curricular areas.
are also over-represented in shorter (fixed
term) exclusions. The pattern is repeated
for both sexes in primary and secondary
schools.
The greatest inequalities are experienced by
Black boys but Black girls also experience
significant and growing inequalities of
attainment as they move through school.
THE VIEWS OF KEYSTAKEHOLDERS
Parents’ Voices
The Black-White gap is not consistent
between different curricular subjects:
mathematics is associated with greater
inequalities in attainment and this may be
related to the subject’s greater use of
selective teaching groups.
Parents’ relationship with the education
service can be characterised as one of ‘high
investment – low trust’.
Parents complained that teachers have
expectations of their children which
under-estimate their academic potential
but exaggerate a potential for causing trouble.
Indian pupils tend to score higher than the
LEA average in formal assessments at each
key stage and are further ahead at age 16
than at age 5. This is true for both sexes
and in both curricular areas (English and
mathematics).
Minority ethnic parents are not asking for
preferential treatment: they are asking for
fair treatment.
Parents are concerned that racism is not
Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils tend to
being challenged in schools. In some cases
this can lead to worsening problems and a
situation where both parents and students
see the school as taking the side of white
racist pupils.
make greater than average progress but are
still attaining below the LEA average at
age 16.
Exclusions from School
The number of permanent exclusions has
Parents are frustrated and angry at what
fallen sharply in recent years, both in
Birmingham and nationally.
they see as a distant and unresponsive
system. Birmingham’s long history of ethnic
diversity is not mirrored in schools’ lack of
awareness of the problems faced by many
communities.
Despite the fall in numbers, however, it
remains the case that some minority ethnic
groups are significantly more likely than
others to be permanently excluded.
iv
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
It is a matter of concern that even
Students’ Voices
articulate and confident parents feel distant
from the structures of influence in
education. This is especially worrying in
view of the emphasis on ‘partnership’ in the
policy texts.
Despite the diversity of student backgrounds,
there is agreement on the importance of
educational success as a possible gateway
to further and higher education and/or the
job market.
Parents express support for mentoring
Students felt that positive relations with
programmes, especially where the mentor is
seen as operating outside the low
expectations and stereotypes that can
characterise teachers’ views.
schools were made possible by visible
investments in the students, as evidenced
by things like additional classes, high
quality resources and pastoral support.
Minority ethnic parents invest a good deal
Respectful relations between teacher and
(of time and money) in additional resources
to support their children’s learning: this is
seen individually, through the use of private
tutors, and communally, through the
provision of supplementary schools.
student are the cornerstone to positive
relations with school and the learning
process itself.
Being treated as ‘an adult’ was highly
prized by students regardless of their level
of attainment.
Birmingham education strategy documents
present supplementary schools as part of a
joint educational project. But for many
parents, especially those of African
Caribbean ethnic heritage, the supplementary
school system is a sign of the failure of
mainstream education and their
communities’ unwillingness to accept
that failure.
Students see respect as a two-way process.
Teachers who quickly resort to disciplinary
sanctions, or fail to engage with the
students’ perspectives, are sometimes seen
as unworthy of respect.
Teachers are highly regarded who show
genuine interest in their subject matter and
all their students. Unfortunately, many
students report teachers whose interests do
not extend equally to all their students.
Suggested Improvement Strategies
There needs to be a more rigorous and
effective co-ordination between antipoverty and education strategies
Many students see their families as the
most important source of motivation and
advice. For some ‘at risk’ students, learning
mentors can play a similar role.
Professional identities and professional
knowledge needs to be organised around a
deep and proper understanding of the
recurring obstacles to achievement and
participation.
Recruitment policies in schools need to
better reflect the population profiles of the
city.
African Caribbean parents, in particular,
want a more culturally relevant and
sensitive curriculum.
v
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
The LEA is involved in numerous
MAKING CHANGES:
PLANNING, POLICY AND PRACTICE
partnerships, which provide an important
mechanism for exchanging information.
In analysing the effects of the many
Partnerships also provide a formal means by
policies adopted by the Education
Department, it is useful to draw a
distinction between the intended strategy
(i.e. what the polices are meant to achieve)
and the realised strategy (what actually
happens in practice).
which communities are drawn into equality
strategies.
The Realised Strategy
In practice, Birmingham’s improvement
strategy is delivered by a multiplicity of
discrete initiatives, many of them
determined by national Government.
The Intended Strategy
In order to support school based
improvement a key role for the LEA is the
identification, support and sharing of
‘good practice’ and building effective
partnerships.
In this context it is unclear how a clear
focus on race equality is maintained when
Birmingham’s achievement strategy is
dispersed across such a wide range of
initiatives.
Excellence in Cities (EiC) is identified by the
LEA as the main vehicle through which the
closing of the attainment gap and
increased inclusion is to be achieved.
Although Excellence in Cities includes a
range of race equality indicators, these are
not evenly spread across the different
strands of activity. Some strands have no
explicit race equality indicators at all.
The LEA achievement strategy is aimed at
supporting school-based processes based
on a school improvement and effectiveness
model.
The complexity of the delivery mechanisms,
and the dispersal of responsibility between
so many different people and agencies, is
highly problematic. It means that it is
difficult to ensure that race equality
features prominently in all schools’
concerns and informs the way that they
deliver the range of improvement
strategies.
Excellence in Cities in Birmingham contains
important race equality indicators.
EiC Partnership targets include the aim to
double the rate of improvement of boys of
African Caribbean, Bangladeshi and
Pakistani heritage.
Schools are required to set differential
This approach to devolved management
targets to close the ‘equality gap’.
may lead to increased variation in the
standards and quality of provision to
minority ethnic pupils.
Link Advisors play a key role in managing
the relation between the Strategic
Framework and implementation at the level
of the school.
Birmingham schools have played a key role
in developing the EiC plan in the city. But it
is far from clear what influence minority
ethnic communities or parents have played
in this process.
The content and direction of equality
strategies in Birmingham tends to be
shaped by national strategies, such as
Excellence in Cities and the National
Literacy and Numeracy strategies.
RACA, community mentoring and
supplementary schools could potentially
play an important role but none of these
enjoy core status in the city’s improvement
strategy.
Unlike Excellence in Cities, the Core Skills
programme does not include prominent
equality indicators.
vi
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
In practice, professional definitions of ‘the
Building on the requirements of the Race
problem’ are given a privileged position in
discussions and strategies for improvement.
Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, it is likely
that the LEA and local schools will have to
develop explicit work on race equality to
meet their duties under the Act and to
achieve the goal of narrowing the ‘equality
gap’.
Community and parental involvement is
highly structured by the definitions imposed
by the education professionals.
Without comparable structures of influence,
parents and communities cannot hope to
participate in the policy process as equals.
The new strategic plan has replaced the
radical commitment to ‘closing the
equality gap’ with an aim of working
towards ‘reducing’ it instead.
National initiatives now largely determine
the content and direction of Birmingham’s
achievement strategy as it operates both at
the strategic and school level.
RECOMMENDATIONS
As a result, it may be that insufficient
The points (above) suggest numerous pressing
areas where action should be taken. In addition,
there are three broad ways ahead that may
prove helpful:
attention is paid to the particular social
profile of the city or the known obstacles to
achievement for pupils from minority ethnic
communities
LEA co-ordination and race equality
The dominance of national education policy,
As we have seen, the LEA expends a great deal
of energy on race equality and is a national
leader in the field. Nevertheless, there is an
implementation gap between the ideals of
policy and the reality of practice. Many
responsibilities are dispersed across the system
and some of this is unavoidable given the
changing roles and responsibilities of schools
and the LEA. However, one way ahead would be
to appoint a named officer with responsibility
for co-ordinating all race equality work in the
LEA. This would be a senior position, with
appropriate support. This officer would collate
all race equality reports and evaluations; they
would sift the emerging evidence for important
trends; and they would make findings available
(accompanied by practical suggestions) that
would be accessible to all involved in
Birmingham education. There is already a great
deal of information available, and there will be
more when public bodies meet their new
obligations under the Race Relations
(Amendment) Act 2000: unless this information
is used intelligently, however, it will be a futile
effort.
and the publication of crude performance
tables, can also conflict with the LEA’s
desire to close the ‘equality gap’.
There is evidence that schools might be
determining their day-to-day practices in
relation to national priorities that do
support (and may conflict with)
Birmingham’s commitment to closing the
‘equality gap’.
Leadership needs to be provided to ensure
that the race equality agenda becomes
embedded in the common-sense practice of
teachers on a daily basis. This will require
the support of headteachers and others, but
the city’s success in disseminating ‘school
improvement’ shows what can be done.
School improvement and effectiveness does
not necessarily embody a meaningful
concern with race equality. Research
elsewhere (and Birmingham’s own recent
statistics) suggest that pursuing
‘effectiveness’ without a conscious and
explicit focus on race equality will not
narrow the ‘equality gap’.
vii
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Birmingham Race Action Partnership
There is enormous commitment to education
among minority ethnic communities. At present,
however, this commitment and a wealth of
experience and support, are largely going to
waste within a system that is shaped by
national initiatives and the concerns of
educational professionals. There is a key role for
organisations such as BRAP in helping to bridge
the gulf between the professionals and the
people whose children experience the education
system and have to live with its failure. The LEA
should explore, as a matter of priority, how
BRAP and other organisations can help advance
meaningful partnerships with minority ethnic
communities in the future.
Action, evaluation and review
This review has proven to be a much greater
undertaking than was originally recognised by
any of those involved. The effort has led to the
production of a unique study of race equality in
policy and practice in the LEA. We are sure that
the report will be useful for many groups
working in the field, irrespective of their
geographical location. Within Birmingham, we
know that the process of research itself has
already generated some new awareness around
these issues. These insights must lead to
actions. And those actions must be evaluated
for their impact on race equality. One of the
lessons to emerge from this review is that talk
of ‘good practice’ does not always reflect
evidence. There is a clear need for targeted
work on race equality; systematic evaluation to
identify what works; and co-ordinated
dissemination and support strategies to spread
the impacts widely. If the LEA is to deliver on its
commitments, it will be essential to revisit
these issues in a co-ordinated manner in the
near future. A repeat review in four years time
(along similar lines to this current study) would
be an important way of pulling together
evidence from disparate sources in an attempt
to see how far race equality has progressed;
identifying any new or continuing problems;
and helping to map a way ahead.
viii
Standards of attainment have risen significantly since the late 1980s.
This is true nationally and for Birmingham LEA.
Introduction
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
INTRODUCTION
This report arises from a partnership between
several bodies committed to extending equality
of opportunity and social inclusion. The
principal force behind the project was the
Birmingham Race Action Partnership (BRAP),
an innovative community-based project that
seeks to advance race equality by building upon
the views and experiences of diverse local
communities. BRAP is committed to driving
forward change by working with a range of
bodies to create an analysis of current problems
and evolve practical and effective strategies for
improvement that are shaped by community
voices. Second, the project could not have been
completed without the support of Birmingham
Local Education Authority who offered
extensive access to their data and facilitated
the co-operation of many already over-worked
officers. Thirdly, as well as BRAP, this project
was made possible by the financial support of
Birmingham City Council, Equalities Division,
Birmingham Partnership for Change and the
Careers and Education Business Partnership
(now Connexions). Finally, the Institute of
Education, University of London and its
Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU) were
also major investors, particularly in terms of the
additional time commitments that were
required to bring the study to fruition.1
This project was, therefore, set up as a
partnership between ourselves, BRAP, the
Equalities Division, and the LEA. The wide scope
and short timescale of the project meant that
identifying and gaining access to necessary
information and stakeholders depended largely
on the institutional partners (the LEA and BRAP)
facilitating that process.2 This was the basis on
which we were contracted to undertake the
research. Focus groups were used as the most
effective and rigorous means of involving a
range of both parents and students. BRAP
facilitated our access to various community
organisations, who then set up focus groups
with parents from Birmingham’s African
Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Refugee
communities. In all, 34 parents participated in
the focus groups.3
2
When considering the perspectives of school
students, we decided that there were two
groups of minority ethnic young people that we
urgently needed to speak with: first, ‘high
achieving’ students attending secondary schools
in the city, and second, students judged to be
‘at risk’ of educational failure.4 In this way, we
hoped to explore the very real problems faced
by some young people but, at the same time, to
acknowledge the successes of minority students
and avoid the danger of some previous research
that has tended to paint a too fatalistic picture
of failure. To do this, the LEA identified schools
that they categorised as successfully ‘bucking
the trend’; subsequently, the schools themselves
identified the students who participated in the
focus groups. The focus groups with ‘at risk’
students were facilitated by independent
mentoring organisations who act as service
providers for Birmingham schools: Second City
Second Chance and Afiwi.5 Five student focus
groups were conducted: two with high
achieving students, three with ‘at risk’ students.
In all, more than 40 students were involved in
the focus groups.6
The institutional partners bring different
experiences and approaches to bear upon the
research: this diversity strengthens the account
we are able to build. We have, therefore,
consulted widely and drawn upon a range of
official data; nevertheless, the views and
conclusions expressed in this report are, of
course, the sole responsibility of the authors. We
trust that the resulting research sheds new light
on these issues and potentially represents a
major contribution to education for race
equality (in the city and beyond) for those who
are willing to listen and meet the challenges
that are presented.
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Race Equality in Birmingham
‘Things are not working.’ ... There were some
recurrent themes in the community
submissions, particularly, the under
performance of some minority ethnic pupils,
the disproportionate impact of school
exclusions, the issue of racism in the
education system and teacher expectations of
and assumptions about minority ethnic pupils.
The Birmingham Stephen Lawrence
Commission (2001, p. 11 and 17) 7
The LEA’s work on combating racism ... is very
good, and involves a lot of effective
initiatives ... which represent effective action
to embed equality issues within the
mainstream, and to tackle racism.
Office for Standards in Education
(2002, para. 148 and 149) 8
Birmingham Local Education Authority (LEA)
has established an enviable reputation as an
urban authority that takes seriously both an
overall agenda to ‘raise standards’ and a
commitment to greater equity and social
inclusion. Recent years have seen two high
profile investigations which have, to differing
degrees, both addressed education and race
equality in the city. First, the Birmingham
Stephen Lawrence Commission, established in
the wake of the Macpherson Inquiry9, drew
attention to widespread unease among many
members of minority ethnic communities in the
city. The report suggested that despite a high
level of official activity (seen in various policy
statements and initiatives) there was a
continuing problem of deep seated inequality
and a frustration that progress was too slow or
even non-existent. In contrast, when the Office
for Standards in Education (Ofsted) carried out
its inspection of the LEA, it made very
complimentary remarks about the city’s
investment in race equality and the standard of
provision in this field.
Unless the city had made incredible progress in
the 12 months between the two reports, it
would seem that there is a major discrepancy
between the two. In fact, our study suggests
that, in some respects, the reports highlight
different aspects of the same situation. On one
hand, the LEA does focus attention and
resources on minority ethnic attainment in a
way that is far in advance of most LEAs in the
country: this was reflected in the support which
Birmingham initiatives received from Ofsted.
However, the evidence about the co-ordination
and effectiveness of those initiatives is much
more varied and uncertain. This latter
judgement was reflected in the Lawrence
Commission report and it was repeated in some
of our own interviews with key stakeholder
groups. We hope that our report will shed
further light on these issues and provide some
ideas about possible ways ahead in this difficult
but vitally important field.
The Terms of the Debate:
Birmingham and Beyond
This report explicitly addresses the local
situation in Birmingham; the patterns of
success and failure, and the various strategies
and initiatives that have been attempted in
order to change the situation. Nevertheless, our
findings are also of relevance beyond the city.
If, as Ofsted suggest, the LEA is among the
country’s leading authorities in its attempts to
address ethnic diversity, then the significance of
our findings is clear. Additionally, the size of
Birmingham’s minority ethnic population (both
in relative and absolute terms) means that the
data are more substantial than is often possible.
Although rates of attainment can vary
dramatically from one local authority to
another,10 previous analyses have suggested that
patterns of attainment in Birmingham tend to
closely resemble the overall patterns revealed
by national statistics.11 Where our analyses
reveal new or emerging areas of inequality,
therefore, it may be that similar problems lie
undetected in other parts of the country.
Birmingham has been identified nationally
as a leading authority in the field of race
equality: consequently, our findings (on the
progress that has been made and the
problems that persist) have significance
beyond the city itself.
3
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Birmingham has one of the largest minority
Birmingham is a large, complex and diverse city
of more than one million people. It includes
wards of considerable prosperity and areas of
severe economic disadvantage.13 Black and other
minority ethnic communities make up a large
proportion of the Birmingham population and
account for around 43% of school students (see
Table 1). The LEA estimates that by 2008 no
ethnic group (including whites) will account for
50% of the population under 16: that is, before
the end of this decade, there will be no ethnic
majority in Birmingham schools.
ethnic populations in Britain and previous
studies suggest that patterns of race
equality in the city often resemble the
overall picture nationally. Any issues arising
from our research, therefore, may point to
problems that are currently undetected
elsewhere.
Throughout this report we have tried to use
terminology which would be recognised and
accepted by the people so labelled. However,
the complex and changing nature of group and
individual identifications in contemporary
Britain mean that there is no single set of terms
which is acceptable to all.12 In addition, we have
been constrained by the terms used by the
various bodies involved locally, most obviously
the LEA whose ethnic classifications have
shaped much of the statistical data at our
disposal. This means, for example, that we have
not been able to deal separately with groups
identifying their heritage as Black Caribbean or
Black African, because most LEA data adopt a
joint category of African Caribbean. In addition,
the term ‘mixed race’ has recently been adopted
in some statistics (both nationally and in the
city) but this is absent from most of the data.
