Achievement of Black Caribbean

pupils: good practice in Lambeth

schools

Feyisa Demie*

Research and Statistics Unit, Lambeth Education, London, UK

(Submitted 24 February 2004; conditionally accepted 30 April 2004; accepted 27 May

2004)

The aim of this research article is to investigate how pupils from Black Caribbean backgrounds are

helped to achieve high standards in British schools and to identify a number of significant common

themes for success in raising the achievement. It draws evidence of good practice from 13 case

study schools in the local education authority (LEA). The main findings of the research carried out

show that Key Stage 2 (KS2) and General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results

have improved significantly in the case study schools in the last seven years and all schools are

performing above national average with Black Caribbean pupils. The study has also identified a

number of good practices in successful schools. Among the key features that contribute to the

success in the case study schools for raising the achievement of Black Caribbean are: strong

leadership with emphasis on raising expectations for all pupils and teachers; the use of

performance data for school self-evaluation and tracking pupils’ performance; a commitment to

creating a mesmerising curriculum where teachers use their creative intuition to deepen the quality

of pupils’ learning; a highly inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of Black Caribbean pupils; a

strong link with the community and a clear commitment to parents’ involvement; good and well

coordinated support to Black Caribbean pupils through extensive use of learning mentors and role

models; an inclusive curriculum and a strong commitment to equal opportunities with a clear

stand on racism. This article discusses in detail these good practices and pattern of KS2 and GCSE

performance by ethnicity to illustrate difference in attainment. Overall, the finding of this case

study LEA confirms that in good schools Black Caribbean pupils do well and buck the national

trend against all odds. The reasons for this success story are all to do with education provided in

the LEA and schools. The implications of the research for all concerned with school improvement

receive much attention.

*Research and Statistics Unit, Lambeth Education, International House, Canterbury Crescent,

London SW9 7QE, UK. E-mail: fdemie@lambeth.gov.uk

British Educational Research Journal

Vol. 31, No. 4, August 2005, pp. 481–508

ISSN 0141-1926 (print)/ISSN 1469-3518 (online)/05/040481-28

# 2005 British Educational Research Association

DOI: 10.1080/01411920500148705

Introduction

In recent years considerable attention has been devoted to the issue of Black

Caribbean underachievement in British schools. However, despite much academic

debate and policy makers’ concern about underachievement in schools, the needs of

Black Caribbean pupils have not been addressed in the education system and have

largely been neglected. Unfortunately, it is an unacknowledged problem at national

level and there are no specific effective initiatives to address the situation (Office for

Standards in Education [Ofsted], 2002; Demie 2003b). The biggest obstacles to

raising Caribbean achievement are the ‘colour blind’ approach, which has put the

group at a disadvantage, and the failure of the National Curriculum to adequately

reflect the needs of a diverse, multiethnic society (Macpherson, 1999; Gillborn,

2002). The reason for the lack of intervention may be that ‘it was felt that some of

the government’s existing policies and initiatives such as the National Literacy and

Numeracy strategies, Excellence in Cities and Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant

(EMAG) strategies, in which targeted resources were put into LEAs [local education

authorities] and some geographical areas, would address the issues of the

underachievement of certain groups’ (Demie 2003b, p. 244).

However, the evidence from a number of research studies confirms that these

national priorities and strategies do not address the needs of Caribbean pupils

(Gillborn & Mirza, 2000; Gillborn & Youdell, 2000; Demie, 2003b; Gillborn,

2002). There is no overall, binding theme throughout the programmes that

recognises Caribbean achievement as an issue and presents coherent and consistent

strategies to address it, particularly in relation to teaching and learning styles.

Figure 1. GCSE achievement in 2003 by ethnic background

482 F. Demie

Evidence from national data suggests that the gap in performance is widening as a

result of a number of government initiatives and Black Caribbean children in

England’s schools are not sharing the higher educational standards achieved over the

last decade (see Figure 1; Demie 2003b, Gillborn & Mirza 2000; Department for

Education and Skillls [DfES] 2003c).

Such evidence reinforces the findings of previous research, which identified

serious concerns about the extent to which the education system and schools were

meeting the needs of Black Caribbean children (Rampton, 1981; Swann, 1985;

Gillborn & Gipps, 1996; Gillborn & Mirza, 2000; Ofsted, 2002). The concerns

persist and there is now a need for a detailed case study of successful schools in

raising the achievement of Black Caribbean pupils as a means of increasing our

understanding of the ways in which schools can enhance pupils’ academic

achievement. The review of previous research into underperforming groups of

pupils in educational achievement also revealed that there has been little research

into how the experience of successful schools may be disseminated within the LEA

to address underachievement in other similar schools. The first step in answering

these questions is to identify the factors that contribute to their success. For this

reason Ofsted recently looked at ‘examples of schools that provide an environment in

which Black Caribbean pupils flourish’ (Ofsted, 2002, p. 2).

The aims of the research

The aim of this research was to identify a number of significant common themes for

success in raising the achievement of Caribbean heritage pupils. These include

leadership and management, curriculum provision, developing a culture of high

expectations and a commitment to community representation.

The study also sought to investigate how pupils from Black Caribbean

backgrounds are helped to achieve high standards in schools, and will be a ‘catalyst’

for influencing the culture of the LEA and getting schools to talk about their own

practices in relation to their Caribbean students.

Methodological approach of the research

The methodological approach used in this study is case study of selected successful

schools. Twenty- two ‘successful’ schools were identified from LEA research and

statistics data on the basis of academically above average or improving schools with a

minimum of 15% Caribbean heritage pupils. Of these, 10 primary and 3 secondary

schools were selected for detailed case study.