Throughout the report we focus on the largest
minority ethnic groups. In line with currently
accepted conventions we use the terms ‘Black’
and ‘African Caribbean’ interchangeably. We
also use the term ‘South Asian’, rather than
‘Asian’, where the text refers jointly to people of
Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic heritage.
The city’s schools are as varied as the
population that they serve. Its roll of more than
400 schools includes 22 former grant
maintained (now foundation) schools; 29 special
schools; and eight selective grammar schools.
There are also fifteen non-selective single sex
schools (ten of which are girls’ schools).14 In
view of the limitations of time, funding and
resources at our disposal, we have not been able
to examine how each of these variables is
related separately to the issues we discuss.
Nevertheless, it is important to remember that
this diversity of school type exists because it is
a level of complexity which can sometimes be
overlooked when dealing with LEA-wide trends
and statistics.
Table 1: Pupil Population by Ethnic Origin, Birmingham, 2001
School
African
White Caribbean Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Chinese Mixed Race Any Other
Total
Primary
56.4%
6.7%
5.8%
18.6%
4.0%
0.3%
5.4%
2.8%
100%
Secondary 56.9%
7.0%
7.6%
17.0%
3.6%
0.4%
2.7%
4.8%
100%
Special
Total
11.0%
6.9%
2.3%
6.5%
13.2%
17.9%
1.7%
3.8%
0.1%
0.3%
3.2%
4.3%
13.2%
3.7%
100%
99.9%*
55.3%
56.5%
Source: Unless otherwise stated, all statistical data in this report are based on information from
Birmingham City Council, Education Department.
*because of rounding, percentages do not always total 100.
4
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Notes to the Introduction
1
2
3
4
5
In particular we would like to acknowledge
the important contribution made by several
individuals. Inderjit Dehal, former director of
BRAP, was decisive in bringing together the
different partners in this project. His
successor, Joy Warmington, who originally
conceived the project, has been immensely
supportive and encouraging throughout the
entire process. At the LEA, the support of
the then Chief Education Officer, Professor
Tim Brighouse, was crucial in many ways.
We are also indebted to several officers
whose co-operation was vital: John Hill,
Head of Research and Statistics, not only
provided access to the wealth of statistical
data but also ran additional analyses for us,
often at very short notice. In addition,
Satpal Hira, Head of Education Equalities,
helped us to gain access to a range of local
information that has been invaluable.
Howard Hall (Education Equalities) and Pam
Chand (Birmingham Equalities Division)
were invaluable in arranging meetings with
key officers, students and parents, as well as
tracking down important information and
documentation.
The project was initially conceived as lasting
a little over six months. In the event, the
main data gathering and report writing
period extended to over a year.
The following community organisations
facilitated the parent focus groups: United
Evangelical Project, Bangladeshi MultiPurpose Centre, Sparkhill Fora and the
Midlands Refugee Council.
For a discussion of these problems in
research, see Mirza, H.S. (1998) ‘Race,
gender and IQ: the social consequences of a
pseudo-scientific discourse’, Race Ethnicity
and Education, 1(1): 109-126.
The LEA has identified a range of schools
with high concentrations of minority ethnic
students but which are ‘bucking the trend’
of low achievement. See Gunter, H. (2001)
An evaluation of the impact of EDP Priority
(Activities 4 and 5) on raising the
achievement of pupils at risk of
underachieving in a cross-section of
Birmingham Secondary Schools.
Birmingham, University of Birmingham and
Birmingham Advisory and Support Service.
6
Overall, including group meetings, individual
discussions with officers, and the different
focus groups, a total of 21 different
discussions and group meetings were held.
7
Birmingham City Council (2001) Challenges
for the Future: Race Equality in
Birmingham. Report of the Birmingham
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Commission.
Birmingham, Birmingham City Council.
8
Office for Standards in Education
(Ofsted)(2002) Inspection of Birmingham
Local Education Authority. London, Ofsted.
9
Macpherson, W. (1999) The Stephen
Lawrence Inquiry. CM 4262-I, London, The
Stationery Office.
10 Gillborn, D. and Mirza, H.S. (2000)
Educational Inequality: mapping ‘race’, class
and gender. London, Ofsted. See pages 8-11.
11 Gillborn, D. and Gipps, C. (1996) Recent
Research on the Achievements of Ethnic
Minority Pupils. London, Ofsted.
12 See Parekh, B. (2000) The Future of MultiEthnic Britain: Report of the Commission on
the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain. London,
Profile Books.
13 The recent Ofsted report (see above) noted
that the overall rate of unemployment runs
at more than double the national average
but rises considerably higher than this in
certain areas.
14 Office for Standards in Education
(Ofsted)(2002) Inspection of Birmingham
Local Education Authority. London, Ofsted,
para. 16.
5
The gender gap is increasing within each ethnic group.
Facts and
Figures
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
FACTS & FIGURES
Education is about more than qualifications and
test results. Since the late 1980s public debate
about education has been dominated by
arguments about statistics. Undoubtedly, this
has led some parts of the system to prioritise
external indicators over less quantifiable, but
equally important, social and affective aspects
of education. Nevertheless, it would be foolish
to pretend that statistics have no use, or that
qualifications are over-rated. For many young
people the qualifications they attain in
education will have a direct impact on their life
chances after school. For some minority ethnic
groups the importance of qualifications is
amplified by discrimination in the labour
market. It is true, of course, that possessing
qualifications does not guarantee employment:
indeed, people of minority ethnic heritage are
generally more likely to be unemployed than
white people even when they have similar levels
of certification. Nevertheless, in each ethnic
group there is a marked increase in income and
employment levels where qualifications are
gained.1
broad patterns of experience and identifying
areas of notable success, as well as possible
causes for concern. We begin by contextualizing
the patterns of achievement in relation to those
found nationally and in other local education
authorities.
Achievement at 16
Young people’s achievements at the end of their
compulsory schooling have become the single
most important focus for attention in national
debates about ‘educational standards’. There is
clear evidence that, measured against this
indicator, standards have been consistently
rising in Birmingham. Beyond the overall
picture, however, it is necessary to examine how
quickly the improvements have been made and
which groups have drawn most benefit.
Rising standards:
the picture nationally and locally
The proportion of students attaining five or more
higher grade (A*-C) passes in their GCSEs, or the
equivalent in other examinations, has risen
nationally in every year since the late 1980s. For
most of the period, the same can be said for
overall results in Birmingham: see Figure 1.
In this part of the report we examine some of
the facts and figures of educational attainment
in Birmingham. This is a useful way of mapping
Figure 1:
Rising Attainments at 16, Birmingham and National trends, 1989-2001
(five or more GCSE higher grade (A*-C) passes)
1992
1993
1994
1995
7
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
The rate of improvement in
There is a clear difference in the overall level of
attainment at 16 between young people in
Birmingham and the national figure. This is not
surprising given the socio-economic profile of
the city: students in urban areas face numerous
additional barriers to attainment and nationally
it is known that relatively deprived areas fare
less well in educational attainment.2
Additionally, it should be noted the published
‘national’ figures refer to all pupils in the
country, including those who attend
independent (private) schools, which tend to be
more generously funded. The latter influence the
overall level significantly. In 2001, for example,
the DfES celebrated the fact that 50% of year
11 students had attained five higher grade
passes: however, the score for all pupils in
maintained schools only (which is the fairest
comparison with Birmingham LEA) was actually
47.5%.3
Birmingham has been significantly
higher than the national pattern since
the mid-1990s.
Clearly this finding is of considerable
importance. It demonstrates, not only that
significant progress is possible despite socioeconomic disadvantage, but also reflects great
credit on the new direction and strategies
enacted since the appointment of the then
Chief Education Officer, Professor Tim
Brighouse.4 This strategy set a new agenda for
the LEA and explicitly addressed the city’s social
and economic circumstances when it
proclaimed: ‘if there is one place where it might
be possible to make an urban education system
work for everyone rather than a few, it should
be Birmingham and it should be now’.5 The city’s
subsequent success, in terms of overall
attainments at age 16, shows that raising
standards can go hand-in-hand with a concern
for greater equity and social inclusion. However,
the prominence given to issues of ‘race’ equality
and ethnic diversity has not always been secure.
In that first report of September 1993, for
example, the position of ‘black and other ethnic
minority communities’ was only briefly
addressed under the heading of ‘other matters’.6
Since then, of course, considerable energy has
been expended in addressing ethnic diversity.
This raises the question of whether the results
can be seen in the headline statistics for
attainment at age 16.
Standards of attainment have risen
significantly since the late 1980s. This is
true nationally and for Birmingham LEA.
Overall attainment in the city is less
than the national level, which partly
reflects the city’s urban character and
the way that national statistics are
calculated.
The illustration also shows that rates of
improvement have varied over time. Initially, the
gap widened between the national level and
attainment in Birmingham. In 1989, the official
national figure was 32.8% of students gaining
five or more higher grade passes. This was 11.8
percentage points above the Birmingham level
of 21%. By 1993 the gap had grown to 14.2
percentage points. However, this trend has been
dramatically reversed since the mid-1990s when
almost every year has seen a greater
improvement in Birmingham than nationally.
Between 1993 and 2001, nationally the
proportion attaining five higher grade passes
rose by 8.8 percentage points but in Birmingham
the improvement has been 14 percentage points.
Fair shares?
Patterns of attainment by ethnic origin
and gender
Nationally a great deal of attention has focused
on the difference in average attainment
between boys and girls.7 When examining
patterns of attainment for different ethnic
groups, therefore, it is important to bear in mind
possible differences related to gender. Figure 2
shows the proportion of boys and girls attaining
five or more higher grade GCSEs in each of the
principal ethnic groups in Birmingham.
8
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Figure 2:
Achievement by Ethnic Origin and Gender, Birmingham 2001 (five or more GCSE higher
grade (A*-C) passes)
The most recent GCSE attainments show that
the so-called ‘gender-gap’ is present in each
ethnic group. This gap ranges from 11
percentage points (for Pakistani and white
students) to 23 percentage points (for
Bangladeshis). When comparing students of the
same gender, some consistent patterns are also
visible. Indian students are the highest attaining
for both boys and girls; African Caribbean
students are the lowest attaining of the
principal ethnic groups.
At age 16 girls in Birmingham are
achieving better results than boys in
each ethnic group.
For both sexes, African Caribbeans are
the least likely to attain five higher
grade passes and Indian pupils are the
most successful.
As we have already seen, however, rates of
attainment are not static from year to year. This
raises the question whether all ethnic groups,
and both sexes, have shared equally in the
overall pattern of rising standards of attainment
at 16?
TABLE 2:
Trends in GCSE performance by Ethnic Group and Gender, Birmingham 1998 - 2001
(five or more GCSE higher grade (A*-C) passes)
African Caribbean boys
African Caribbean girls
Bangladeshi boys
Bangladeshi girls
Indian boys
Indian girls
Pakistani boys
Pakistani girls
White boys
White girls
1998
1999
2000
2001
Improvement
1998-2001
13%
28%
28%
36%
40%
50%
21%
31%
34%
444%
20%
30%
31%
40%
43%
55%
26%
32%
33%
45%
19%
31%
30%
42%
49%
61%
27%
41%
36%
45%
17%
34%
27%
50%
49%
65%
31%
42%
39%
50%
4%
6%
-1%
14%
9%
15%
10%
11%
5%
6%
9
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Specifically, between 1999 and 2001, the gap
between Bangladeshi and White boys rose
from 2 to 12 percentage points: during the
same period, the gap between African
Caribbean and White boys grew from 13 to
22 percentage points.
As Table 2 shows, girls and boys have not
shared equally in the improvement in
performance at 16. Within each ethnic group
girls have improved more than boys;
consequently the gender gap increased over
time. The greatest improvement was made by
Indian and Bangladeshi girls (up 15 and 14
percentage points respectively). In contrast,
the proportion of Bangladeshi boys attaining
five higher grade passes was 1 percentage
point less in 2001 than in 1998.
Boys in different ethnic groups have
experienced different rates of
improvement. Indian and Pakistani
boys have improved most.
Bangladeshi and African Caribbean
The gender gap is increasing within
boys experienced a fall in their
attainments between 1999 and
2001. Consequently, inequalities of
achievement have grown between
white boys and their peers of
Bangladeshi and African Caribbean
backgrounds.
each ethnic group.
By focusing on each gender separately,
Figures 3 and 4 show the recent changes in
attainment more clearly. Between 1998 and
2001, Indian and Pakistani boys’ attainments
rose in each successive year. Overall,
Pakistani boys achieved the most
improvement, up 10 percentage points from
21% to 31% attaining five or more higher
grade GCSEs. In contrast, both Bangladeshi
and African Caribbean boys have experienced
a drop in attainments in 2000 and 2001. As a
result of these changes certain ethnic
inequalities of attainment are rising for boys.
In contrast to their male counterparts, girls’
improvements have been more consistent and
secure. Girls in every ethnic group have
raised their attainments in almost every year
since 1998: the only exception being White
girls in 2000 (where attainment remained the
same as the year before). As with the boys’
attainments, however, girls in different ethnic
groups have not enjoyed equal improvements.
Figure 3:
Achievement by Ethnic origin, Boys only, Birmingham 1998-2001
(five or more GCSE higher grade (A*-C) passes)
10
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Figure 4:
Achievement by Ethnic origin, Girls only, Birmingham 1998-2001
(five or more GCSE higher grade (A*-C) passes)
The most improved group are Indian girls, whose
attainment rose by 15 percentage points (from
50% in 1998 to 65% in 2001). In contrast,
African Caribbean and White girls’ improved by
the least during the same period, 6 percentage
points. As a consequence of these changes,
Indian girls are moving ever further away from
their female peers, while African Caribbean girls
remain as the lowest attaining group.
Attainment and Progress:
from 5 to 16
In this section we want to consider data in
relation to two main questions. First, are there
any differences in children’s attainments when
they enter compulsory education aged 5 (as
measured in the so called, ‘baseline
assessments’)? Second, are there any differences
in the amount of progress that different groups
make relative to the LEA average? In essence,
this question looks at the amount of benefit
that different groups draw from the education
system. Before looking at the data, we want to
remind readers that the quality of the
monitoring and educational statistics service in
Birmingham has recently been highlighted as
one of the outstanding features of the LEA.8 It is
important to acknowledge that the range and
sophistication of the data available in
Birmingham is probably as good, and in most
cases better, than that available in any other
English authority. We draw attention to this
because, as you will see, the data raise key
questions that cannot always be answered from
existing material. Changes in the assessment
mechanisms and criteria, for example, mean
There is a general pattern of
improvement for girls in each of the
main ethnic groups.
Differences in the rates of girls’
improvement, however, mean that
Indian girls are now further ahead of
other groups, while African Caribbean
girls remain as far behind their white
peers as they were in 1998.
11
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
that it is not possible to determine why certain
patterns emerge nor to gauge their true
significance. Nevertheless, although the lack of
answers can be frustrating, the questions
themselves are vitally important and are not
even being asked in many parts of the country.
Caribbean boys and 36% of African Caribbean
girls attained the desired score of 5 or above.
This compared with a figure of 22% of all
pupils in the city. In the mathematics
assessments African Caribbean children again
performed in excess of any other groups: 35%
of Black boys and 38% of Black girls attained
the desired score, compared with an LEA total
of 27%.
Under starter’s orders:
ethnic differences in baseline assessments
African Caribbean children are often assumed to
be at risk of academic failure: indeed, the
Birmingham statistics that we have reviewed to
this point (above) confirm that at age 16 Black
children in the city do not achieve average
results on a par with many of their peers from
other ethnic backgrounds. However,
commentators are often surprised to learn that
in some LEAs African Caribbean children score
highest, as a group, in the baseline assessments
that are administered when they begin
compulsory schooling (aged 5).9 This has been
welcomed by many as an indication that Black
children enter school well prepared. However,
new data from Birmingham suggest that
caution should be exercised because this
position may not be as secure as is sometimes
imagined: recent changes in baseline
attainment in the city suggest that any early
advantage enjoyed by Black children may be
under-threat.
Table 3 shows that in 1997, as in several other
LEAs nationally, African Caribbean children
entered Birmingham schools with the highest
baseline attainments. In English, 31% of African
More recent baseline data, however, paint a
somewhat different picture. Both the
assessment criteria and the score range have
been changed in the new assessments: this
means that it is not possible to make a direct
comparison of the proportions succeeding in
1997 and 2000. Nevertheless, a comparison of
the relative success of different ethnic groups in
each cohort is useful.10 Significantly, African
Caribbean children are no longer the highest
attaining group in 2000. In the new language
and literacy assessments, white children are
now the most likely to achieve the desired
score: 29% of white boys and 42% of white
girls achieved this level compared with 28% of
African Caribbean boys and 39% of African
Caribbean girls. As a group, Black pupils are
also out-performed in the new maths
assessments: here 47% of white boys attained
the desired score compared with 44% of Black
boys. For girls, the 46% success rate achieved
by African Caribbeans was bettered by both
white and Indian girls (51% and 48%
respectively).
Table 3:
Baseline Assessments and Ethnic Origin: English and Mathematics, Birmingham, 1997 and
2000
Af Carib Af Carib Bang Bang Indian Indian Pakistani Pakistani White White
LEA
boys
girls boys girls boys girls
boys
girls
boys girls all pupils
English 1997
(scoring 5 or above)
Language and Literacy 2000
(scoring 11 or above)
Maths 1997
(scoring 5 or above)
Maths 2000
(scoring 11 or above)
31%
36%
8% 10% 20% 29%
8%
13%
20%
28%
22%
28%
39%
16% 21% 27% 38%
12%
18%
29%
42%
30%
35%
38%
10% 13% 24% 28%
12%
16%
30%
33%
27%
44%
46%
23% 26% 41% 48%
20%
21%
47%
51%
41%
12
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Baseline assessments offer a picture of
children’s skills when they enter
compulsory schooling at age 5. In
several English LEAs it is known that
Black children are the highest attaining
group in baseline assessments.
In Birmingham in 1997 African
Caribbean children were the most likely
to attain the desired levels in their
baseline assessments. This was true for
both sexes and was repeated in English
and maths tests.
However, the picture had changed
dramatically a few years later. In
Birmingham in 2000 African
Caribbean children were no longer the
most likely to attain the desired levels
in their baseline assessments. This
position had now been assumed by
white children: a pattern that is true for
both sexes and is repeated in both
maths and language and literacy.
Clearly this finding raises very important
questions. Unfortunately, because of the changes
to the assessments themselves, it is not possible
to identify precisely what has happened to bring
about these changes in the relative performance
of children in different ethnic groups. It could be
that some groups, notably white and Indian
children, have improved their performance and
over-taken their African Caribbean peers.
Alternatively, Black children might be entering
school less well prepared than they were a few
years ago. A additional possibility is that the new
assessments are in some way more/less
accessible to certain ethnic groups. All or none of
these explanations might be true. What is
beyond dispute, however, is that relative to some
other groups (notably white children) African
Caribbean boys and girls have experienced a
decline in their baseline assessment performance.
This should be examined further as a matter of
priority.
A recent study of different baseline assessments,
prepared for the Qualifications and Curriculum
Authority (QCA), has shown that some tests
produce relatively higher scores for traditionally
disadvantaged groups (including those in receipt
of free school meals and those for whom English
is an Additional Language).11 The relative changes
in attainment for different ethnic groups,
therefore, may be the result of using a new test
that does not produce such scores. It might be
argued that the earlier tests were more ‘culture
fair’ in that they did not discriminate between
different groups on the basis of ethnicity and/or
socio-economic status. Alternatively, it could be
argued that those tests gave an ‘unrealistic’
picture of children’s preparedness for a system
that traditionally uses tests which (for a variety
of reasons) do produce distinctive patterns of
results in this way.12
A further clue to what is happening may lie in
research which indicates that ethnic groups
have not drawn equal benefit from recent
educational reforms. We have already noted
(above) that certain groups (by gender and
ethnicity) have enjoyed greater improvements in
their attainments at 16: in particular, African
Caribbean students have not shared equally in
the overall improvements. These results confirm
findings that have emerged in other LEAs
nationally.13 It is possible that similar processes
have operated through the Birmingham’s recent
focus on raising attainments in the early years.
For example, a recent report summarised the
wide range of activities in this area:
‘The LEA has in place an early years
strategy, involving a range of initiatives
such as the Effective Early Learning Project,
the Climbing Frames Curriculum Framework,
Sure Start, the Flying Start Project and the
Bookstart Project. There is a policy of
increasing pre-school provision through
the implementation of the Early Years
Development and Childcare Plan.’14
13
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
If these activities have not mainstreamed a
particular concern with race equality it is
possible that some groups, particularly white
students, may have drawn disproportionate
benefit. Indeed, the growing awareness of Black
success in baseline assessments could even
have had a detrimental effect by encouraging
teachers to focus on other groups. Whatever
the reason(s) behind the changing patterns of
attainment in baseline assessments, it would
seem that further examination of these issues
should be an urgent priority.
The Birmingham data reveal a pattern of relative
decline for Black students that is similar,
although less pronounced, than that seen in
some other national statistics. Nevertheless, the
finding should be seen as a major cause for
concern. For both sexes, and in both the relevant
curriculum areas (English/literacy and
mathematics/numeracy) African Caribbean
students generally enter schools performing
above the LEA average but then experience a
relative decline in their performance. This
decline grows at virtually every key stage and is
most pronounced in the case of African
Caribbean boys (see Figures 5 and 6).
Because of changes to the assessment
system, it is not possible to isolate the
cause(s) for the relative decline of
African Caribbean children in baseline
assessments. This should be examined
further as a matter of priority.
Educational statistics make it possible
to examine how different groups of
children perform, relative to others, as
they move through the school system
from age 5 to 16. The quality of
statistics in Birmingham means that we
can look at these questions in greater
detail than has been possible in any
previous research.
One possibility is that the new
assessments are less inclusive or
accessible than was true of the
previous system.
It is also possible that the LEA’s range
of Early Years initiatives have
disproportionately benefited certain
groups, particularly white children.
The data show that despite entering the
school system with assessments that
are generally in advance of the LEA
average, Black pupils experience a
dramatic decline in their performance
relative to other groups. In other
words, pupils in other ethnic groups
draw more benefit (make greater
progress) during their time in school.
A level playing field?
Ethnic origin and differences in progress
5 to 16
In 2000 the Office for Standards in Education
published a review of available statistics on the
influence of ‘race’, class and gender in relation
to educational achievement. One of the findings
which received national attention concerned
the relative deterioration in the performance of
Black students as they moved through the
school system. In one particular case it was
noted that Black students entered compulsory
schooling scoring 20 percentage points above
the LEA average when aged 5 but left at age16
scoring 21 points below the local average.15
Data from Birmingham allow us to examine this
phenomenon in more detail than has been
previously possible: specifically, the Birmingham
data include statistics on every Key Stage and
allow separate calculations for boys and girls
(neither of which was possible in the Ofsted
review).16
This pattern is true for African
Caribbean children of both sexes and
is visible in both the curriculum areas
for which data are available
(English/literacy and maths/numeracy).
These findings are of great significance because
they highlight the continued, and growing,
inequality of attainment between African
Caribbean students and their White peers. The
situation is presented graphically in Figure 9.
The illustration presents the differences in
attainment between White and African
Caribbean pupils in their formal assessments at
critical points in their schooling: specifically, at
age 5 (in their baseline assessments), ages 7, 11
14
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Figure 5:
Baseline to GCSE (2000/01): Boys by ethnic origin in English/literacy
Figure 6:
Baseline to GCSE (2000/01): Boys by ethnic origin in Mathematics/numeracy
15
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Figure 7:
Baseline to GCSE (2000/01): Girls by ethnic origin in English/literacy
Figure 8:
Baseline to GCSE (2000/01): Girls by ethnic origin in Mathematics/numeracy
16
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
and 14 (the end of Key Stages 1, 2 and 3
respectively) and, finally, aged 16, in their GCSE
and equivalent examinations. At each point we
show the difference between the proportion of
Black and White boys and girls who secured the
required level.17 The horizontal axis, running left
to right across the centre of the Figure, can be
thought of as a line of equity: if the Black and
White pupils were equally likely to succeed then
the relevant data point would fall on this line.
If, however, White pupils are more likely to
attain the desired level, the data point falls
above axis (indicating White advantage).
Similarly, a point below the horizontal axis
indicates that a greater proportion of Black
pupils attained the relevant scores. For example,
41.8% of White boys attained a higher grade
pass (A*-C) or its equivalent in mathematics in
2001: this was achieved by 16.6% of Black
boys. Consequently at GCSE the gap between
Black and White boys for mathematics is 25.2
percentage points in the direction of white
advantage.
There are several points to note from Figure 9.
First, the inequalities in attainment between
Black and White pupils are almost always in the
direction of white advantage and they tend to
increase as pupils move through the school
system. The so-called Black/White gap18 is never
as large as 10 percentage points during the
primary school years: at Key Stage 3 and GCSE
in secondary school, however, the gap is always
greater than 10 percentage points (with the
exception of girls’ performance in English).
Second, the inequalities are especially
pronounced for boys: this is no surprise in view
of our earlier findings (see above). However, in
Figure 9 the inequalities for Black girls are also
significant. Black boys and young men are
frequently cited in public debates about
inequalities in attainment but it is rare for Black
girls’ attainments to be given similar attention.19
This data indicate that Black girls and young
women also experience significant inequalities
of opportunity.
Third, the data show that the inequalities of
attainment differ from subject-to-subject.
Specifically, for both sexes, the Black-White
inequalities in attainment tend to be greatest in
mathematics. This is interesting because
mathematics has a long established history of
using selective teaching groups and it has been
argued that such practices tend systematically
to disadvantage Black students.20
Figure 9:
Baseline to GCSE: the growing Black/White inequality of attainment (percentage points) by
gender and ethnic origin in Maths and English (Birmingham, 2001)
17
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
The inequality in attainment between
Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils tend
Black pupils and their white peers (the
so-called Black-White gap) tends to
increase significantly in secondary
school: for both sexes and in both
curricular areas.
to make greater than average progress
but are still attaining below the LEA
average at age 16.
Exclusions from School
Being excluded from school is a very serious act.
Permanent exclusion (expulsion) can mark the
end of a student’s contact with mainstream
schooling and is associated with a much higher
risk of unemployment and contact with the
criminal justice system.22 The consequences of
fixed term exclusions (suspensions) are less
certain: for some students a fixed term
exclusion serves as a one-off punishment, while
for others they become a more frequent
indication of a breakdown in the relationship
between a student and their school.23
The greatest inequalities are
experienced by Black boys but Black
girls also experience significant and
growing inequalities of attainment as
they move through school.
The Black-White gap is not consistent
between different curricular subjects:
mathematics is associated with greater
inequalities in attainment and this
may be related to the subject’s greater
use of selective teaching groups.
The picture is much more positive for certain
other groups. In each case (for both sexes and
both curricular areas) Indian pupils enter school
attaining higher than the LEA average and, at
age 16 in their GCSE performance, Indian pupils
are even further ahead of the LEA average. For
Pakistani and Bangladeshi children the picture is
less clear cut, but remains generally positive:
that is, although they enter school with
attainments that are significantly less than the
LEA average, at age 16 Pakistani and
Bangladeshi pupils have generally made greater
than average progress and are closer to the LEA
average in their GCSE attainments. This pattern
has been identified nationally and is often
attributed to greater levels of English language
fluency as students move through school. 21
Indian pupils tend to score higher
than the LEA average in formal
assessments at each key stage and
are further ahead at age 16 than at
age 5. This is true for both sexes
and in both curricular areas (English
and mathematics).
As a result of the Social Exclusion Unit’s report
on exclusions, in 1998 the Labour Government
set national targets for a one-third reduction in
the overall number of permanent exclusions.
Having almost met the initial targets a year
early, in 2001 the Government announced that
no new targets would be set.24
It has been known for some time that certain
minority ethnic groups tend to be excluded
more often than would be expected in view of
their representation in the student population.
In particular, Black students are frequently
found to be over-represented in permanent
exclusions at both a local and national level.25
The national reduction in permanent exclusions
has led to a fall in the numbers of students
excluded in each ethnic group. However, the
over-representation of Black students, while
fluctuating, has remained significant.
18
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Table 4:
Permanent Exclusions by Ethnic Origin, Birmingham 1998/99 - 2000/01
1998/99
African Caribbean
Bangladeshi
Indian
Mixed race
Pakistani
Other
White
Total
N
%
N
1999/2000
%
N
2000/01
%
Percentage of the
School Population
62
5
11
40
30
2
188
338
18%
1%
3%
12%
9%
<1%
56%
100%
66
5
4
44
27
0
142
228
23%
2%
1%
16%
9%
0%
49%
100%
40
2
3
40
17
2
113
217
18%
1%
1%
18%
8%
1%
52%
99%
6.9%
3.8%
6.5%
4.3%
17.9%
4.1%
56.5%
100%
Note: because of rounding, percentages may noy always equal 100
Tables 4, 5 and 6 present a breakdown of
exclusions in Birmingham by ethnic origin,
gender and type of school. Table 4 shows a
breakdown of permanent exclusions in
Birmingham between the school year 1998/99
and 2000/01. The first thing to note is that the
number of exclusions has fallen quite sharply,
by more than a third in three years, from 338 to
217. Most, though not all, ethnic groups have
shared in this decline to some extent. When
comparing the likelihood of exclusion for each
member of the different ethnic groups, however,
it is clear that certain groups are overrepresented. As with national trends, white
students are generally excluded at a level
roughly proportionate to their numbers in the
school age population; South Asian students
tend to be under-represented, while African
Caribbean students are significantly more likely
to be excluded.26
exclusions in the most recent statistics, just as
they did three years ago. This means that
African Caribbean students are permanently
excluded more than twice as often as they
should be if exclusions were evenly distributed
between different groups (by a rate of 2.6). The
situation for students categorised as ‘mixed
race’ is even worse.27 Not only are they overrepresented in each of the three years, but the
level of over-representation worsens: from 2.7
times the predicted level in 1998/99 to 4.1 in
2000/01. To our knowledge, this is the first time
that statistics on the exclusion of mixed race
students have been made public by a major
public authority. They identify a major cause for
concern: a growing proportion of the student
population are categorised as mixed race and
the evidence suggests that their likelihood of
permanent exclusion is increasingly
disproportionate.
The number of permanent exclusions
African Caribbean students are
permanently excluded more than twice
as often as predicted by their numbers
in the Birmingham population.
has fallen sharply in recent years, both
in Birmingham and nationally.
Despite the fall in numbers, however, it
Mixed race (dual heritage) children are
remains the case that some minority
ethnic groups are significantly more
likely than others to be permanently
excluded.
over-represented by a factor of 4 in the
latest figures: this is the highest rate of
over-representation and appears to be
worsening each year.
Despite the fall in numbers excluded, the overrepresentation of certain groups has not
declined. In particular, African Caribbean
students (who make up 6.9% of the school age
population in Birmingham) account for 18% of
19
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Table 5:
Permanent Exclusions by Ethnic Origin and Gender in Primary, Secondary and Special Schools,
Birmingham 1999 - 2000
Primary
Girls
African Caribbean
Bangladeshi
Indian
Mixed Race
Pakistani
White
N=
20.0%
0.0%
0.0%
40.0%
0.0%
40.0%
5
Secondary
Boys
Girls
Special
Boys
22.8% 25.8%
0.0% 0.0%
0.0% 0.0%
17.5% 9.7%
7.0% 0.0%
52.6% 64.5%
57
31
Girls
Boys
24.6% 0.0%
2.7% 0.0%
2.2% 0.0%
13.7% 0.0%
12.0% 0.0%
44.8% 100.0%
183
2
10.0%
0.0%
0.0%
30.0%
10.0%
50.0%
10
Percentage of the
School Population
6.9%
3.8%
6.5%
4.3%
17.9%
56.5%
Note: because of rounding, percentages may noy always equal 100
Table 5 allows us to look in a little more detail
at the excluded students and their schools.28 It
is clear that, as with the national pattern, in
Birmingham most permanent exclusions are
from secondary schools and involve boys (57 of
the 62 exclusions from primaries and 183 of the
214 secondary exclusions). However, when
comparing pupils of the same gender and in
similar schools, it is apparent that the overrepresentation of certain minorities is not
restricted to boys alone. The over-representation
of African Caribbean and mixed race students is
present in both primary and secondary schools,
and is common to both sexes. The relatively
small number of children involved, especially in
primary schools, means that more detailed
analysis is difficult. Nevertheless, the general
patterns are clear and worrying.
A similar pattern emerges in Table 6 in relation
to fixed term exclusions. These temporary
exclusions (sometimes also called ‘suspensions’)
are more numerous than permanent exclusions
but the same patterns of ethnic inequality are
evident. African Caribbean and mixed race
students account for disproportionately high
numbers of fixed term exclusions: 21.3% and
13.6% respectively. Once again, this is true for
both sexes and in both primary and secondary
schools.
African Caribbean and mixed race students
are also over-represented in shorter (fixed
term) exclusions. The pattern is repeated for
both sexes in primary and secondary schools.
The over-representation of African
Caribbean and mixed race students is
common to boys and girls in both primary
and secondary schools.
Table 6:
Fixed Term Exclusions by Ethnic Origin and Gender in Primary, Seconary and Special Schools,
Birmingham 1999/2000
Primary
Girls
Boys
African Caribbean
Bangladeshi
Indian
Mixed Race
Pakistani
White
Other
N=
Secondary
Girls
Boys
15.4% 18.5% 30.2
0.0% 1.3% 1.5%
0.0% 3.1% 2.9%
12.8% 17.6% 12.7%
1.3% 7.0% 6.4%
67.9% 51.5% 45.0%
2.6% 1.0% 1.3%
78
874
907
20.4%
3.3%
2.6%
12.2%
13.2%
46.2%
2.2%
2693
Special
Girls Boys
5.0%
0.0%
0.0%
15.0%
10.0%
65.0%
5.0%
20
8.4%
1.6%
0.0%
20.4%
14.1%
53.9%
1.6%
191
All
Fixed Term
Percentage of the
School Population
21.3%
2.4%
2.6%
13.6%
10.6%
47.7%
1.8%
4763
6.9%
3.8%
6.5%
4.3%
17.9%
56.5%
4.1%
Note: because of rounding, percentages may not always equal 100
20
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Beyond the Numbers
In this section we have reviewed available data
in relation to some of the most pressing
questions for education in an ethnically diverse
society. The picture is mixed. In some cases
there is great cause for optimism. Standards of
attainment for 16 years olds in the city have
risen consistently since the late 1980s and in
recent years Birmingham has been improving
faster than the national average - a remarkable
achievement in view of the social disadvantage
faced by many residents. However, patterns of
success and year-on-year improvement are not
shared equally between different groups. Girls in
each ethnic group are moving further ahead of
their male peers. This is specially pronounced in
the case of Bangladeshi and African Caribbean
children. Indian students, of both sexes, are the
most likely to attain five or more higher grade
GCSEs while African Caribbean students (of
both sexes) are the least successful by this
measure. In some cases these inequalities are
worsening.
rate; for dual heritage children the overrepresentation is considerably higher and seems
to be worsening.