The z-score disadvantage index factor was used to ensure a good spread of

schools. The schools selected serve an area of high socio-economic deprivation. The

lowest percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals in these schools is 37% and

the highest 44%, with average of 39%.

A detailed study was carried out of how well Black Caribbean pupils were

achieving and the factors contributing to this, including the school curriculum, the

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 483

quality of teaching and learning, how the school monitored pupils’ performance and

used data, how it supported and guided the pupils and the school’s links with parents

and the wider community . This involved detailed examinations of school and LEA

data, documentation and observation with colleagues from the school to inform

dialogue about what works and why. Interviews and discussions were held with staff,

parents, pupils and governors.

The research team adopted a collaborative co-inquiry approach by asking

everyone with whom we came into contact in the course of our school visits to

reflect in some detail on their successful strategies with individual pupils of

Caribbean heritage. Clearly, in adopting such an approach, the confidentiality of

individual pupils had to be respected, but it is often only when members of a school

staff were asked to put a ‘face’ to the strategies, that the dialogue really came to life.

The schools involved in the project were prepared to share and reflect on their

practice, not because they felt their practice was the ‘best’ or necessarily replicable in

other schools. On initial contact, many of the schools did not feel that they did

anything special or different for their Black Caribbean pupils; one or two were

uncomfortable with the notion that individual groups of pupils were singled out for

‘special attention’. Many of the strategies described in this research article, it was

argued, are also effective for other underperforming pupils, but as there is hardly any

empirical evidence to support these contentions, this was the focus of this research

project. We (the members of the research team) acknowledge that the strategies to

remove the barriers to achievement for Black Caribbean pupils are designed to

combat or counter the impact of poverty, racism, social and economic disadvantage

on all pupils in Lambeth.

Once we were in schools, heads, teachers, teaching assistants, learning mentors,

premises managers, governors and not least of all pupils and their parents were all

keen to engage in the discourse—to be part of ‘honest conversations’ about what

works and why in raising the achievement of Black Caribbean pupils in their schools.

The Lambeth context

This research article considers evidence from Lambeth Local Education Authority.

The LEA is one of the most ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse boroughs

in Britain. About 73% of pupils are from Black and ethnic minority groups. The

2001 census shows that there were 28,384 pupils in the LEA schools. Of these,

English/Scottish/Welsh pupils formed the largest ethnic group with 23.6%, followed

by Caribbean at 22.8%, African at 22.1%, Other Black 11%, Other White 7.2% and

Portuguese 4.6%.

Recent research in Lambeth has shown that the LEA has a number of successful

primary and secondary schools that offer good education to Black Caribbean pupils

(see Demie, 2003b). Figure 2 shows the difference in performance between schools

by the main ethnic groups. In 22 schools, Caribbean pupils are performing above

national and LEA averages. Overall, the LEA research findings show how well

schools can do, whatever their circumstances. They also confirm that there is a wide

484 F. Demie

Figure 2. Key Stage 2 performance by major ethnic groups 2001 (level 4+)

Ach

ievem

ent

ofB

lack

Caribbea

npupils

485

range of performance between schools within the LEA. However, while overall there

is a relationship between ethnicity and achievement at Key Stage 2 (KS2), the

National Curriculum test taken at age 11, some schools with high levels of

disadvantage also have excellent results with English/Scottish/Welsh, Caribbean and

African children, including boys (Demie, 2001). These schools might be considered

to be doing better than expected and may be seen as benchmarks for success. In

contrast, there are schools with low scores based on the indicators above which

attained a lower percentage at level 4 or above. These schools with lower scores at

KS2 might be considered to be doing less well than expected. Our benchmarking

information is based on a crude analysis, but confirms that there is a wide range of

performance between schools within the LEA when ethnicity factors are taken into

account. It has also been argued in previous research that there is much innovation

to celebrate in Lambeth schools, but our knowledge of good practice in these schools

is very limited (see Demie, 2003c). It called for research into good practice in

Lambeth schools. The key challenge for the LEA was to find out what some of the

schools are doing and why these strategies are proving to be effective in raising

achievement levels of Black Caribbean pupils.

Main findings

The attainment of Black Caribbean pupils in the case study schools

The previous section covered the attainment of Black Caribbean pupils in the

context of the overall national performance. The purpose of this section is to

examine in detail the attainment of Black Caribbean pupils in the case study schools

in Lambeth, comparing them with other schools in the LEA that are not included in

the project. In order to keep the amount of data to a minimum and to give credit for

overall performance, average performance data across all subjects was used for KS2

and KS3 evidence.

Table 1. KS2 Performance trends of Black Caribbean pupils in the case study schools, 1998–2002

KS2 (Level 4 +) 1998

%

1999

%

2000

%

2001

%

2002

%

Improvement

%

Black Caribbean pupils in

case study schools

48 63 78 81 81 34

Black Caribbean pupils—

other LEA schools

50 56 65 65 64 14

Black Caribbean pupils—

all schools

49 57 67 68 67 18

LEA average 55 64 71 73 72 17

National average 64 73 77 78 78 14

*Note the LEA and national data in this report is not related to Black Caribbean national averages,

due to lack of data. It is an average of all ethnic groups. Care needs to be taken in the interpretation

of the data used and groups in this table.