The statistical picture, therefore, raises a
number of concerns. Numbers alone can often
reveal (or confirm) the existence of a problem,
but they rarely explain its source or suggest
ways forward. In the following sections, we try
to shed light on some of the processes by
looking at a range of more qualitative
information, drawn from interviews, discussions
and an analysis of recent policies.
Measures of children’s skills when they enter
compulsory schooling give some cause for
optimism. For example, Black students generally
score well in their baseline assessments (when
aged 5). However, once again, the long term
analysis gives some cause for concern. First, it
appears that white children have over-taken
their African Caribbean classmates in recent
baseline assessments. Second, any advantage
enjoyed in the first years of school seems to
disappear quite quickly for Black students,
whose relative performance in English and
maths declines markedly as they move through
the education system. These findings suggest
that children from different ethnic groups are
not sharing equally in the benefits of school.
Further cause for alarm lies in the statistics on
exclusions from school: an issue that has long
been a priority for Black communities (both
nationally and locally). Despite a fall in the
overall numbers of students who are excluded,
it remains the case that certain groups are
much more likely to suffer this sanction. In
particular, African Caribbean students are
excluded at more than twice the anticipated
21
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Notes to FACTS and FIGURES
1
Modood, T., Berthoud, R., Lakey, J., Nazroo,
J., Smith, P., Virdee, S. and Beishon, S.
(1997) Ethnic Minorities in Britain: Diversity
and Disadvantage. London, Policy Studies
Institute. See page 91.
2
See Power, S., Warren, S., Gillborn, D., Clark,
A., Thomas, S. and Coate, K. (2002)
Education in Deprived Areas: Outcomes,
inputs and processes. Perspectives on
Education Policy no. 12, London, Institute of
Education University of London.
3
See table 1 in DfES (2001) GCSE/GNVQ and
GCE A/AS/VCE/Advanced GNVQ results for
Young People in England, 2000/01
(provisional statistics) SFR 45-2001. London,
DfES.
4
See, for example, the Report of the Chief
Education Officer (14 September 1993),
Birmingham City Council. Also, the recent
report by the Office for Standards in
Education: Ofsted (2002) Inspection
Birmingham Education Authority, London,
Ofsted.
5
Birmingham LEA (1993) Report of the Chief
Education Officer (14 September),
Birmingham City Council, p. 1.
6
Birmingham LEA (1993) Report of the Chief
Education Officer (14 September),
Birmingham City Council, p. 9.
7
Arnot, M., Gray, J., James, M., Rudduck, J.
with Duveen, G. (1998) Recent Research on
Gender and Educational Performance.
London, The Stationery Office.
8
Ofsted (2002) Inspection of Birmingham
Local Education Authority. London, Ofsted.
9
This finding emerged most strongly from a
review of previously unpublished data from
118 English LEAs (Gillborn, D. and Mirza,
H.S. (2000) Educational Inequality: Mapping
‘race’, class and gender. London, Ofsted).
Similar patterns had already been identified
in a sample of London boroughs
(Richardson, R. and Wood, A. (1999)
Inclusive Schools, Inclusive Society: Race
and Identity on the Agenda. Stoke-on-Trent,
Trentham).
10 In effect, the changes to the test mean that
we cannot compare children taking the tests
in different years, but we can compare the
results for different ethnic groups taking the
same test in any single year.
11 Sammons, P., Sylva, K. and Mujtaba, T.
(1999) What do baseline assessment
schemes measure? A comparison of the QCA
and Signposts schemes. London, Institute of
Education University of London.
12 As Sammons and her co-authors note, ‘The
issues are complex and much further
research and discussion are required’
(Sammons et al, (1999) What do baseline
assessment schemes measure? A comparison
of the QCA and Signposts schemes. London,
Institute of Education University of London,
p. 51).
13 Gillborn, D. and Mirza, H.S. (2000)
Educational Inequality: Mapping ‘race’, class
and gender. London, Ofsted,
see pages 13-15.
14 Birmingham City Council (2001) Report of
the Chief Education Officer. November.
Birmingham City Council, p. 4.
15 Gillborn, D. and Mirza, H.S. (2000)
Educational Inequality: Mapping ‘race’, class
and gender. London, Ofsted,
see pages 15 -17. For an indication of how
this finding has influenced public debate see
the Times Educational Supplement (2003)
‘Race chief slates schools’, 24 January, p. 1.
16 In these data the baseline scores represent
the proportion of children scoring 11 or
above. The KS1 results are those achieving
level 2 or above; KS2 are those achieving
level 4 or above; KS3 shows those attaining
level 5 or above. The final figure (KS4) is the
proportion attaining five or more higher
grade GCSEs. In each case the distance
above/below the horizontal access
represents how this compares with the LEA
average.
22
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
17 That is, a score of 11 or more in their
baseline assessments; level 2 or better at
Key Stage 1; level 4 or better at Key Stage
2; level 5 or higher at Key Stage 3; and a
higher grade pass (A*-C) in GCSE or its
equivalent at age 16.
18 Drew, D. and Gray, J. (1991) The BlackWhite gap in examination results: a
statistical critique of a decade’s research,
New Community, 17(2): 159-72.
19 See, for example, Majors, R. (Ed.)(2001)
Educating Our Black Children: New
Directions and Radical Approaches. London,
RoutledgeFalmer.
20 See Gillborn, D. and Youdell, D. (2000)
Rationing Education: Policy, Practice,
Reform and Equity. Buckingham, Open
University Press; Qualifications and
Curriculum Authority (2000) Pupil Grouping
and its Relationship with Gender, Ethnicity
and Social Class: A Summary of the
Research Literature. London, QCA.
21 See, for example, Gillborn, D. and Gipps, C.
(1996) Recent Research on the
Achievements of Ethnic Minority Pupils.
London, HMSO.
22 See Social Exclusion Unit (1998) Truancy
and School Exclusion Report by the Social
Exclusion Unit. Cm 3957. London, SEU.
23 Nationally, robust statistics have not been
gathered for a long enough period to allow
a detailed analysis of the consequences of
fixed term exclusions.
25 See Bourne, J., Bridges, L. and Searle, C.
(1994) Outcast England: How Schools
Exclude Black Children. London, Institute of
Race Relations. Also, Gillborn, D. and Gipps,
C. (1996) Recent Research on the
Achievements of Ethnic Minority Pupils.
Report for the Office for Standards in
Education. London, HMSO; and Wright, C.,
Weekes, D. and McGlaughlin (2000) ‘Race’,
Class and Gender in Exclusion from School.
London, Falmer.
26 Department for Education and Skills (2001)
Permanent Exclusions from Schools, England
1999/2000 (final). SFR 32/2001. London,
DfES.
27 The term ‘mixed race’ is increasingly
recognised in official statistics. A ‘mixed’
category was added to the 2001 census and
is required in all educational statistics under
the terms of the Race Relations
(Amendment) Act 2000. However, this
‘mixed’ label has been criticised for echoing
the discredited language of racial purity. In
fact, there is no biological basis for the
belief in separate ‘races’ at all. See Rassool,
N. (2002) Deconstructing ‘standards’ in
education, British Journal of Sociology of
Education, 23(1): 135-140. As a result of
these concerns some observers prefer the
term ‘dual heritage’.
28 We have chosen to focus on the middle of
the three year span of data because this
begins to take account of changes in
exclusion levels but also, at the time of
writing, offers the most detailed level of
statistical data.
24 Department for Education and Skills (2001)
New measures will tackle violent pupils and
parents and help promote good behaviour:
Estelle Morris, Press Notice 2001/0300,
London, DfES.
23
Parents’ relationship with the education service can be characterised
as one of ‘high investment – low trust’.
The Views
of Key
Stakeholders
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
THE VIEWS
OF THE STAKEHOLDERS
From the earliest stages of this project we
wanted to ensure that there was a place for the
voices of key stakeholders in education.
Although there is a great deal of educational
research published each year, relatively little
includes the direct experiences and voices of
the people for whom the quality of education is
of most importance, i.e. school students and
their parents/carers.1 Because of the limitations
of space, however, it is not possible to deal with
each group separately. Rather, we have chosen
to focus on the key findings to emerge from
across the different groups.
A continual problem for research that engages
with multiple viewpoints is the claim that
people’s perceptions are ‘subjective’. This is
often equated with a sense that the arguments
are not trustworthy, and that further ‘hard’
evidence is needed before action can be taken.
Undoubtedly, some education professionals
(especially headteachers and teachers) would
disagree with how they are perceived by others,
but that is not the central issue. The question is
not whether one side is right and the other is
wrong; the most important question is that if
minority ethnic parents and/or pupils perceive
the system to be at best disinterested, and at
worse actively discriminatory, then what are the
schools and the LEA going to do to improve the
situation? The timescale and resources for
conducting this research means that it was not
possible to access a statistically representative
sample of parents and students. Nevertheless,
the experiences and perceptions recorded below
are far from unique: in many ways they echo
and develop viewpoints that have also been
expressed in previous research.2 In this context
it worth reminding ourselves of the formal
definition of a racist incident that has been
adopted in response to the Stephen Lawrence
Inquiry:
‘A racist incident is any incident which is
perceived to be racist by the victim or any other
person.’ 3
The viewpoints expressed by key stakeholders
can make uncomfortable reading but they are a
vital part of any process by which greater
equality and inclusion are to be achieved. This is
a process to which the city has already
committed itself:
Birmingham Education Service has a vision of
Birmingham as a learning city – a city which
celebrates its many cultures, languages, faiths
and races; a city of peace and prosperity and a
city which secures and encourages opportunities
for lifelong learning through which children and
adults can achieve their highest potential and
become active participants in the economic,
social, political and social life that Birmingham
has to offer (Birmingham Service Strategy
2001/2002, p.1).
There are two important points to be made
regarding the views of parents and students
reported in this section of the report. First, there
is a great deal of congruence of educational
values and objectives between parents and
students on one hand, and the education service
on the other hand (as captured in the Education
Service Strategy quote above). Second, however,
the daily experience of parents and students is
at odds with this apparent common ground.
PARENTS’ VOICES
Parents want their children to succeed within
mainstream schools.
‘If a school is a vehicle to help your child
go onto education, that seems to be the
main issue; whether they’re achieving in
terms of awards and the grades that
they pass.’
(African Caribbean mother)
25
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
In our meetings with parents there was no
strong or consistent argument for any ‘special’
or preferential provision. The aspirations
expressed by the parents were generally quite
straightforward : ‘Go to school to learn’
(Pakistani mother). However, education was
seen to play a particular role in challenging
racial discrimination and social exclusion in
society. The whole life of the school, not just
the academic environment, has a role to play in
challenging stereotypes and in offering more
positive life-chances:
Parents did not appear to experience in any
consistent manner the achievement strategies
set out in the authority’s Strategic Framework,
and more recently by Ofsted.4 This raises
questions about how consistently these
achievement strategies are deployed across
Birmingham schools, the quality of the
relationship between schools and parents from
minority ethnic communities, and the
relationship between these strategies and any
measurable improvement in students’
performance. Although teachers were often very
positive about individual children’s progress, all
parents had experienced a culture of low
expectations:
‘And it’s also quite good in terms of, that
the child can see that it is an activity not
just for one class of people; so they
[the children] know that if they wanted
to ski, it’s not just “I’m not white” – “I can
do it”, not just because of my colour’
(African Caribbean mother commenting
on the role of school trips and
extra-curricular activities).
‘I know my child and they’ve got the ability
to achieve more, but there tends to be a
certain [low] expectation from teachers.’
(African Caribbean mother)
‘They [refugee children] are seen as children
from war affected areas, that stigmatises
them, keeps them low.’ (Refugee mother).
Parents’ view of schools
The minority ethnic parents in our study
expressed the strong view that for most of them
there was no realistic choice of alternative forms
of education. Consequently they depended on
the mainstream system to provide an adequate
service and they believed that the LEA and
schools had a moral responsibility to provide
such a service. Unfortunately, they did not think
that schools had the capacity to meet this
obligation. In general terms, parents’ relationship
with the education service appears to be one of
high investment (they support schools and view
their children’s success as vitally important) but
low trust (they are fearful that schools are
unable or unwilling to deliver on their promises
of equal opportunities).
‘It’s the attitude of some of the teachers.
Bright children get bored of the curriculum
or syllabus, and if they are not keep
occupied, or the materials are not
interesting, they tend to be mischievous.
And then the attitude of the teachers
is that they are trouble-makers’
(Pakistani father).
These are disturbing experiences. They suggest
that parents’ high expectations (of their
children and their schools) are being frustrated.
Parents complained that teachers have
expectations of their children which
under-estimate their academic potential
but exaggerate a potential for causing
trouble.
Parents’ relationship with the education
service can be characterised as
one of ‘high investment – low trust’.
On the basis of this the education service does
not seem to be meeting its objective of
providing an appropriately challenging
curriculum.5 In the eyes of parents, this culture
of low expectations was related to a wider
problem of teachers having the tendency to
stereotype minority ethnic children and parents:
26
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
‘It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you keep
telling a child “you are not performing,
you are not achieving”, he is bound to
say “OK. If I’m not doing well, and nobody
is helping me to do it, then why should I
bother?”. So many children who have the
potential to out-perform are being failed
by the system’
(Pakistani father)
‘I think [white teachers] have got an
expectation of who you are, how you
will act, and what you will say’
(African Caribbean mother).6
Dealing with racism and stereotyping
It is important to recognise that the parents
with whom we spoke were not asking for any
form of preferential, or special treatment: they
simply wanted their children to be dealt with
fairly. Parents made a clear distinction between
schools that were well organised, had high
expectations of all children and work-focused,
and those that dealt with children, parents and
communities in racist and stereotypical ways.
Minority ethnic parents are not asking for
preferential treatment: they are
asking for fair treatment.
Many parents did not feel that schools dealt
with racism appropriately:
‘Racism is something that teachers are
shoving under the carpet and they don’t
deal with it’
(Pakistani mother).
Following, is an example of the difficulty
schools may have with dealing with racism:
A PAKISTANI MOTHER’S STORY
Her son was facing a great deal of racism at
his mainly-white secondary school. The
mother and father wrote a letter regarding
this to the Chair of Governors, because:
‘If we thought the school was dealing with
the problem we wouldn’t have approached
the governors in the first place’.
The Chair of Governors wrote back saying the
parents should take the matter up with the
Headteacher instead.
The situation for the boy became even more
serious after the events of 11 September 2001.
The boys’ frustration with the lack of a positive
response from the school led him to become
increasingly aggressive in his own defence. The
school’s response to this was to issue an
‘unofficial’ exclusion.
Since the boy was about to sit his GCSEs the
parents did not have the option of withdrawing
him from the school. Instead they had to
challenge the school’s actions.
This scenario was one readily recognised by the
parents we spoke with and resonates with the
community submissions made to the
Birmingham Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
Commission, which noted the lack of confidence
and resolution by public bodies in Birmingham
to deal with issues of racial inequality and
discrimination. It is also out of step with the
LEA’s racial harassment and September 11
guidelines. 7
Parents are concerned that racism is not
being challenged in schools. In some cases
this can lead to worsening problems and a
situation where both parents and students
see the school as taking the side of white
racist pupils.
27
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Low expectations, racial stereotyping and a
reluctance to deal adequately with incidents of
racism are historic and recurring features of
minority ethnic communities’ experience of
education in the UK. An additional recurring
problem faced by the Bangladeshi community is
that of divided families, an issue raised
forcefully by the Bangladeshi parents we spoke
to, captured by the case below:
DIVIDED FAMILIES
The school noticed that the 12 year old
Bangladeshi girl was having difficulty attending
to her work and socialising with other students.
Her father was asked to come in and talk with
the Headteacher about the school’s concerns.
He explained that her mother was prevented by
the immigration authorities from coming to the
UK, and that this was causing his daughter to
be extremely upset and unsettled. Although the
teachers were sympathetic, they did not appear
to know what to do to support the girl. The
father did not feel that the school adequately
understood the problem facing his daughter nor
that they backed up their kind words with
practical help.
Parents are frustrated and angry at what
they see as a distant and unresponsive
system. Birmingham’s long history of ethnic
diversity is not mirrored in schools’ lack
of awareness of the problems faced by
many communities.
Parents felt very distant from the processes and
structures of influence, such as school
governors.9 Their principal experience of the
education service was with their children’s
schools. Given that schools carry the main
responsibility for the achievement strategy, and
partnerships with parents is claimed to be an
important part of this strategy, it is disturbing
that these parents felt they had very little
influence on the process. This is even more
disturbing since these parents were very
confident and articulate.
It is a matter of concern that even
articulate and confident parents feel
distant from the structures of influence in
education. This is especially worrying in
view of the emphasis on ‘partnership’ in the
policy texts.
Many of the parents we met have personal
experience of schools providing an inadequate
and inappropriate service that does not appear
The issue of ‘divided families’ is a barrier
8
to tackle the endemic underachievement of
encountered by many South Asian families. The
parents were very aware of the limitations placed some minority ethnic groups. In their view, the
system has failed to respond appropriately for a
on schools in dealing with this situation. A key
aspect of this problem, as with low expectations long time. They feel that the LEA and schools do
not express an appropriate sense of urgency
and dealing with racism, is that this is a long
concerning the historic underachievement of
term, recurring issue that has been in the public
their children.
domain for many years. Also, Birmingham
schools have a great deal of experience of
Mentoring is an important strategy within the
working with the city’s diverse communities and
Excellence in Cities initiative, which, in turn, is
many parents’ expectations of support were
one of the principal means by which the
simply not being met. It would appear that many authority is seeking to raise the achievements
Birmingham schools do not have an appropriate
of minority ethnic students.10 In general, parents
understanding of the historic and recurring
were supportive of this means of helping their
obstacles to achievement and access experienced children achieve. However, concerns were raised
by different communities. Greater awareness of
about the role of school-based mentors:
these issues, and the development of practical
support strategies, is urgently required.
28
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
‘I would probably have a problem if the
mentor was actually going to be a teacher,
or somebody who actually works in the
school. If you view the problem as being
with the schools and the teachers, then
how can the teacher solve the problem’
(African Caribbean father).
This is an important viewpoint. It is often
assumed by policy-makers that mentoring is an
approach that helps encourage students to take
school seriously and ‘knuckle down’ (as if the
‘problem’ lay with the child). In the eyes of
parents, however, mentoring is most useful
where it offers a fresh perspective, separate
from the school (identifying a problem in
schools’ actions)
extensive individual and community investment
in supplementary forms of education can be
viewed as a measure of the failure of the
mainstream education service. African Caribbean
parents were very sympathetic to the view that
the only solution was to set up their own
separate education system.
Minority ethnic parents invest a good deal
(of time and money) in additional resources
to support their children’s learning: this is
seen individually, through the use of private
tutors, and communally, through the
provision of supplementary schools.
Birmingham education strategy documents
present supplementary schools as part of a
joint educational project. But for many
parents, especially those of African
Caribbean ethnic heritage, the
supplementary school system is a sign of
the failure of mainstream education and
their communities’ unwillingness to accept
that failure.
Parents express support for mentoring
programmes, especially where the mentor is
seen as operating outside the low
expectations and stereotypes that can
characterise teachers’ views.
Community-based schooling
Parents looked to their own community-based
organisations to mediate between them, their
children and schools because of the low level of
trust won by the mainstream system. African
Caribbean and Refugee parents, in particular, felt
that they had to compensate for the failings of
the education service. This was done individually,
through private tuition, and communally
through the extensive network of supplementary
schools across the city.11 In this way African
Caribbean parents, especially, appeared to be
subsidising Birmingham education service
through their personal and collective investment
in private tuition and supplementary schools. It
was pointed out by the African Caribbean
parents that the supplementary school system
was initiated by their communities in the 1960s
because of the way the education service was
failing their children. It appeared to them that
while there were improvements, these were not
nearly enough to redress the disadvantage faced
by their children and their communities. Within
the Birmingham strategic framework,
supplementary schools are seen as ‘partners’ in a
common educational project.12 Alternatively, the
Parents accepted the need for individual and
communal responsibility to support their
children’s learning. However, Bangladeshi,
Pakistani and Refugee parents made the point
that as communities they experienced relatively
high levels of poverty. They also recognised that
despite the willingness of parents and
communities to support their children’s learning,
they did not always possess the necessary skills
or proficiency in English to realise this desire.
They therefore felt that the LEA had a
responsibility to support communities to meet
this obligation.
Improvement Strategies
Arising from our conversations with parents, it
is worth identifying some of the clearest
messages that emerged concerning how
Birmingham could improve the service it offers.
There needs to be a more rigorous and effective
co-ordination between anti-poverty and education
strategies: Parents were clear about the links
between economic deprivation and educational
opportunities.
29
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
families and communities had to support their
children’s education, they felt that they
currently carried too much of the burden.
Education strategies need to be based upon a
rigorous needs assessment of the obstacles to
achievement and participation faced by
minority ethnic communities. At present parents
feel that race equality concerns appear to be
‘added-on’ as something of an after-thought.
‘Another barrier is the high
unemployment percentage amongst
refugees. I remember one child whose
father was encouraging him to study.
He was unemployed, he was a PhD holder.
[The child] said “why bother, you have
a PhD and you are not working,
why bother?”’
(Refugee community worker).
Recruitment policies in schools need to better
reflect the population profiles of the city: This
When many members of minority ethnic
communities suffer high levels of economic
disadvantage, and in the case of refugees are
often denied access to employment, it can be
difficult to motivate young people to invest in
education. In these circumstances students can
come to question whether there are any real
returns on the investment in terms of improved
access to employment and higher education.
This was expressed in terms of the need for
education strategies to be placed within the
context of building community capacity.
Economic deprivation has real consequences for
children’s access to education. The Refugee
parents told us of a Somali mother who could
not afford to pay for the bus passes for her four
daughters at secondary school, so she bought
two passes, and two of the girls effectively
dropped out of school. Pakistani, Refugee and
Bangladeshi parents felt that school-based
achievement strategies needed to be
accompanied by an energetic effort to support
families and communities to develop the
necessary skills and knowledge that would
enable them to provide an appropriate support
for their children’s education. This was seen as
an effective way of connecting the raising of
aspirations with positive learning identities
among young people.
was seen as a necessary requirement to improve
student behaviour and motivation. Teachers
drawn from students’ own communities were
regarded as having a better understanding of
the young people and could avoid the cultural
dissonance and low expectation that often
occurred. As well as a concerted effort to
recruit more minority ethnic governors,
governing bodies need to be much more
responsive to parents’ concerns and aspirations.
Governing bodies need to act as advocates on
behalf of parents and, where necessary,
challenge the professional practice of teachers.
African Caribbean parents, in particular, wanted a
more culturally relevant and sensitive curriculum:
There was a strong feeling expressed by the
African Caribbean parents that the official
curriculum excluded the African and Arab
contribution to Western knowledge. A positive
understanding of Black history and knowledge
was seen as an important element in
unravelling the historical legacy of slavery
and racism.13
Professional identities and professional knowledge
needs to be organised around a deep and proper
understanding of the recurring obstacles to
achievement and participation: There was a
strong feeling amongst the parents that
education professionals displaced the problem
of underachievement onto minority ethnic
communities. While parents believed that
30
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
STUDENTS’ VOICES
Aspirations
We spoke with a wide variety of students, of
different ages and ethnic backgrounds, but
there was a striking similarity in what they
want from education:
Good qualifications
College/university access and/or good
jobs/careers
All the students were very clear about the
investments they need to make to achieve these
aspirations. They recognised that hard work was
necessary but they were also clear about the
forms teaching and schooling that would help
them. We begin this section by reflecting on the
things that students value about their schools.
Despite the diversity of student
Positive Teaching
The quality of the relationship between student
and teacher was identified by all of the students
as critical to developing a positive learning
identity. The students from all schools, whether
they were achieving well or not, were consistent
in outlining the central elements of a positive
learning relationship.
Respectful relations between teacher and
student are the cornerstone to positive
relations with school and the learning
process itself.
Treating students with respect was a universally
admired characteristic. Respectful interactions
are not always easy to describe, for example,
some students spoke of being treated ‘like an
adult’. Respect involves giving value to students’
own perspectives by listening to them without
quickly resorting to disciplinary measures:
backgrounds, there is agreement on the
importance of educational success as a
possible gateway to further and higher
education and/or the job market.
‘[Bad teachers] don’t treat you like
adults, they treat you like children.’
(High achieving Pakistani girl)
Being Valued
Being valued by the school was an important
feature of students’ relations with their schools.
While this was demonstrated by teachers’ own
practices (see below) students also felt that
positive relations with schools were made
possible by visible investments in their
opportunities to achieve. For example,
investment in learning resources was highly
valued by students as demonstrating a clear
commitment by the school towards student
achievement. The higher achieving students
identified guidance on educational pathways,
revision classes and learning support as prime
examples of this investment. ‘At risk’ students14
tended to emphasise pastoral support. While
students could be very critical of the quality or
dated nature of some resources, this indicates
their desire to learn and achieve.
Students felt that positive relations with
schools were made possible by visible
investments in the students, as evidenced
by things like additional classes, high
quality resources and pastoral support.
‘They listen to you and let you talk.’
(High achieving Bangladeshi boy)
The lack of respect demonstrated by some
teachers is regarded as unfair and an abuse of
their authority:
‘If something’s happened, when you know
its not your fault, and the teacher’s saying
it was, you raise your voice because of
what happened. They say you must treat
the teacher with courtesy and respect, but
if the teacher can’t do that to you, what’s
the point of having the rules?’
(‘At Risk’ African Caribbean boy).
There was a strong feeling expressed by the
students that they often experience a lack of
balance in the way respect is distributed in their
schools, with students having to carry the
burden of respect. This feeling of injustice can
lead students to question the authority of
teachers.
31
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
‘[The teachers] talk to you as if you’re
nobody. And it gets you angry and aggressive’
(‘At Risk’ White boy)
‘[Teachers] who listen to you, you give
them more respect, and do more work.’
(High achieving African Caribbean boy)
Students feel that this can be unfairly
interpreted as simply being insolent.15 An
alternative interpretation would be to regard
these behaviours as triggers for examining the
quality of the learning relationships. For the ‘at
risk’ students, this questioning of teachers’
authority results in disrupted learning
experiences due to exclusion from class or
school. For vulnerable young people it appears
that being treated as a ‘nobody’ leads to a spiral
of decline in relations with school and learning.
Some students will respond to respectful
teachers even when they regard the lesson itself
as boring:
‘I might actually like the lesson on the
whole, but if that lesson is boring, I still
won’t mess about, but I might like, not
do as much work as I’m supposed to.
I won’t mess about because the
teacher’s all right.’
(High achieving Bangladeshi boy)
Being treated as ‘an adult’ was highly
prized by students regardless of their
level of attainment.
Students see respect as a two-way process.
Teachers who quickly resort to disciplinary
sanctions, or fail to engage with the
students’ perspectives, are sometimes seen
as unworthy of respect.
Additionally, some ‘high achieving’ students
were prepared to ‘put up’ with potentially demotivating factors if they saw a direct link
between a subject and their career aspirations.
‘I’m doing Graphics (GCSE), and there’s
only two girls in class. And we’re doing
this project at the moment. I don’t really
want to do anything in there, but I’m doing
it because I want to do Interior Design.’
(High achieving African Caribbean girl)
Lack of respect from teachers does not
necessarily lead to disruptive behaviour, but
may lead to dis-investment in the learning
experience:
‘The ones [teachers] who don’t respect you,
you don’t do the work.’
(High achieving Pakistani girl)
‘More likely to misbehave if teacher does
not show respect – might work a bit slower.’
(High achieving African Caribbean boy).
The teacher is work- and student-focused
One of the qualities of a teacher who shows
respect is that they are work-focused. Students
therefore appreciate teachers who are well
organised, interested in their subject and push
their students to achieve. These teachers appear
to be willing to support their students to do
well and not just teach the subject:
‘Teachers give up their own time to give you
extra support.’ (High achieving Pakistani girl)
It is worth pointing out that these statements
were made by ‘high achieving’ students. Even
these successful students are affected by the
unequal distribution of respect in their schools
and say they respond by partially withdrawing
their investment in the learning experience.
Students did not feel that there were many
teachers in their schools that showed real
respect for them. However, it was clear that
they will invest in teachers who develop
respectful relations with them:
‘More than a teacher really, more like a
mentor, someone who can come and help if
you’ve got problems.’ (‘At Risk’ Sikh boy)
‘Help you out with your problems.’ (High
achieving Pakistani girl).
32
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
‘At risk’ students are concerned that some
teachers neglect them:
‘
You work harder because you think you
disappoint your Mom and Dad if you don’t
work up to their standards.’
(High achieving African Caribbean boy)
‘The bad teachers are helping you,
pushing you, but they’re not actually
showing you they’re on your side.
People just start thinking “forget it”.’
(‘At Risk’ Sikh boy)
‘The teacher in History, straight to
your work, straight in to start work.
But in Maths, you just keep on, keep on,
keep on, just going round the bush,
not starting the lesson. Like, when people
just messing around [the teacher] just
leaves them to do what they want and
just teaches the ones he wants to teach.’
(‘At Risk’ African Caribbean boy)
‘That’s what your whole family wants
[to do well]. Not only yourself, your
brothers and sisters want you to go to
college, want you to do well.’
(High achieving Pakistani girl)
Students’ success is made possible by family
investment in their children’s achievement, both
in terms of motivation and materially in terms
of resources. Achievement can also be
motivated by personal and family desires to
improve their own situation:
‘My Mom wants me to do well, so
she’s pushing. I want to do as well as
her because she was talking about how
she was struggling to get her nursing
degree, and all this business, and now
she’s doing her counselling diploma.
So I’m like I want to live up to her
standards. So, using help from school,
but she’s there as well.’
(High achieving African Caribbean girl)
It is clear, therefore, that teachers can establish
positive relations whatever their subject
specialism and regardless of the students’ age,
ethnic background, or level of attainment. The
key factor is whether the teacher can earn
students’ respect.16
Teachers are highly regarded who show
genuine interest in their subject matter and
all their students. Unfortunately, many
students report teachers whose interests do
not extend equally to all their students.
‘Because you want to get out of this
environment and do something big.’
(High achieving Pakistani girl)
‘I want to show [white society] that
some of us can do that, we are achievers
and everything.’
(High achieving Pakistani girl)
Families and Mentors
Although many students reported good
relationships with one or more teachers, they
did not generally see schools as the single most
important factor in helping them learn and
achieve in a sustained fashion.
‘In a way the school, but really parents.’
(High achieving African Caribbean boy)
For the students identified as being ‘at risk’ the
independent mentoring projects are among the
most important places where they find these
values of support in operation. Participation in
the projects has a real impact on these students:
The students saw families as critically important
in supporting their achievement and
participation:
‘I wouldn’t have got this far really, if
you think about it, because they gave you
advice. And if you don’t have that advice
you can’t get to where you need to go’
(‘At Risk’ Pakistani boy).
33
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
The mentoring projects, and to some extent
Learning Support Teachers, provide
opportunities for these vulnerable students to
be listened to in a way they seldom experience
elsewhere in their school life. 17
Many students see their families as the
most important source of motivation and
advice. For some ‘at risk’ students, learning
mentors can play a similar role.
The difference between ‘at risk’
and ‘high achieving’ students
The difference between the ‘at risk’ and ‘high
achieving’ students is simple. The ‘high
achieving’ students appear to come into school
believing that there are real pay-offs to
investments in their own learning. Their
negative experiences of school will not usually
deter them from this objective. Their belief in
the positive potential of education is reinforced,
firstly by their families, and secondly by the
schools. For the ‘at risk’ students, however, any
pay-off to investment is never self-evident.
Their negative experiences of schools can be
enough to knock them off-track. These young
people are convinced that there are realisable
pay-offs to renewed investments in the context
of mentoring schemes, which appear to make
the difference for them.
The difference in initial perception of the value
of investment is speculative. But if we consider
that many African Caribbean children enter
Birmingham schools performing as well, if not
better, than their peers, but by the beginning of
secondary school are already under-perfuming,
the experience of education that produces this
phenomena may be enough to explain the
different perceptions of realistic pay-offs to
investment.
Notes to The Views of Key Stakeholders
1
We have also spoken with groups of
education professionals, including teachers,
headteachers and LEA officers: their views
have informed parts of the subsequent
section (which addresses policy and practice
in Birmingham).
34
2
See, for example, Birmingham City Council
(2001) Challenges for the Future: Race
Equality in Birmingham. Report of the
Birmingham Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
Commission. Birmingham, Birmingham City
Council.
3
Home Office (2000) Code of Practice on
Reporting and Recording Racist Incidents in
Response to Recommendation 15 of the
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report. London,
Home Office.
4
For the purposes of this report ‘Strategic
Framework’ refers to a series of related
policy documents that set out the scope
and nature of race equality in the education
service. The Strategic Framework
incorporates the following documents –
Education Service Strategy, Education
Development Plan, the Equality Action Plan,
and ‘Success for Everyone’. The Strategic
Framework is examined in detail in the next
section of this report.
5
School-based processes, particularly
‘teaching and learning’, are identified by the
Strategic Framework as central to
raising the achievement of minority ethnic
students. Hence the commitment to the
education service providing an appropriately
challenging curriculum.
6
Very similar points were raised by the
Conference for African Caribbean Parents in
1998 (BASS 1998). One of the key points
raised at this conference was that
‘Education is highly valued within the
African Caribbean community, but many
African Caribbean parents feel excluded
from school’. This experience of exclusion
and stereotyping was a key message
identified in the Birmingham Stephen
Lawrence Inquiry Commission where it
stated that ‘There were some recurrent
themes in the community submissions,
particularly, the under performance of some
minority ethnic pupils, the
disproportionate impact of school
exclusions, the issue of racism in the
education system and teacher expectations
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
of and assumptions about minority ethnic
pupils’ (Birmingham City Council (2001)
Challenges for the Future – Race Equality in
Birmingham. Report of the Birmingham
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Commission.