486 F. Demie

Key Stage 2 attainment at the end of primary education

Lambeth has many excellent primary schools that offer good education to Black

Caribbean pupils and where pupils achieve results above the national average. There

is much to celebrate about the achievement of Black Caribbean pupils, particularly

in the case study schools and a number of other LEA schools. Table 1 and Figure 3

show the attainment of Black Caribbean pupils in KS2 tests compared with the

performance of Black Caribbean pupils in other LEA schools. The main findings

from the data show:

N attainment of Black Caribbean pupils has been consistently high for many years

and above national and LEA averages;

N Black Caribbean pupils in the case study schools make good progress and

consistently do better than the Black Caribbean pupils in other LEA schools;

N the improvement rate of Black Caribbean pupils in the case study schools is

impressive and the rate of improvement is faster than for all other schools.

Between 1998 and 2002, the schools in the case study improved their KS2 results

from 48% to 81%—up 34%. This compares with an improvement rate of 14% by

other LEA schools, 18% for all schools.

Table 2 and Figure 4 show the attainment of Black Caribbean pupils at KS3 and

General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), compared with the data on

Black Caribbean pupils in other LEA schools. Standards of performance of Black

Caribbean pupils in the case study schools have improved steadily and faster than in

other schools in the LEA and nationally. The following features are of note in this

table.

N Attainment of Black Caribbean pupils has been consistently high for many years

and above national and LEA averages at KS3. The schools in the Raising

Achievement Project (RAP) area improved by 16%, compared with an improve-

ment rate of 8% nationally and 12% in other LEA schools between 1999 and 2002.

Figure 3. KS2 performance of Black Caribbean pupils in all case study schools: LEA and national

comparison (% level 4+)

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 487

Table 2. KS3 and GCSE Performance trends of Black Caribbean pupils in the case study schools (%)

KS3 Level 5+ GCSE 5+A*–C

1999 2000 2001 2002 Improvement 1999 2000 2001 2002 Improvement

Black Caribbeanpupils—case study schools 60 65 72 76 16 37 33 41 59 22

Black Caribbean pupils—other schools 30 28 34 41 12 20 15 17 22 3

Black Caribbean pupils—all schools 36 37 44 50 13 24 20 23 33 9

LEA average 44 45 48 58 14 32 32 36 41 11

National average 60 63 65 68 8 48 49 50 51 3

488

F.

Dem

ie

N There is also much to celebrate in GCSE performance in 2002 in the case study

schools. Fifty-nine per cent of Black Caribbean pupils achieved 5+ grades A*–C

compared with 51% overall nationally and 22% in other LEA schools.

N There has been a substantial and impressive rise in GCSE performance of Black

Caribbean pupils in the case study schools between 1999 and 2002 with a 22%

improvement rate compared to a national overall improvement rate of 3%.

Overall, the main findings from the above discussion show that Black Caribbean

pupils have made huge improvements in the past four years. The KS2 results have

improved by 34% at level 4+ in the case study schools, compared to 14% nationally.

The numbers gaining 5+ grades A*–C at GCSE jumped by 22% compared to 3%

nationally. Furthermore, Black Caribbean pupils are performing above national and

LEA averages in the case study schools, the majority of which have high levels of

disadvantage.

Good practices for raising the achievement in the case study schools

The review of previous research into underachieving groups of pupils also revealed

that there has been little research into how the experience of successful schools may

be disseminated within the LEA to address underachievement in other similar

schools. The first step is to identify the factors that contribute to their success. In the

comprehensive research carried out into good practices in 13 of the successful

schools, the LEA (see McKenley et al., 2003) has identified a number of methods of

good practice, including strategies used for raising achievement and supporting

Black Caribbean pupils. In these schools the level of attainment of Black Caribbean

pupils was well above the national average and was impressive. These pupils have

shared in the success of their schools and there have been no exclusions during the

Figure 4. GCSE performance of Black Caribbean pupils in all case study schools compared with

LEA and national results (% 5+ A*–C)

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 489

last five years. A number of key features were identified by researchers in the case

study schools as the reasons for success.

Strong leadership and high expectations

Previous research has shown that schools which achieve successful outcomes for

their minority ethnic pupils have strong leadership (Blair & Bourne, 1998; Ofsted

1999, 2002). Similarly, the findings from our observation and study show that the

head teachers in these schools have a clear vision for their schools and have an

effective strategy that is applied across the whole school. The case study schools have

strong leadership and clearly defined policies that gain the confidence of parents and

pupils. The head teachers have high standards for themselves and expect the same

from everyone else. Key attributes were commitment, energy, vision and moral

purpose. Pupils, staff and parents in most of these schools commented on the

leadership of the head teacher as being very important. They were in no doubt that

the leadership of the head teacher was crucial to establishing and maintaining the

school’s ethos: ‘Our head gives us time and encouragement, makes us feel we

belong’. They saw the head teachers as wanting to improve standards and being

prepared to make positive changes in resourcing, discipline and ethos to achieve

these goals. Pupils valued the high expectations of leadership and could see teacher

efforts. They were proud to attend the school and commented that ‘It is a place

where people are made welcome, where we are introduced to different cultures,

where we actually learn to cooperate with each other’.

Not all of the schools in this project are run by head teachers who have worked in

inner London for the majority of their professional careers. But over half the heads in

the sample have worked in Lambeth for at least 10 years. They are not atypical of

their colleagues in other schools in the LEA; clearly, headship in Lambeth is a

rewarding professional experience. We are not reporting that it takes 10 years to

improve the achievement of Black Caribbean pupils. Those schools with recently

appointed head teachers have been very effective in accelerating the progress of

pupils and staff in their schools. New energy is just as significant as length of service!

The LEA has a number of long-serving head teachers who will retire in the next

two years. Such a long-serving profile is not unproblematic and poses a key challenge

for the LEA and its schools in terms of sustainability and succession planning. A

curious feature has been the feeling among these senior head teachers that they

model a commitment to the job, which they feel their younger colleagues should not

be encouraged to emulate. They recall the sense of vocation that motivated them to

stay and teach in inner London but feel that is no longer well articulated by

government or those smaller LEAs which replaced the Inner London Education

Authority with its grand, pan-London vision. As one head teacher reflected wearily:

Can this job be done on a 9–5? We model commitment but is there anyone out there

who wants to take on the mantle? We’re being asked to solve the world’s problems and

here’s the money, but at what point do we say ‘No and no more’.

Central to the work of the head teachers in these schools are high expectations of

pupils backed up by intensive support so that pupils can meet these expectations.

490 F. Demie

They expect high standards in uniform and they set out clearly their expectations of

what the schools stand for. Teachers have also high expectations of all pupils and this

was reflected in their curriculum plan and teaching styles. Pupils of all ethnic

backgrounds and with all kinds of learning needs are treated as potential high

achievers. High expectations are discussed in terms of the minute-by-minute

interactions in the classroom. Teachers who foster positive relations value pupils and

are prepared to give them their time. Staff take their lead from the head teacher not

only in establishing academic standards but also in shaping the interactions with one

another, with pupils and with parents.

In conclusion, these schools instil confidence in Black Caribbean pupils. Teachers

demand much from their pupils and give them support at a high level and pupils take

pride in their work. Throughout the schools the pupils have very positive attitudes

towards learning and they respond to good teaching by listening well, displaying

enthusiasm and working hard.

Partnerships with parents and the community

The schools encouraged and valued the active involvement of parents in their

children’s education, and communication is a major strength. They tried to find

imaginative ways to break down barriers and make parents welcome, being

responsive to parents’ needs. Information was shared with parents on achievement

and development as well as discipline issues and there was high level of

communication. The school see themselves as being part of a community. Parents

are overwhelmingly supportive of the school and know what the school does to

provide an environment of learning. They were appreciative of the schools’ efforts to

guide their children and give them a grounding, both academically and socially.

They felt that each child was valued and although children might perceive

differences in standards between them, the school encouraged them to do their

best for themselves: ‘No child is held in higher regard with comparisons made one to

another. Each child is recognised as an individual. The key is confidence’, said one.

Another commented, ‘The school offers a nurturing, caring environment. Children

are not singled out as better but yet are told they can achieve no matter what the

level’.

Parents appreciated the work of all staff in the school. They recognised the value

of the focused small group that children across the ability range can have access to.

As one parent reported: ‘In the case of my child she needed special needs support

which she got. The special needs staff really supported her. They built up her

confidence. They helped to enjoy learning. They made it fun’. Another commented,

‘The staff know the children and don’t allow them to slip. The reports we get on our

children are very detailed. They really know our children. Those who had worked as

volunteers in the school felt that each class was a small community’. A third parent

added ‘I really enjoy going out with classes on trips and to see their spirit of

camaraderie. It was lovely to hear them singing.’

Heads in these schools meet regularly with parents, and parents are seen as key

partners in the endeavour. One head teacher clearly stated:

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 491

I want the parents of all pupils to feel we value and care for their children. I try to

explain that explicitly when I meet parents every Monday morning. I tell them in

looking for a school, go by their gut feeling of what it stands for, then look at the Ofsted

report and then the results. When pupils have been allocated a place I meet children

and parents to discuss mutual responsibilities. I try to make it clear that the school

stands for fairness and high expectation for all.

Another head teacher argued, ‘every step of the way parents need to do their bit and

the school tries to reinforce that. We work on the assumption that all parents want

their children to do well. We try to develop strategies to sustain that’. One of the

practical implications of that approach is the timing of the assembly. This is held

every morning at the start of the day. This gives parents who are at work a chance to

drop in on their way to work and for special assemblies, and perhaps the opportunity

to negotiate a later arrival’. Another head teacher commented that ‘We try to

emphasise the need for flexibility in the way support is offered. Sometimes it makes

more sense for a child to read to their parents in the morning before school rather

than when everyone is frazzled at night. If an older cousin or sibling is collecting a

relative from school we try to involve them in helping their relative in the reading

process by hearing the spelling of high frequency words. We try to be proactive and

pick up the slack.’

In these schools classroom teachers also recognised the importance of the dialogue

with parents to raise achievement of Black Caribbean pupils. One classroom teacher

in the case study school argued:

the parents knew the schools were worried when pupils are underachieving but they

emphasised that something could and would be done. We tried to be consistent and did

as we said we would do. Individual logs of pupils’ work and behaviour detailing the

good and the disappointing were kept and shown to parents by pupils. I really thought

hard about the comments I made, as a stray negative comment could be destructive.

Particular good pieces of work were also copied so the children could take them home

and keep them at home. Regular contact on the phone proved to be much better than

sending notes. We could have just dwelt in our calls on the negative but decided instead

to always to try discuss positive developments.

Parental support had to be hard won, however, when the strategy to set up specific

sessions for groups of five pupils to work with an external mentor was suggested:

Although parents individually realised their children were having problems the notion of

a strategy that involved external intervention with a group raised some concerns. We

had a meeting of the parents to discuss the proposal and after a lot of discussion parents

agreed to let the sessions proceed. In the event the group performed better in national

tests than had been predicted and made a smoother transfer to secondary schools than

had at one time been anticipated. Parents understood the bonus of having someone who

could help their children in communicating on transfer with adults the children didn’t

know. The mentoring offered to the pupils helped them prepare and then cope with the

transition to secondary schools. We believe what we did made a difference. The support

did not stop there. After the transfer to secondary schools contact with the pupils was

formally maintained for their first term. The learning mentor made regular visits and

spoke with year staff and the pupils concerned. All the pupils are reported to have

welcomed such continuing contact in the early stages of their transfer.