Birmingham, Birmingham City Council. Page
17, paragraph 4.3).
7
Birmingham City Council (2001) Challenges
for the Future – Race Equality in
Birmingham. Report of the Birmingham
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Commission.
Birmingham, Birmingham city Council.
Birmingham LEA (2001) Guidelines for
Reporting, Recording and Monitoring Racial
Incidents. Birmingham, Birmingham City
Council.
8
See Bhatti, G. (1999) Asian Children at
Home and at School: An Ethnographic
Study. London, Routledge.
9
See, for example, Bhatti (1999) above. For
critical work on parental and community
relations in education that does take
seriously ethnic diversity, see Vincent C.
(1996) Parents and Teacher: Power and
Participation. London, Falmer Press; Vincent,
C. (2000) Including Parents? Education,
citizenship and parental agency.
Buckingham, Open University Press.
10 For further details on Excellence in Cities
(EiC) see the section on policy and practice
later in this report.
11 The Education Service currently provides
grant aid for 112 community supplementary
schools, predominantly for the African
Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian
communities. See Birmingham LEA (2002)
Education Service Grants to Voluntary
Organisations – Supplementary Schools
2002/2003 Financial Year, Education
Equalities. Birmingham, Birmingham City
Council. Of course there are many more
supplementary schools funded by
community organisations and other funding
opportunities.
12 Community-based organisations such as
Afiwi and Ishango are employed by the
Education Service as service deliverers.
13 See Birmingham City Council Education and
Arts Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Report to Council (2002) ‘The extent to
which services do and are able to respond to
the educational needs of children and young
people of diverse cultural, religious and
community groups within the city. The
extent to which attainment and school
improvement is, and can be, influenced by
the support of cultural and religious groups
in the city. Community expectations and
perceptions.’ July 2002. Birmingham,
Birmingham City Council.
14 The notion of ‘at risk’ students has become
increasingly common over the last ten years.
Originally used in North America, in the UK
the term has become synonymous with
children who are in a range of challenging
or difficult circumstances, which render
them ‘at risk’ of educational failure and/or
exclusion.
15 These perceptions mirror the experiences
reported at the LEA’s Conferences for
African Caribbean Young People in 1998,
see Birmingham LEA (1998) The Way
Forward: Raising African Achievement in
Schools Conferences Reports. Birmingham,
BASS; see page 4. See also, Office for
Standards in Education (2001) Improving
Attendance and Behaviour in Secondary
Schools. London: The Stationery Office.
16 Students’ focus on relationships with
teachers fits well with the LEA’s emphasis
on teaching and learning as the key area for
raising achievement.
17 See Warren, S. (2001) Stories of Success Reducing Exclusions of African and AfricanCaribbean pupils from School in Islington.
London: Education Policy Research Unit,
Institute of Education.
35
It is unclear how a clear focus on race equality is maintained when Birmingham’s
achievement strategy is dispersed across such a wide range of initiatives.
MAking
Changes:
Planning,
Policy and
Practice
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Making Changes:
Planning, Policy and Practice
In this section we examine some of the ways in
which the Education Department has addressed
race equality in Birmingham. In particular, we
analyse the conscious goals and strategies that
have been adopted (what we call, ‘the intended
strategy’) and compare these to the actual ways
of working and effects that emerge in practice
(‘the realised strategy’). As we will see, the two
do not always correspond.
The development of a Strategic Race Equality
Strategy is directly informed by the findings of
the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry1 and the positive
duties placed upon public bodies by the Race
Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. The
Birmingham Strategic Race Equality Strategy is
comprised of three key strategic documents: The
Education Service Strategy (ESS), the Equality
Action Plan (EAP), and the Education
Development Plan (EDP). 2
In analysing the effects of the many
policies adopted by the Education
Department, it is useful to draw a
distinction between the intended strategy
(i.e. what the polices are meant to achieve)
and the realised strategy (what actually
happens in practice).
These documents have been produced in
different ways and for different purposes.
However, it is possible to distil the most
important points in order to identify the key
objectives of the Strategic Framework:
Key Objectives of Strategic Framework
THE INTENDED STRATEGY
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
The LEA has responsibility for developing a
strategic framework setting out the objectives
and strategies for raising achievement.
Primary commitment to ‘closing the
attainment gap’ (EDP);
Excellence in Cities (EiC) acts as the main
vehicle for raising attainment
and closing the attainment gap (ESS); 3
Teaching and Learning in the mainstream
classroom identified as the key to
raising achievement, based on a plural
definition of intelligence (EDP, ESS);
Figure 10:
Strategic Race Equality Framework
Identifying, supporting and sharing ‘good
practice’ through an information strategy
and Professional Development (EDP, ESS);
Targeted support and guidance for schools
(EDP, ESS);
Closing the attainment gap can only be
achieved through effective partnerships
(EDP, ESS).
Birmingham LEA has not only committed itself
to raising educational standards, as it is
required to do by national education policy.
Significantly, Birmingham LEA has also
committed itself to closing the ‘equality gap’.
37
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
The LEA recognises that while overall
achievement in the city has risen, and the rate
of improvement for particular groups has
increased, these improvements have not
consistently produced a closing of the
attainment gap for African Caribbean,
Bangladeshi and Pakistani pupils (as we noted
in an earlier section of this report). The move
away from a generalised commitment to raising
standards is an important development. This
signals the aspiration for the LEA to be more
than the local office of the DfES and for the
LEA to have a distinctive, local role.
In order to support school based
improvement a key role for the LEA is the
identification, support and sharing of ‘good
practice’ and building effective partnerships.
Excellence in Cities (EiC) is identified by the
LEA as the main vehicle through which the
closing of the attainment gap and
increased inclusion is to be achieved.
Figure 11:
Core LEA functions
An underlying perspective, drawn from work on
school improvement and effectiveness, guides
the development of an achievement culture in
schools.5 This model rests on several key
processes:6
Processes of Successful Schools and School
Improvement
The exercise of leadership;
The practice of management and
organisation;
The practice of teaching and learning;
The creation of an environment most
suitable for learning;
The promotion of staff development;
The promotion of collective review;
The encouragement of parental and
community involvement.
The Core LEA Functions
The role of LEAs has changed radically in the
past decade or so.4 To assess whether the work
of the LEA contributes to improving the
situation of minority ethnic pupils in
Birmingham schools, it is important that we can
be clear what the actual functions of the LEA
are. In some respects LEAs are in a process of
‘finding an identity’. While the Department for
Education and Skills (DfES) attempts to define
the role of the LEA in terms of supporting
school-based improvement, this does not
capture the multidimensional relations that
LEAs are situated within. The term ‘partnership’
has come to define this complex network of
associations and connections, but it does not
fully capture the complexity of these relations,
nor the full range of roles the LEA does or is
expected to play. Very simply we can define
three main functions undertaken by
Birmingham LEA as supporting school-based
improvement; developing effective partnerships;
and identifying and disseminating ‘good
practice’.
These processes relate to school-based
improvement activities and they indicate that
the basic orientation of the LEA achievement
strategy is defined as supporting these schoolbased processes.
The LEA achievement strategy is aimed at
supporting school-based processes based
on a school improvement and effectiveness
model.
This is very much in line with current
Government thinking. In the Birmingham
context these processes are seen to provide all
educators with a ‘common language’ that
enables schools to improve.
38
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
In order to guide the direction of education
services in Birmingham the LEA has to work in
partnership with a wide range of stakeholders.
The Education Service Strategy makes it clear
that the development of partnerships is a
necessary product of the changed role of LEAs.
It also makes clear that partnership working is
necessary in order to develop coherent and
joined-up approach to social exclusion, health,
and neighbourhood regeneration. The positive
focus the LEA gives to school-based
improvement translates into an investment in
developing the skills of teachers and school
managers. This is closely related to the
development of a ‘common language’ of school
improvement.
Delivering Achievement and Equality
So far we have outlined the strategic framework
that guides the drive to improve standards and
close the ‘equality gap’. We have also identified
the main functions that the LEA defines for
itself. The question we need to answer now is
what mechanisms exist in order for these
commitments and roles to be translated into
real practice? Analysis of the Strategic
Framework, and discussion with LEA personnel,
indicates that there are five mechanisms for
delivery of a race equality and achievement
agenda in education, summarised in Figure 12.
These mechanisms are very similar to the
‘Birmingham Map of School Improvement’
established in 1996.7 However, there have been
some significant changes since then, not least
the introduction of national education
strategies, such as the Excellence in Cities
initiative, and the national Literacy and
Numeracy strategies. These developments also
influence the mechanisms for delivering
achievement and closing the ‘equality gap’.
EiC and race equality
As indicated above the Excellence in Cities (EiC)
initiative has become the key vehicle in
Birmingham for raising standards and driving
race equality in education. EiC is a generic
strategy for improving education in England’s
major urban centres. One of the objectives of
our work was to identify the extent to which
race equality concerns were built into the
mainstream functions of the LEA, particularly as
they relate to closing the attainment gap.
Therefore it is important to identify the extent
to which the strategy in Birmingham contains
race equality indicators:
Figure 12: Delivery Mechanisms
39
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Excellence in Cities Equality Indicators8
Resource Allocation:
EiC resources (including Learning Mentors)
driven by commitment to support
underachieving pupils, pupils with special
educational needs and children in public care.
Objectives:
EiC Partnership targets include the aim to
double the rate of improvement of boys of
African Caribbean, Bangladeshi and
Pakistani heritage.
Since EiC is the main delivery mechanism
for race equality in Birmingham schools it is
vitally important that it contains strong
equality indicators. As the details above
suggest, the Birmingham EiC plan indicates
that the commitment to closing the
‘equality gap’ is given some real substance.
Excellence in Cities in Birmingham contains
important race equality indicators.
EiC Partnership targets include the aim to
Learning Mentors:
EiC schools are committed to providing
continuity of education for excluded pupils.
Minority ethnic mentoring organisations are
identified as having a key role in both the
provision of mentoring expertise and
evaluation of the Learning Mentor strand.
Gifted and Talented:
Gifted and Talented strand includes specific
criteria related to underachieving groups:
* Increasing their access to and
participation in extension and
enrichment events.
* Improved academic attainment.
EiC plan identifies the monitoring of the
proportion of underachieving groups in
identified Gifted and Talented cohorts as
‘good practice’.
Learning Support Centres:
Criteria for referring pupils to Learning
Support Centres include a need to evaluate
the contribution of teacher behaviour and
the appropriateness of the teaching and
learning environment to producing troubling
pupil behaviour.
Centres of Excellence:
It is expected that the criterion for
identifying schools as ‘Centres of Excellence’
will include ‘above average progress’ of
underachieving groups.
Monitoring and Evaluation:
All performance measures for monitoring
the progress and achievement of
the EiC plans to be analysed by gender,
ethnic background and Looked After status.
40
double the rate of improvement of boys of
African Caribbean, Bangladeshi and
Pakistani heritage.
It is important to note that in Birmingham the
‘Gifted and Talented’ strand (which at a
national level does not explicitly address the
performance and participation of minority
ethnic pupils) establishes key performance
indicators that are informed by the LEA’s overall
commitment to closing the ‘equality gap’. The
entry and exit criteria for Learning Support
Centres (LSCs) are also significant because they
place an important focus on school-based
processes that contribute to the production of
troubling pupil behaviour, rather than adopting
a deficit model of pupil behaviour (which would
assume that any problems rest with the child
rather than the school). The EiC Evaluation
Framework (draft consultation), produced by the
National Foundation for Educational Research
(NFER), makes it possible to evaluate each of
the strands in relation to individual pupils,
therefore enabling the evaluation tool to
measure the impact of the strands on minority
ethnic pupils. At present this evaluation tool is
used by the DfES in relation to individual
schools. At the local level each EiC Network will
have its own methods of evaluation and
monitoring, which do not necessarily feed
directly into the LEA’s evaluation systems. The
resources necessary for undertaking a rigorous
evaluation of the EiC across Birmingham
schools, especially its impact on children from
minority ethnic communities, are not there.9
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Schools are required to set differential
Targets setting and race equality
targets to close the ‘equality gap’.
One of the roles that LEAs are required to
undertake is to work with schools to set
appropriate targets for raising standards. As we
have noted (above) it is significant that
Birmingham has committed itself to closing the
‘equality gap’: this commitment is reflected in
the target setting process in Birmingham schools:
Link Advisors play a key role in managing
the relation between the Strategic
Framework and implementation at the level
of the school.
Birmingham has established a number of
mechanisms for managing this gap (see Figure
13). Link Advisors play a key role in managing
the relation between the Strategic Framework
and implementation at the level of the school.
Using an ‘Input – Outcome’ analysis it is
possible to illustrate how the role of the Link
Advisor is pivotal in connecting school-level
practice to the Strategic Framework and the
equality agenda.
Target Setting Race Equality Indicators10
Schools are required to set differential
targets to close the ‘equality gap’;
LEA provides guidance on pupil level target
setting for particular heritage background
pupils;
Link Advisors have a key role to play in
advising schools to se appropriately
challenging targets to close the ‘equality
gap’ and not just raise overall levels of
attainment.
Using pupil level attainment, exclusions and
attendance data provided by the Research and
Statistics section, the Link Advisor should be
able to work with the school to set targets to
close the ‘equality gap’ and set in place
achievement strategies. We have indicated
earlier the presence of important race equality
indicators in the target setting guidance for
schools and advisors. This process of auditing
the functions and outcomes of the school
enables the Advisor and school to identify
developmental needs. These needs can either be
met through the central professional
development programme provided by
Birmingham Advisory and Support Service
(BASS) or ‘bespoke’ packages can be developed
to meet the unique needs of a school.
Birmingham LEA perceives itself as having a
‘moral authority’ to advocate on behalf of
children in Birmingham schools, especially to
advance the interests of those who are not
benefiting equally from the rise in achievement.
This commitment, partly captured in the
Strategic Framework, confronts a possible
‘implementation gap’ in that responsibility for
actually delivering achievement strategies is
devolved to the school level. The LEA is
therefore faced with finding ways to manage
this ‘implementation gap’.
Closing the Equality Gap:
Modelling the relationship between the LEA and Schools
Inputs
Process
Outputs
ADVISOR
SCHOOL
• Pupil level
attainment,
attendance and
exclusions data
• Audit of practice
• Targets to close
‘equality gap’
• Improved attainment of
underachieving pupils
• Identification
of needs
• School self-review
• Closing of the
‘equality gap’
• Identification
of trends
• Identification
of ‘good practice’
• Improvement
strategies
• Professional
Development
41
Outcomes
• Positive Ofsted Report
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
The auditing process contributes to schools’
‘Self-Evaluation’ procedures. This process also
allows the Advisor to identify ‘good practice’
that can be disseminated across all schools. The
whole process should lead to the improvement
in attainment of underachieving pupils.11
While there are no obvious equality indicators
present in this programme, it does fund some
group specific initiatives such as the second
Raising African Caribbean Achievement project
(RACA 2) and Ishango.13
The content and direction of equality
Figure 13: Managing the Gap
strategies in Birmingham tends to be
shaped by national strategies, such as
Excellence in Cities and the National
Literacy and Numeracy strategies.
Unlike Excellence in Cities, the Core Skills
programme does not include prominent
equality indicators.
Partnerships
As already indicated the development of
effective partnerships is a core function of the
LEA. The Birmingham Grid for Learning outlines
the range of local, national and international
partners with whom Birmingham LEA has
established relations. As well as the immediate
professional partners (headteachers, teachers,
educational psychologists, and education social
workers) Birmingham has also expressed a
commitment to the importance of partnerships
with students, parents and communities. One
example of this is the recognition that the
Learning Mentor strand of the EiC gives to the
expertise and evaluative role of communitybased mentoring organisations. The facet we
want to focus on here is the presence of
particular networks that have the potential for
driving a race equality agenda in education.
Core skills and race equality
The Core Skills programme12 encompasses much
of what had previously been termed ‘Creating a
Wider Climate for School Improvement’. As
with the dominance of the EiC initiative as a
delivery mechanism (see above), the Core Skills
programme indicates the extent to which
national strategies have come to determine the
content and direction of equality strategies in
Birmingham. In this case, the Core Skills
Programme is largely defined by the National
Literacy and National Numeracy strategies. The
key elements of Birmingham’s Core Skills
Programme are illustrated below:
A number of these networks, especially the EiC
Partnerships have a specific responsibility for
monitoring and evaluating the impact of the
EiC strands: this includes monitoring the impact
on minority ethnic pupils. The EiC Evaluation
Framework, as already noted (above), offers EiC
Partnerships a useful tool for monitoring the
impact of different strands on individual pupils.
This enables the EiC Partnerships to draw a
picture of the between-strand and betweenschool differences, and within-strand and
within-school differences.
CORE SKILLS PROGRAMME
Extending and enhancing the National
Numeracy and Literacy Strategies
Targeting literacy and numeracy work
with identified groups of pupils
Disseminating ‘good practice’
Learning Partnerships with parents,
families and supplementary schools
42
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
The various networks are also important
mechanisms for the flow of knowledge related
to the LEA function of identifying, supporting
and disseminating ‘good practice’. We know that
these networks already play such a role.
The LEA is involved in numerous
partnerships, which provide an important
mechanism for exchanging information.
In the previous section we outlined the
relationship between the Strategy Framework,
core LEA functions and the delivery
mechanisms. We also drew attention to the
presence of important equality indicators in
these mechanisms. In this section we will focus
on two areas: first, the complexity of the
implementation process; and second, the
management of the gap between strategy and
delivery (that is, between policy and practice).