492 F. Demie

These successful schools take time to listen to all parents and understand their

aspirations about their children. They recognise that many parents care deeply about

their children’s education and want to know about their progress, the development

of the curriculum and homework. They want useful information about their

children’s progress and what they can do to help. This good practice is may be

summarised by one head teacher:

We think listening to all parents is very important. It is a myth to say Black parents are

not supportive. We try to understand their aspirations. Families want it to be

straightforwardly put. I believe we should take people from where they are and realise

they have high aspirations. It might not always be expressed in the same way as other

groups of parents but it is there. I have learnt constant dialogue, particularly by phone is

important. You can get a bit distanced with paper. (Head teacher)

Overall the schools listened to and learned from pupils and their parents, and tried to

see things from the student’s point of view. The schools regarded liaison with

parents and the community as vital in their drive to raise standards.

Effective use of data for target setting and school self-evaluation

Monitoring of pupils’ progress is seen as a core activity for class teachers. The

schools placed great emphasis on individual monitoring and tracking of pupils with

individual support. These schools are engaged in detailed class profiling and data is

analysed by ethnicity, gender, date of birth, mobility, level of fluency in English,

which teacher’s class the pupil is enrolled in and socio-economic factors. As a result

they are aware that Black Caribbean achievement varies across different year

cohorts. The schools are proud of their approach to ethnic monitoring and use it as a

means to identify individual strengths and weaknesses.

For example, in one of the secondary schools, a breadth of baseline tests is

administered: National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) tests in Year 7

are used, along with KS2 data, for monitoring progress; and Cognitive Assessment

Tests (CAT’s) are used in Year 8. The school also undertakes extensive assessment

at KS3 and GCSE and keeps careful records for tracking all pupils (see Appendix

Table A1 for data used in the school and Demie, 2003a). Using this data, the school

is able to effectively track pupils’ performance and to construct its own analysis,

based on internal scrutiny of performance data, and is able to tailor action to

context. It is possible to look at CATs results, KS2, KS3 and GCSE, and at all year

groups, by any combination of ethnic origin, language fluency, date of admission,

eligibility for free school meals, English as an additional language (EAL) stages of

fluency, special educational needs (SEN) stage, mobility rate, years in school, which

teachers’ classes have been attended, attendance rate, and types of support. In

addition to these assessments, teachers are encouraged to administer non-statutory

assessments to their pupils at periodic intervals.

Furthermore, all teachers in the school are expected, as a matter of good practice,

to undertake classroom forecasts for individual pupils’ performance. The school

produces its own value-added predictions and scatter plots in addition to the KS2 to

KS3 and KS3 to GCSE value-added reports and predictions provided by the LEA.

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 493

Teachers are encouraged to plot their own pupils’ results onto these graphs and

scatter plots. By doing so, they are able to identify groups of pupils who may be

underachieving and evaluate the overall effectiveness of their teaching. By ensuring

that individual pupil performance is tracked and that the performance of different

ethnic groups is identified by gender on value-added median lines (see scatter plots)

in such analyses, it is possible for senior management and classroom teachers to see

whether a particular group is underperforming. Use of the detailed data has resulted

in teachers setting challenging and reliable targets.

This detailed pupil-level data held at school, along with national data in

Performance and Assessment Report (PANDA), LEA school profiles and contextual

and value-added reports, has provided teachers with the necessary tools to identify

underachievement, set targets, monitor progress and evaluate performance. The

school and governors also extensively use the LEA contextual and value-added data

for each key stage to monitor progress over time and factors influencing

performance, to identify key areas of action to ensure improvements and to set

targets. More importantly, these schools are open and honest about a child’s

progress and they do not wait till the end of the year to tell parents about progress

but involve them along the way. There is a clearly defined role for senior staff

alongside class teachers in monitoring the progress of individuals and groups.

In some of the case studies we see schools making the target-setting strategy

explicit and transparent to both pupils and their parents equally. Marking schemes

and level descriptors are shared with the pupils and input is given to them and their

parents as to how their work could be graded at a higher level.

All the time we are talking about minimum targets based on National Curriculum

levels. Marking schemes and level descriptors are made explicit to the pupils—‘How

could you have made that work a level 5?’ Similar items discussed in letters home to

parents in advance of parents’ evenings. We invite pupils and parents into the secret

garden of assessment. (Head teacher).

Effective teaching and learning

In these schools the quality of teaching is seen as crucial in the process of raising

standards for Black Caribbean pupils and is seen as the responsibility of all staff.

These are schools which have set as a clear aim a commitment to high standards of

teaching and learning to raise standards for all pupils. They also strongly adhere to

the practice of letting children into the ‘secrets’ of the curriculum process. They are

explicit about teaching and learning objectives. There is a powerful sense in the

project schools of a multicultural curriculum which is academically robust and well

resourced but which also reflects pupils’ heritage, culture and experience:

If a teacher’s heart isn’t in the job they stand out like a sore thumb. Then you get the

blaming of pupils. Thank goodness we have worked through that. Now we have a staff

who are really committed to their teaching and the pupils. (Head teacher)

The quality of planning and the detailed schemes of work developed within schools

are the underpinning for teaching within these schools. The schools see the next vital

ingredient as the planning of quality interactions in lessons. Interactions centre on

494 F. Demie

creating challenge and motivation and instilling a ‘can do’ attitude among pupils and

staff. Teachers are innovative, making the effort to make lessons more creative to

increase access to learning. A head teacher in one school described this as ‘Moving

pupils on through teachers’ passion’. Overall teaching of consistently high quality is

a feature of these schools.

Using a relevant inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of Black Caribbean pupils

Schools face a renewed demand from Black Caribbean parents and their children for

a more inclusive curriculum where their experience, heritage and participation in

British life are more adequately acknowledged. The response by many teachers to

this challenge has been impressive but this remains a national issue to which the

British education system needs to respond. Schools express a recognition of the fact

that for many Black Caribbean heritage pupils the experience of the British school

system is not affirming of Black people. They work hard to make sure this is not

passed on. As one of the primary head teachers commented:

‘we are considering the implications of Black history in the curriculum and realising that

dealing with events in the past raises the issue that you often can’t have Black history

without White history. The interrelationships are crucial but the pain of some of those

interrelationships raises broader questions about how history has been presented and

mythologised’ said one teacher. Pupils in year 5 as part of Black history month selected

to study the biography of a famous Black person. They had to find the information

using the Internet They then made their own booklets about what they had learnt. This

forms the basis of a display in the school and the booklets will go into the school library.

‘We really want to develop pupils’ historical skills so that they can understand the

background and development of our diverse society. It has got to be much more than

one week as part of a unit on Britain in the 1930s. We have to help pupils understand

the roots go much deeper than the events say of 1950s migration. We do however latch

onto things. We took part in the Windrush competition and that helped us all to realise

how important it is for everyone to record their personal family stories and memories.’

The school intends to extend the approach of studying biographies thereby giving pupils more

opportunities to study the lives of people who have broken down barriers between groups.

The pupils also spoke with enthusiasm about the work they had done as part of

Black history month. They had studied the lives of a range of people including

Nelson Mandela, Mary Seacole, Mohammed Ali, Jesse Owens and Bob Marley.

They were confident in their discussion of their own ethnic identities, which they

saw as complex. They took it for granted that they were British. Their discussion was

rooted in an awareness of the importance of family links and associations in shaping

their own sense of identity. Their definitions were as follows: African Caribbean

European; African Caribbean European American; Jamaican English with Canadian

and American connections; Mauritian African European; Jamaican English with

Maltese connections; Jamaican English with American connections. Their skill in

debating the influences of location, family links and other factors in developing

personal identity were very evident. Their maturity in discussion was impressive.

There is a powerful sense in the project schools of a multicultural curriculum

which is academically robust and well resourced but which also reflects pupils’

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 495

heritage, culture and experience. The views of one project head teacher summarise

the feelings of many:

There is no substitute for building the concepts that work in Black History Month into

the mainstream curriculum. I see ‘movements of people’ as a significant theme in the

National Curriculum as an underpinning principle and a key learning point in our

school. Conflicts and struggles based in economic developments which force upon

communities movements and changes are key issues for us in London—the barometer

of the world stage. This is not a secret to children, they know there are wars. The world

is not a secret to children. The key is to give them the tools to understand and interpret

it. Understanding the factors and forces of change and their impact is key whether

pupils are dealing with dinosaurs or volcanoes.

The majority of the visits coincided with Black History Month and as a consequence

teachers and pupils were generally more attuned to discussions about culture and

identity. As one head teacher confessed, ‘I worry about the Americanisation of

Black Caribbean culture in this country. Girls appear marginalised in US culture’,

and he felt the key to counter this Americanisation was to open up definitions of

British culture and Englishness: ‘It’s back to the question of an inclusive British

culture in which the contribution of Black Caribbean communities and others is

affirmed’.

In these schools, head teachers see also their role now as encouraging teachers to

use their creative intuition to deepen the quality of pupils’ learning, including a

‘mesmerising’ curriculum. This is because they feel that the majority of teachers are

now technically competent to deliver literacy and numeracy skills and the strategies

have done what they set out to achieve. The strategies are no longer, according to

one head teacher, as ‘mesmerising as they were in the first years. Now the task is to

apply those skills to other subjects and areas of experience, particularly to address

the Key Stage 2–3 transition more effectively for Black Caribbean pupils. Pupils are

ready for the next inspiring input’. These schools are committed to taking the best of

the numeracy and literacy strategies and applying the same rigour and attention to

the foundation subjects . Schools are engaged in curriculum development, using the

richness of their local communities to enrich the foundation subjects and to bring

greater relevance for Black Caribbean pupils.

In addition, schools in the project have a strong sense of the contribution of the

arts, drama and music in raising the self-esteem and engaging the imaginations of

Black Caribbean pupils. The range of arts experiences which pupils in the case study

schools have been able to access has been impressive. The return of ‘artists’ to

schools has been motivational for staff as well as pupils. In many of the primary

schools the cross-curriculum dimension in art was seen to have enhanced pupils’

progress in literacy and numeracy. In addition, the arts are seen to have a great effect

on the learning of the whole school. They are seen to give children the chance to

express themselves—they become less deskbound with more opportunities to shine.

The children use the arts to make things happen for themselves.