Partnerships also provide a formal means by
which communities are drawn into equality
strategies.
THE REALISED STRATEGY
Birmingham has initiated and supported an
admirable range of initiatives to improve
participation and attainment. The issue then is
not whether Birmingham has in place
achievement strategies: the issue is whether
these strategies are appropriate to tackling the
obstacles to participation and attainment faced
by pupils from minority ethnic communities,
and whether they match the LEA’s stated
commitments.
The Complexity of the Delivery Process
In the previous section we outlined what
appears to be a fairly coherent achievement
strategy encompassing a strategic framework,
core functions and delivery mechanisms. This is
a picture that we have distilled from a large
number of strategy and planning documents, as
well as discussions with key LEA personnel. The
overall picture is much more complex.
There are many aspects of the situation in
Birmingham that were established in 1996 in
the form of the ‘Improving on Previous Best’
document. The grid below outlines the major
elements of this foundation strategy:
Improving on Previous Best
Principles of Educational
The Birmingham Map of
Improvement
School Improvement
Birmingham Specific
Initiatives
Establishing a Common Language
(key processes of school
improvement and effectiveness)
Success for All
Year of…..
Creating the Climate for Improvement
A Belief in Multi-faceted
Ability
Early Years, Primary and
Secondary Guarantees
Networking Schools and Teachers
Inclusive Educational
Practice
The University of the
First Age
Monitoring and Measuring Achievement
Lifelong Learning
The Children’s University
Ipsative Measurement of
Success – Improving on
Previous Best
Birmingham’s School
Improvement Planning
Project
Numeracy Centre
43
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
The basic principles of school improvement have
been incorporated in the Education Service
Strategy, as have the key processes of school
improvement and effectiveness, and the
Birmingham specific initiatives. The networking
of schools and teachers, and monitoring and
measuring of achievement, also continue within
the new strategic framework.14 However, key
national initiatives (Excellence in Cities, the
National Literacy Strategy, the National
Numeracy Strategy) have had to be
accommodated since 1996. In addition, the
broad range of Birmingham-specific initiatives
remain in place.
In practice, Birmingham’s improvement
strategy is delivered by a multiplicity of
discrete initiatives, many of them
determined by national Government.
Impacting on this complex picture are other
statutory obligations that the LEA is required to
undertake (such as the development of
Figure 14:
Complex Delivery Mechanism
Behaviour Support Plans, ‘Quality Protects’
plans for looked after children and the
reduction of infant class sizes) as well as
additional corporate responsibilities related to
Best Value and various neighbourhood and
economic regeneration programmes. While
there are still five main delivery mechanisms,
these operate in conjunction with a much wider
range of initiatives. This complex picture is
represented graphically in Figure 14.
In practice, Birmingham’s improvement strategy
is delivered by a multiplicity of discrete
initiatives. This is presented by key LEA
personnel as a ‘menu’ approach. A range of
initiatives are offered by the LEA on the
understanding that not all initiatives are equally
appropriate to all schools. The multiplicity of
initiatives means that there are also a
multiplicity of methods of monitoring and
evaluation, whereby each initiative, or set of
initiatives, often establish their own priorities.
On one hand this could be seen as offering
flexibility; however, if we take a broader view,
the same situation can be seen as lacking coordination.15
In this context it is unclear
how a clear focus on race
equality is maintained when
Birmingham’s achievement
strategy is dispersed across
such a wide range of
initiatives.
44
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
An example of this is the uneven presence of
race equality indicators in the different EiC
strands. While there are clear and robust
indicators in the Learning Mentor, Learning
Support Centres (LSCs), and Gifted and Talented
strands, there is no consistency in the kind of
indicator present in these or other strands. For
instance, in the Specialist Schools strand there
is no specific race equality element in the ‘Pupil
and student outcomes’ indicators.16 Instead, the
only clear reference to equality issues is
contained in the criteria for selecting schools in
terms of ‘Tackling Underachievement’ and
‘Closing the Equality Gap’, whereas there is no
stated race equality indicator in the Beacon
School strand.17 The Core Skills Programme
contains no race equality indicators at all.18
The result is that there is no common
knowledge-base upon which the LEA, the EiC
Partnerships and individual schools can monitor
and evaluate the different EiC strands.
The problematic nature of the complexity of the
delivery process is highlighted further when we
focus on the various levels of delivery (EiC
Partnership, Headteachers Forums, School) and
who has responsibility for delivery.
Although Excellence in Cities includes a
The LEA has maintained a pro-active approach
to its relationship with Birmingham schools.
This enables it to both identify and support
schools facing difficulties, and those who are
doing well. The LEA’s commitment to closing the
‘equality gap’ is represented in the Birmingham
Primary and Secondary school EiC Plans. But
management of EiC has to be devolved to the
local EiC Partnerships. In this context it is
difficult to ensure that race equality issues
remain central to school’s concerns and inform
the way they deliver the range of improvement
strategies. Evidence from evaluations of other
areas of social provision, including area-based
initiatives in Birmingham, suggest that race
equality issues are often marginalised at the
level of local provision.20 The concern is that this
will lead to an increased variation in the
standards and quality of provision as a result of
the devolution of management to the level of
EiC Partnerships and individual schools who
have the responsibility of defining and
responding to local ‘needs’. The diversity of ways
Learning Mentors appear to be deployed in
Birmingham schools, and the absence of a
coherent race equality agenda in their work,
supports this analysis.
The complexity of the delivery mechanisms,
and the dispersal of responsibility between
so many different people and agencies, is
highly problematic. It means that it is
difficult to ensure that race equality
features prominently in all schools’
concerns and informs the way that they
deliver the range of improvement strategies.
We will use the EiC as a critical case study to
demonstrate the potential problems of this
complexity.
EiC as an example of the
complex delivery mechanism
range of race equality indicators, these are
not evenly spread across the different
strands of activity. Some strands have no
explicit race equality indicators at all.
Race equality is generally subsumed within an
overall commitment to tackling
underachievement. The working assumption that
appears to underlie this is that since many
minority ethnic pupils do not share in the
benefits of rising overall achievement, then
generic achievement strategies (e.g. the EiC
strands) will necessarily have a positive impact
on these students. Current evaluations of the
EiC and Key Stage 3 strategies in Birmingham
do not support such an assumption.19
In this context it is unclear how a focus on race
equality issues is maintained when
Birmingham’s achievement strategy is dispersed
across such a wide range of initiatives. The
emergence of a complex delivery process is not,
of itself, necessarily problematic. However, it
does present difficulties in ensuring that
provision at the level of the school is based
upon an understanding of the obstacles to
achievement faced by minority ethnic students.
45
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
This approach to devolved management
Birmingham schools have played a key role
may lead to increased variation in the
standards and quality of provision to
minority ethnic pupils.
in developing the EiC plan in the city. But it
is far from clear what influence minority
ethnic communities or parents have played
in this process.
Managing the Implementation Gap
The model for managing the ‘implementation
gap’ (outlined above), and the role that Link
Advisors have within it, operate in a context of
particular kinds of strategic partnership and the
influence of national priorities. These directly
affect the way the ‘implementation gap’ is
managed on a day-to-day basis, influencing the
way schools interpret the race equality agenda.
The dominance of professional
partnerships
Birmingham LEA has defined its role as one of
supporting school-based improvement. This has
entailed the development of a strategic
partnership with Birmingham schools in the
form of a comprehensive range of headteacher
and school networks. The commitment to
developing community and parent partnerships
was established as part of the LEA’s strategic
vision at an early stage of its development.21
Since then the LEA and its schools have had to
respond to important national initiatives,
including EiC, NLS and NNS. The different
strategic partnerships provide the main
mechanism through which different
stakeholders can influence the policy process.
Birmingham schools have played a key role in
developing the EiC plan in the City. But it is far
from clear what influence minority ethnic
communities or parents have played in this
process. Although the RACA initiative is partly a
product of community pressure, it is additional
to the core improvement strategies.22 Similarly,
while community mentoring organisations are
identified as playing a potentially important
service delivery and evaluative role, their
insecure financial base will mean that they may
not be able to realise this potential. The role of
supplementary schools faces the same dilemma.
RACA, community mentoring and
supplementary schools could potentially
play an important role but none of these
enjoy core status in the city’s improvement
strategy.
The strategic partnership with schools has a clear
set of structures, most notably the EiC
Partnerships and local networks that have
responsibility for developing the strategy in
practice, and monitoring and evaluating its
impact. Minority ethnic communities and parents
have no comparable structure through which
they can influence this key delivery mechanism.
The place of the community Achievement Groups
in the overall structure is unclear, and their
relative influence highly variable.23
This means that in effect the LEA privileges
professional definitions of the ‘problem’ of
underachievement rather than the educational
experiences of minority ethnic communities. The
importance given the ‘Processes of Successful
Schools and School Improvement’ by the LEA
demonstrates the privileging of professional
definitions. In practice, as experience of the EiC
illustrates, parents and communities are invited
by the professional partners to become involved
in a system on terms defined by the
professional partners. Without comparable
structures of influence, parents and
communities cannot hope to participate in the
policy process as equals.
In practice, professional definitions of ‘the
problem’ are given a privileged position in
discussions and strategies for improvement.
Community and parental involvement is
highly structured by the definitions
imposed by the education professionals.
Without comparable structures of
influence, parents and communities cannot
hope to participate in the policy process as
equals.
46
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
If this situation is to improve, the LEA may have
to challenge the existing power of headteachers
and teachers. If not, then it is clear that there
are strict limits on the kind of ‘moral authority’
that the LEA can lay claim to. The improvements
that have been brought about in Birmingham,
as a result of the LEA’s commitment to closing
the ‘equality gap’, may be severely restricted in
the future.
The dominance of national priorities
The Education Service strategy commits the LEA
to integrating national initiatives, such as EiC,
into Birmingham’s achievement strategy, rather
than just responding to these national
initiatives.24 This is a sensible approach.
However, in practice there are indications that
the balance of influence has swung too far
towards the national initiatives. Despite the
best intentions of key LEA personnel these
national initiatives have come to largely
determine the content and direction of
Birmingham’s achievement strategy as it
operates both at the strategic and school level.
National initiatives now largely determine
the content and direction of Birmingham’s
achievement strategy as it operates both at
the strategic and school level.
As a result, it may be that insufficient
attention is paid to the particular social
profile of the city or the known obstacles to
achievement for pupils from minority ethnic
communities
dominance of national strategies as key delivery
mechanisms is little different to most LEAs.
Within these delivery mechanisms there are
important equality indicators, but these are
‘added-on’ to a structure largely determined by
central Government, and then interpreted by
the local professional partners.
The dominance of national concerns has an
impact on the capacity of schools to identify
with and drive the race equality agenda. The
LEA attempts to drive a race equality agenda in
terms of its commitment to closing the ‘equality
gap’25 in attainment. This radical commitment
has now been reduced to working towards
‘reducing the equality gap’. However, the annual
production of performance tables (the so-called
‘school league tables’) does not use the equality
gap as a measurement against which schools
are to be judged. Schools can be very sensitive
to their position in these ‘league tables’, not
least because parents might use them to judge
schools’ relative performance. Our discussions
with different groups of parents suggest that
parents do sometimes make judgements about
their children’s schools on the basis of their
league position. Ofsted inspections and ‘league
tables’ may appear to schools as stronger levers
than the LEA’s current role. Discussions with key
LEA personnel indicated that schools may be
diverted from maintaining a clear focus on the
equality agenda, but that there was no
inevitable contradiction between meeting
national targets and closing the ‘equality gap’.26
The dominance of national education
Under successive governments (both
Conservative and Labour) the new role of LEAs
has developed in a context of ever increasing
centralisation of education policy. One of the
effects of this is that the kinds of improvement
strategy that are developed, the delivery
mechanisms deployed, and those given
responsibility for managing these processes, are
much the same regardless of locality. While the
various documents that make up the Strategic
Framework in Birmingham have some distinctive
features related to the priorities of the LEA
(notably the closing of the ‘equality gap’) the
policy, and the publication of crude
performance tables, can also conflict with
the LEA’s desire to close the ‘equality gap’.
We are concerned that schools, in determining
their day-to-day practices are influenced by
national agendas that might conflict with
Birmingham’s commitment to closing the
‘equality gap’. We can illustrate this by taking as
an example a primary school that has previously
been identified by BASS as representing ‘good
practice’ 27:
47
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
How good is ‘good practice’?
Like many Birmingham schools Primary School
A conducts analysis by ethnicity and gender
with a view to identifying areas for targeted
intervention and improvement. In many cases,
however, the improvement strategies appear to
be based more on assessment needs than the
educational needs of the pupils. This school has
been identified by the LEA as an example of
‘good practice’. A case study of the school has
been disseminated to all Birmingham schools.
Below we provide a list of improvement
strategies, contained within the disseminated
case study, proposed by the school for Key
Stage 2 English:
Practice given in writing to a 45 minute
time limit;
Level 6 tuition for more able – no 6’s
achieved but most scored good Level 5’s;
More test materials to be bought in;
Children need to write in a joined style as
marks were lost on this;
Spelling to follow NLS lists for rules.
Irregular words were weakest in tests;
Children in all year groups need to target
some comprehension to be completed in a
time scale as 36 out of 60 did not complete
the paper. For 1/3 of these that meant 1020 marks were not attempted.
It appears to us that these strategies are
designed to meet the demands of the statutory
tests. In the absence of any targeted work to
support greater progress by lower achieving
minorities, it is difficult to see how these
approaches contribute to the objective of
closing the ‘equality gap’.
There is also evidence in the case study of the
school focusing resources at pupils bordering
Level 3-4 in their SATs: this is worrying in view
of a wealth of research which suggests that
booster classes and ability grouping can have a
discriminatory effect for some minority ethnic
groups, where they do not enjoy equal chances
of inclusion in such initiatives. This is despite
the fact that the school wants to do well for all
of the children in its care.
48
This brief case study illustrates how the
perceived demands of national agendas (the
measurement of schools against relative overall
performance rather than against closing the
‘equality gap’) may indeed have much more
influence on the development of improvement
strategies. This is especially so considering that
this school has been identified by the LEA,
through the Link Advisor, as an example of ‘good
practice’, and this practice is then disseminated
across the city. If this ‘successful’ school is
influenced in this way, it would be fair to assume
that many Birmingham schools are similarly
likely to be influenced by their position in the
annually published league tables rather than by
the local demands to close the ‘equality gap’.
There is evidence that schools might be
determining their day-to-day practices in
relation to national priorities that do support
(and may conflict with) Birmingham’s
commitment to closing the ‘equality gap’.
Driving the race equality
strategy from outside
There is little within the overall strategy that
indicates that it is one developed in the context
of a major urban area where there will soon be
no single ethnic majority. There is little
recognition of the possible implications of this
diversity for policy development and delivery. It
appears that little consistent attention is paid
to the particular social profile of the city or the
known obstacles to achievement for pupils from
minority ethnic communities. As indicated
above, the city’s improvement strategy is largely
determined by external factors.
The race equality agenda, as it stands, is also
largely driven by external factors. In particular,
it is driven by the public focus on racism and
institutional racism as a result of The Stephen
Lawrence Inquiry.28 The LEA’s ‘Equalities Action
Plan’, a key element of the Strategic Framework,
is itself a response to the Stephen Lawrence
Inquiry and Birmingham’s own Stephen
Lawrence Commission. The statutory duties
placed upon public bodies by the Race Relations
(Amendment) Act 2000 and the Commission for
Racial Equality’s ‘Standards’ are additional
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
external drivers. There has been pressure
exerted on the LEA from within Birmingham by
African Caribbean communities in particular.
This pressure has partly been channelled
through the LEA’s African Caribbean
Achievement Group. The chairing of this group
by the then Chief Education Officer, Professor
Tim Brighouse, led to the LEA being responsive
to these concerns by supporting two
conferences and the RACA projects. These stand
as important examples of the kinds of action
that can be taken.
Birmingham LEA has demonstrated its
leadership capacity by making the ‘Processes of
Successful Schools and School Improvement’
the ‘common language’ of school improvement
in the City’s schools. The LEA, and in particular
its former Chief Education Officer, Professor
Brighouse, have been proactive in driving these
principles as the basis for improving the quality
of education in Birmingham schools. Similar
leadership needs to be provided to ensure that
the race equality agenda becomes as embedded
in the common-sense practice of teachers on a
daily basis. We noted (above) that, because of
its size and ethnic diversity, Birmingham is
often seen as a model for how others should
respond to these issues. If the city is to live up
to this promise, the LEA needs to be more
proactive in driving forward, and widening,
understanding of the race equality agenda.
Leadership needs to be provided to ensure
within the Strategic Framework, the working
assumption appears to be that the adoption of
these principles of school improvement
necessarily translates into effective race
equality work in schools. At present we have
identified no evidence that this is the case. Our
experience is that the variety of interpretations
of what ‘leadership’ might mean in any one
context suggests that the principles may not be
robust enough to ensure that they can
encompass race equality concerns adequately.
Each of the principles do not, of themselves,
embody an adequate understanding of how
‘unwitting discrimination’ is produced. Without
an adequate understanding of how institutional
racism works, effective leadership may well
reinforce it, rather than challenge it. The LEA’s
commitment to closing the ‘equality gap’, and
the move to measure schools by their
performance against this criteria, may prove to
be a significant challenge to how the principles
of school improvement support the race
equality agenda.