More importantly these schools combine a search for high academic standards

with a determination to offer pupils and staff every opportunity to broaden and

deepen their horizons. As one head teacher succinctly put it:

496 F. Demie

I like to put people into a position where they do things they didn’t think they could do

before. Our children performed in the Millennium Dome and that gave them the message

‘Stick with us and we’ll get you places’ and that works for staff too. I succeeded in getting

two of my teachers to visit the US to look at the work on gifted and talented pupils. We’ve

got a fantastic dance company ‘Wise Moves’ and they are without exception the best

professionals I’ve ever seen and governors buy them in to work with our boys and girls 1

day a week. That’s what we learned from the US in our study trip in 2001, that you have

to provide the opportunities for children to be engaged and confident. Standing in front

of an audience and getting applause is about as good as it gets. I ensure that every child in

my school gets at least one moment of glory in primary school.

These schools offer a rich and varied range of experiences that are not random, but

arise from a systematic and clearly thought through approach by head teachers and

staff. This is achieved through curriculum activity, visits out of school, visitors to the

school and through an extensive and very broad extra-curricular programme.

Finally, many of the schools have developed links with the rich artistic and

sporting communities of London such as the Royal Ballet, Royal Festival Hall, the

Royal Institution, English National Opera, etc., sometimes independently and on

other occasions with the support of the Centre for British Teacher’s (CFBT)/

Lambeth Education Action Zone or the Norwood Achievement Partnership. These

links have allowed pupils to have their achievements celebrated on a variety of

platforms. As one head teacher commented, ‘We want our pupils to realise how good

they are and for them to be confident in all situations so that they can develop their

potential. We want to provide pupils with opportunities to achieve at the highest

level’. The plethora of extra-curricular activities, both at lunchtimes and after school,

is highly prized by pupils. They are used by the schools as a resource for enrichment

and provide a platform for pupils to excel and have their achievements celebrated.

Overall, the schools in the case study are very aware of the role content in the

curriculum plays in signalling to the pupils a sense of belonging in the wider

community. They have created an environment where pupils feel their history,

languages, religion, cultural and individual identities are respected and valued within

the curriculum.

Commitment to attracting a more diverse staff team

The quality of staff recruited, including the diversity of the staff team, is seen as

crucial in the case study schools. Many schools pointed to their ability to acquire the

right calibre of teaching staff, i.e. staff who would buy into the explicit culture and

core values, as crucial to their success in raising the achievement of all pupils and

particularly Black Caribbean pupils. They recruit teachers who want to be in the

school and who believe in real partnership with pupils and their parents. The

teachers are seen to come with attributes to enhance and help.

There is a great diversity in the workforce in case study schools in terms of range

of roles, skills and ethnicity. School structures are changing to reflect the increasingly

diverse roles which comprise the school workforce. The role of the school leader in

managing this diversity is already unrecognisable from the same role five years

earlier. The role of the school leader in schools in challenging circumstances in

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 497

Lambeth requires a multiplicity of approaches, which are dynamic, flexible and yet

consistent.

Teaching assistants and learning mentors are actively recruited from the local

community and their loyalty to the neighbourhood and its community is viewed as a

real asset by schools. They provide a strong understanding of the pressures of the

wider society and its impact on pupils and their parents. Many of the case study

schools have heavily invested in teaching assistants as part of their drive to

complement and broaden the range of engagement for pupils and ultimately to

increase standards.

Organisationally, these schools have structures in place to flexibly deploy staff to

meet identified needs. They recognise that pupils need different things and try to put

staff where the priorities are. This is not done as a knee-jerk response but after

careful reflection, mindful that additional staffing resources are always lagging

behind those identified needs.

There is also good and well coordinated support to Black Caribbean pupils

through extensive use of learning mentors. The extensive use of learning mentors in

primary schools has been an unexpected feature in the case study schools. Primary

schools have taken the concept developed in the Excellence in Cities (EiC) initiative

for secondary schools and have adapted it to serve the needs of individual pupils.

Pupils from Black Caribbean backgrounds are the main focus of such initiatives.

In some schools, a range of staff (including teaching assistants, lunchtime

supervisors and premises officers) act as learning mentors on a formal and informal

basis and form a pastoral team which the head teacher can draw upon. This is seen

as a particularly important safety net for Black Caribbean pupils, predominantly

boys, who need as many additional adults involved in supporting their learning as

possible. Anger management, issues of masculinity, an opportunity to talk and

receive positive attention are part of the agenda which these ‘mentors’ address with

pupils and for which increasingly they are receiving training and proper supervision.

Effective use of Black Caribbean and African teachers and support staff

All the project schools had a long held commitment to creating a more ethnically

diverse staff team, but until recently many have experienced difficulty in recruiting

and retaining members of staff from Black and ethnic minority groups. In some

instances, the appointment of a Black head teacher has been the turning point and

has seen a marked increased in the representation of Black staff. Despite this

seeming ambivalence about Black role models, it is clear that the diversity of staff

teams in the project schools is a significant factor; the presence of confident,

assertive Black staff is important to their White colleagues, to parents and the wider

community. It may well be that once there is a critical number of Black staff in a

school, pupils take the diversity for granted. Certainly, the confidence and

contribution of Black staff changes as the numbers increase.

More and more of the support assistants and learning mentors in primary schools

are local Black Caribbean men and women, often in their late twenties or early

498 F. Demie

thirties, who are keen to ‘give something back to the community’. They are recruited

to provide an important role model to all pupils, but also act as a source of learning

and support to other staff.

In these schools the Black staff are viewed as important by pupils who see them as

someone who will listen and understand their issues without there being a stigma,

attached. Black staff in these schools also see their role as important in supporting

the raising of achievement of Black Caribbean pupils. The Black head teachers in

this project felt their impact was significant and that their presence was a strong

signal to Black Caribbean pupils that the school was committed to providing

opportunities for all pupils to achieve.