School improvement and effectiveness does
not necessarily embody a meaningful
concern with race equality. Research
elsewhere (and Birmingham’s own recent
statistics) suggest that pursuing
‘effectiveness’ without a conscious and
explicit focus on race equality will not
narrow the ‘equality gap’.
Building on the requirements of the Race
that the race equality agenda becomes
embedded in the common-sense practice of
teachers on a daily basis. This will require
the support of headteachers and others, but
the city’s success in disseminating ‘school
improvement’ shows what can be done.
Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, it is likely
that the LEA and local schools will have to
develop explicit work on race equality to
meet their duties under the Act and to
achieve the goal of narrowing the
‘equality gap’.
Experience over many years and in different
parts of the country suggest that a meaningful
race equality agenda cannot simply be ‘addedon’ to the principles of school improvement. We
have already indicated how, in practice, these
principles tend to privilege professional
definitions of the ‘problem’ of
underachievement. The way ‘the Principles’ are
talked about by key LEA personnel, and inferred
49
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
Policy and Practice
Notes to MAKING CHANGES
The new strategic plan has replaced the
1
Macpherson, W. (1999) The Stephen
Lawrence Inquiry. CM 4262-I. London, The
Stationery Office.
2
Birmingham LEA (2002) Review of the
Birmingham Education Development Plan
1999-2001. Birmingham, Birmingham LEA:
‘The Education Service Strategy, the Equality
Action Plan, and the Education
Development Plan provide the broad
framework for a range of more detailed
developments to support our overall aim of
Success for Everyone within the context of
improvement against previous best’ (p.17).
The Education Development Plan is now
replaced by the ‘Local Education Standards
Strategy’, which aims to provide an
overarching strategy document [see
Birmingham LEA (2002) Local Education
Standards Strategy. Birmingham,
Birmingham City Council.] ‘Success for
Everyone’ is a generic equal opportunities
tool designed to feed into school-based
self-review providing schools with a ‘map’
to ‘plot how they can take steps under the 7
processes of school improvement to improve
their practice’ (Forward by Tim Brighouse,
Chief Education Officer, November 1998) in
Birmingham LEA (1998) “Success for
Everyone” A Standard of Equality of
Opportunity in Schools. Birmingham, BASS.
3
The Education Service Strategy states that
much of the work to raise achievement will
be conducted through Excellence in Cities
(EiC) (p.7). Also, in setting out targets for
improvement in academic results for
underachieving groups EiC is identified as
the ‘primary source’ for these targets (p.11).
4
See Audit Commission for Local Authorities
and the National Health Service in England
and Wales (1999) Held in trust: the LEA of
the future. London, Audit Commission;
Department for Education and Employment
(DfEE)(2000) The Role of the Local
Education Authority in school education.
London, DfEE.
radical commitment to ‘closing the
equality gap’ with an aim of working
towards ‘reducing’ it instead.
Despite the complex and extensive strategic
planning for education in Birmingham,
therefore, there is evidence of a significant
‘implementation gap’. The intended strategy
includes a bold and important commitment to
closing the existing ‘equality gap’. This sets the
LEA apart from many other authorities who
have not been prepared to make such a
commitment. However, in practice the realised
strategy has tended to be dominated by
national initiatives and professional concerns. It
is particularly worrying to note the way that
schools may be more influenced, in their daily
practices, by a national agenda, and officially
promoted ‘improvement’ strategies that are
known to detrimentally affect minority ethnic
pupils. This should be of further concern when
the new strategic plan, that replaces the
Education Service Strategy and Education
Development Plan, has replaced the radical
commitment to ‘closing the equality gap’ with
the aim of working towards ‘reducing’ it
instead. The voices of minority parents and
communities have not generally been heard and
the responsibility for race equality has become
dispersed. Key aspects of the Birmingham
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry recommendations
relating to community consultation,
participation, and strategic management do not
appear to have been adequately addressed.
50
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
5
Birmingham LEA (2001) The Education
Service Strategy 2001/2002. Birmingham,
Birmingham City Council, p.2.
6
Birmingham LEA (1996) Improving on
Previous Best: An Overview of School
Improvement Strategies in Birmingham.
Birmingham, BASS.
7
8
9
Birmingham LEA (1996) Improving on
Previous Best: An Overview of School
Improvement Strategies in Birmingham.
Birmingham, BASS.
See Birmingham LEA (2000) Birmingham
Excellence in Cities Partnership: Primary
Plan. Birmingham, Birmingham City Council
; Birmingham LEA (1999) Excellence in
Cities: Birmingham Plan, Birmingham,
Birmingham City Council. These plans have
now been replaced by the Birmingham
Excellence in Cities Partnership: Strategic
Plan 2002 [see Birmingham LEA (2002)
Birmingham Excellence in Cities Partnership:
Strategic Plan, Birmingham, BASS.] The
targets contained within the new EiC
Strategy remain broadly similar to the
previous strategies.
The DfES has commissioned a national
evaluation exercise to give a thorough
overall picture of the achievements and
working of EiC and also to support the work
of schools and LEAs. This evaluation is being
carried out over 3 years by a consortium
drawn from the National Foundation for
Educational Research (NFER), centres of
research at the London School of Economics
and from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Birmingham LEA envisage that locally the
evaluation of the EiC will be undertaken at
four different, but related levels. Schools
will conduct value-added evaluations of the
EiC strands they are participating in; EiC
networks will examine the collective targets
annually; and school link inspectors will
work with schools in setting appropriate
targets each autumn related to the EiC.
These are then supposed to feed into an
overall evaluation by the EiC Partnership,
related to the Local Education Standards
Strategy. It is unclear how rigorous the race
equality targets will be or what the nature
of an LEA evaluation will be. See
Birmingham LEA 2002 Birmingham
Excellence in Cities Partnership: Strategic
Plan 2002. Birmingham: BASS.
10 See Target Setting: Autumn Term 2001,
Circulars S2957 (Primary) and S2968
(Secondary). Birmingham LEA Research and
Statistics Unit.
11 The pivotal role of the Link Advisor is
further underlined in the new Local
Education Standards Strategy.
12 Birmingham LEA (2001) The Support of the
Birmingham Core Skills Development
Partnership for Raising Standards in Literacy
and Numeracy: A Guide to Education
Department Activities and Procedures for
2001/2002. Birmingham, Birmingham City
Council. This is a technical guide for schools
who access devolved money from the LEA to
support the Core Skills Programme, which
provides resources to accelerate the LEAs
strategies to improve literacy/numeracy
levels for underachieving pupils.
13 Ishango is an African Caribbean science club
that provides out of hours classes in Maths,
Science and Design Technology for children
in Birmingham schools. Whilst there are no
explicit race equality indicators in the Core
Skills Programme its resources are aimed at
supporting the raising of achieving for
underachieving pupils. However, this
targeting of resources is implemented at the
school level.
14 The seven processes of school improvement
remain the underlying philosophy for raising
pupil achievement and the race equality
agenda in the new Local Education
Standards Strategy that replaces the
Education Service Strategy and the
Education Development Plan.
51
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
15 The complexity of the delivery mechanism is
an issue identified by a recent Ofsted report
on the organisation of the Ethnic Minority
Achievement Grant [see Office for
Standards in Education (2001) Managing
Support for the Attainment of Pupils from
Minority Ethnic Groups. London, Ofsted]. In
particular, the report identified the problem
of ‘management by initiative’ whereby there
was no clear overarching improvement
strategy. Instead, the report stated,
improvement strategies were often driven
by a multiplicity of discrete initiatives, both
local and national, where initiatives
overlapped or were identical. Importantly,
though, the lack of a coherent and longterm overarching strategy, and the lack of
effective monitoring, meant that there may
be no logical deployment of staff or
resources, or the co-ordination of work:
‘without strategic direction and careful
progress-chasing, good initiatives come to
nothing’ (page 12). The new Local Education
Standards Strategy and the unitary
Excellence in Cities Strategy, now in place
in Birmingham, may go some way to
tackling this problem of ‘management by
initiative’. There is certainly a more coherent
plan for evaluating the EiC. However, it is
still unclear how robust the remaining race
equality indicators will be in the actual
process of school, network and partnership
level evaluation.
area-based initiatives are assumed to
directly benefit those communities.
However, the inconsistency of the scope and
nature of race equality indicators found in
the previously separate Primary and
Secondary EiC plans, are present within the
new EiC Strategy. An example of this is that
none of the 22 Beacon Schools detailed in
the Birmingham Excellence in Cities
Strategy have race equality as a specific
area of expertise.
17 See Birmingham LEA (2002) Birmingham
Excellence in Cities Partnership: Strategic
Plan. Birmingham, BASS.
18 Birmingham LEA (2001) The Support of the
Birmingham Core Skills Development
Partnership for Raising Standards in Literacy
and Numeracy: A guide to Education
Department and Procedures for 2001/2002.
Birmingham, Birmingham City Council.
19 Birmingham LEA (2001) Excellence in Cities
Evaluation: Performance Compared to
Targets. Research and Statistics Section,
Birmingham Education Service. Birmingham
LEA Research and Statistics Section.
20 See Public Sector Management Unit (1985)
Five year Review of the Birmingham Inner
City Partnership. Birmingham: Aston
University. For a discussion of the rationale
for area-based initiatives see: Smith, G.
(1987) ‘Whatever happened to Educational
Priority Areas?’, Oxford Review of Education,
13(1) 23-38. Burton, P. (1997) ‘Urban Policy
and the Myth of Progress’, Policy and
Politics, 25(4) 421-536; Smith, G. (1999)
Area-based Initiatives: The rationale and
options for area targeting. CASE papers, 25.
London: CASE, London School of Economics
16 Birmingham’s EiC strategy is now much
more closely linked to the objectives of the
Local Education Standards Strategy, and
therefore to the commitment to close the
attainment gap. Correspondence from the
LEA has suggested that Specialist and
Beacon Schools, as with all Birmingham
schools, have their own race equality
targets (negotiated with their Link Advisor).
Also, as part of the Excellence in Cities
initiative Specialist and Beacon Schools are
located in urban areas containing high
levels of deprivation and low educational
attainment. These are also the areas where
the majority of Birmingham’s minority
ethnic communities live. Therefore, these
21 Birmingham LEA (1993) Report of the Chief
Education Officer (14 September),
Birmingham City Council.
52
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
22 The Birmingham Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
Commission (see above) was critical of the
way race equality issues were bolted-on to
‘mainstream’ strategies (page 3). The
Commission went on to argue that race
equality had to be clearly and deeply
embedded in the mainstream decisionmaking and implementation process, ‘There
is a greater urgency to accept the pursuit of
race equality as part of the core business of
the City Council’ (page 66, para. 12.19).
23 The African Caribbean Achievement
Conferences held in 1998-99 were a result
of pressure on the LEA by members of
Birmingham’s African Caribbean
communities. This pressure was channelled
through the African Caribbean Achievement
Group chaired by then CEO, Professor Tim
Brighouse. No comparable influence by
other communities was brought to our
attention, further emphasising the
variability of influence of these achievement
groups. The representativeness of the
members of these groups was also
uncertain. The parents we spoke to were
unaware of these achievement groups or of
how they could influence them. The
Birmingham Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
Commission was critical of the mechanisms
for community consultation and
participation. The report pointed to the
inadequacy and un-representative nature of
the model of consulting with a limited
range of community leaders and
organisations, and was seen as being one of
the City Council’s ‘mistakes’ (page 47, para.
8.3). The Achievement Groups (African
Caribbean and Asian) appear to reflect this
out-dated model, and as yet do not seem to
have responded positively to the
Commission’s 2001 Recommendations. The
Commission report also highlighted the way
consultation structures were based on local
authority wards. The Commission was
critical of this because it privileged
‘communities of place’ rather than
‘communities of interest’, which more
properly reflected the nature of minority
ethnic association and organisation
(page 48, para. 8.7). The Birmingham
Supplementary Schools Forum, which coordinates the work of LEA supported
supplementary schools uses a ward-based
structure. The forum is made up of two
representatives from each of 6 Ward Forums
(each covering a number of geographically
related wards) and chaired by the Head of
Education Equalities Unit (see
www.bgfl.org/services/suppschl/forum.htm).
24 Birmingham LEA previously committed itself
to ‘closing the equality gap’. The new Local
Education Standards Strategy (LESS) now
commits the LEA to a more moderate
position of working to ‘reduce the equality
gap’ (page 3). The relationship between local
and national strategies is similar to that
stated in previous documents (especially the
Education Service Strategy and the
Education Development Plan). However, the
LESS places more emphasis on the
similarities between national strategies and
Birmingham initiatives (e.g. baseline
assessment). This differs from the
commitment in the previous Education
Service Strategy to integrate national
initiatives into Birmingham’s own
improvement strategy. But, significantly,
targets in the LESS for ‘reducing’ the
equality gap are much more detailed.
25 See Birmingham LEA (2002) Local Education
Standards Strategy. Birmingham,
Birmingham City Council.
26 For further discussion of how school
performance tables can impact against
equality issues, see Ball, S.J. (2003) Class
Strategies and the Education Market,
London, RoutledgeFalmer; and Gillborn, D.
and Youdell, D. (2000) Rationing Education,
Buckingham, Open University Press.
53
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
27 This case study does not represent a
criticism of the particular school. The scale
and scope of the research did not allow for
any detailed examination of school-based
practices. The focus is on the use of the
case study of this school as an officially
supported example of ‘good practice’ by the
LEA. The material from which this
example was taken also included other case
studies of variable detail and specificity.
Throughout the lifespan of the research,
especially in discussions with LEA personnel,
the same few examples of ‘good practice’
schools were cited again and again. It was
not clear whether these particular schools
were exceptional or were representative of
widescale ‘good practice’. The case study
provokes a series of questions about the
problems of identifying what is ‘good
practice’, and for whom. There s a problem
of focusing on these few schools as
embodying generic practices that can be
applied (with modification) in other schools
without a rigorous examination of questions
relating to professional knowledge,
professional practice and the quality of
learning relationships.
28 Macpherson, W. (1999) The Stephen
Lawrence Inquiry. CM 4262-I, London, The
Stationery Office.
54
Leadership needs to be provided to ensure that the RACE equality agenda
becomes embedded in the common-sense practice of teachers on a daily basis
Recommendations
Race Equality and Education in Birmingham
RECOMMENDATIONS
This report has covered a great deal of territory.
Some immediate causes for concern are apparent
and these are all clearly highlighted in the
Executive Summary at the start of the document.
For example, we would hope that urgent action
can be taken to address several issues including:
the recent decline in African Caribbean children’s
relative attainment at baseline (age 5) and GCSE
(age 16); the persistent and growing disparity in
exclusions experienced by African Caribbean and
dual heritage children; and the dominance of
national initiatives that permit a gulf between
the LEA’s stated race equality objectives and the
reality of practice that alienates many parents
and students.
It is likely that each reader will draw their own
conclusions about some particular ways in
which race equality can best be pursued in the
future. Rather than attempt to produce an
exhaustive list of specific actions aimed at each
group of participants, we feel that three broad
recommendations may provide a workable basis
for future progress.
ONE: LEA co-ordination and race equality
As we have seen, the LEA expends a great deal of
energy on race equality and is a national leader
in the field. Nevertheless, there is an
implementation gap between the ideals of policy
and the reality of practice. Many responsibilities
are dispersed across the system and some of this
is unavoidable given the changing roles and
responsibilities of schools and the LEA. However,
one way ahead would be to appoint a named
officer with responsibility for co-ordinating all race
equality work in the LEA. This would be a senior
position, with appropriate support. This officer
would collate all race equality reports and
evaluations; they would sift the emerging
evidence for important trends; and they would
make findings available (accompanied by
practical suggestions) that would be accessible to
all involved in Birmingham education. There is
already a great deal of information available, and
there will be more when public bodies meet their
new obligations under the Race Relations
(Amendment) Act 2000: unless this information is
used intelligently, however, it will be a futile effort.
56
TWO: Birmingham Race Action Partnership
There is enormous commitment to education
among minority ethnic communities. At present,
however, this commitment and a wealth of
experience and support, are largely going to
waste within a system that is shaped by
national initiatives and the concerns of
educational professionals. There is a key role for
organisations such as BRAP in helping to bridge
the gulf between the professionals and the people
whose children experience the education system
and have to live with its failure. The LEA should
explore, as a matter of priority, how BRAP and
other organisations can help advance
meaningful partnerships with minority ethnic
communities in the future.
THREE: Action, evaluation and review
This review has proven to be a much greater
undertaking than was originally recognised by
any of those involved. The effort has led to the
production of a unique study of race equality in
policy and practice in the LEA. We are sure that
the report will be useful for many groups
working in the field, irrespective of their
geographical location. Within Birmingham, we
know that the process of research itself has
already generated some new awareness around
these issues. These insights must lead to
actions. And those actions must be evaluated
for their impact on race equality. One of the
lessons to emerge from this review is that talk
of ‘good practice’ does not always reflect
evidence. There is a clear need for targeted work
on race equality; systematic evaluation to
identify what works; and co-ordinated
dissemination and support strategies to spread
the impacts widely. If the LEA is to deliver on its
commitments, it will be essential to revisit these
issues in a co-ordinated manner in the near
future. A repeat review in four years time
(along similar lines to this current study)
would be an important way of pulling
together evidence from disparate sources in
an attempt to see how far race equality has
progressed; identifying any new or continuing
problems; and helping to map a way ahead.
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Race Equality and Education in
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