Some of these schools also have a number of Black Caribbean teachers who feel

very confident in their roles as teachers—‘I am a well-educated Black woman in a

position of authority which helps to confront stereotypes in British culture’—and

role models to all girls in the school—‘I bring my Caribbean background into my

teaching and make common cause not just with Black Caribbean girls but also those

recently arrived from Latin America, with a similar experience. I feel that generates a

powerful discourse in a school where 75 per cent of pupils come from minority

ethnic backgrounds’.

Some Black staff use their ‘insider’ position to challenge assumptions and raise

expectations by invoking a traditional view of what would and would not be

acceptable back ‘home’ in their countries of origin. They use this as a powerful lever

in confronting negative behaviour. The experience of living and being educated in

two countries which some Black staff shared was seen by some as a resource giving

them bicultural competence which has a powerful impact on achievement. Black

staff see a central part of their role as confronting stereotypes:

It is important for my self-esteem, their esteem. These girls can be seen as

underachievers and I feel it is my role to guard against mediocrity. (Secondary teacher)

Black staff also tread in these schools a delicate line in their role as advocates to their

pupils:

I am often asked about issues of racism by the girls. Clearly they see this as part of my

role. I discuss informal and formal strategies to tackle racism in ways that build their

confidence and experimentation. For example: If a girl comes to me and says ‘Miss that

teacher is a racist,’ I try to unpack that with the girl and ask her why that teacher might

appear to be picking on her. I say ‘Try courtesy and see if it works and report back to

me.’ I take on this role of informal monitor.

Strong commitment to equal opportunities

The school has a positive approach in effectively tackling prejudice and stereotyping

through a culture of respect for people as individuals and as members of particular

communities. Above all the schools have a strong commitment to equal opportunities

and multicultural education. Their polices against racism and for multicultural

education are unambiguous and direct, as shown by this extract from one policy

statement in one of the case study schools:

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 499

The staff at the school are opposed to racism in any form. We are committed to the

principle that all children should be given equal opportunities to fulfil their potential.

We condemn discrimination against people because of their skin colour and cultural

background because it is illegal, offensive and wrong. Our school is multi-cultural and

multi-racial and we value the cultural diversity. Every member of the school community

should feel their language, religion and culture are valued and respected. (Ofsted, 2002,

p. 3)

Such statements of policy are not simply rhetoric in the case study school. Any signs

of failure are dealt with swiftly and decisively by the determined head teacher who

leads on equal opportunities’

These schools also have other good practices including low exclusion rates. There

is open debate in schools and with parents and the wider community about barriers

to achievement. The environment of the schools also reflects the vision and aims of

the schools. As one staff member commented, ‘Displays are a reflection of our

community. They are not put up to fill wall space. They are part of a community

dialogue. They reflect what is going on in the school. They are part of an ethos of

high expectations’. Display celebrates pupils’ achievements, acknowledges the

diversity of its pupil population and the wider society and recognises the continuity

of the present school and its links past and present.

In addition to the above good practices these schools also put into daily practice

core principles of respect, fairness and social justice and there is open debate in

schools and with parents and the wider community about barriers to achievement.

The majority of the school staff teams are comfortable with the profile of pupils who

attend. They do not see raising standards in their schools as a means of securing a

different, less disadvantaged intake as a ‘reward’ for their efforts. And what’s more,

they have fun doing it, not all the time, not every day, but enough to make it

worthwhile and to know that they are doing valuable and valued work: ‘Our teachers

come very early and leave very late and this is noticed and appreciated by our pupils’

(chaplain).

Above all, these are confident schools which take risks and trust their hunches.

They are innovative because they are focused on the moral purpose of raising

the achievement of inner London pupils and through the accumulated

experience of the past turbulent decade of educational change, they have

emerged as strong advanced practitioners in raising the achievement of Black

Caribbean pupils.

Similar characteristics were also identified by other researchers as key features of

successful multiethnic schools (see Blair and Bourne, 1998). Blair further argued

that two factors particularly stood as essential to their success. First, they were

listening schools. Staff in successful schools took time to understand the perspective

of pupils and their parents and used feedback to reappraise institutional practices

and to develop an inclusive curriculum. The schools acknowledged the dynamic and

culturally diverse nature of their local communities. There is particularly strong

awareness about Caribbean culture amongst all teaching and support staff.

Secondly, successful schools have sufficient resources and flexibility to deploy staff

to meet the changing needs of learners.

500 F. Demie

LEA good practice in raising achievement of Black Caribbean pupils

The above section discussed in detail good practice in schools. There is also other

good practice that is used by the LEA to help schools to focus in raising the

achievement of Black Caribbean pupils. However, in comparison with what schools

have done, the LEA’s activities are very limited and more strategic in nature, and

focus on helping schools in self-improvement and management processes, due to a

number of reasons. Until the 1980s, the UK had one of the most decentralised

education systems in the world. Local authorities were responsible for providing

education in their communities and leading in local innovations. This has helped a

number of LEAs to develop local initiatives that are effective in raising standards,

particularly amongst Black Caribbean and Bangladeshi pupils in London LEAs

(Gillborn & Gipps, 1996; Demie, 2004, p. 245). However, since the 1988 Education

Act, the government has become over-ideological and has restricted local

innovations through controlled funding mechanisms. As noted by Ofsted recently,

there is generally a worrying picture at LEA level as most of the additional Ethnic

Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG) funds provided by central government are

directed at school level for the posts that focus on additional support for under-

achieving pupils’ (Ofsted, 2001 and 1999). EMAG funds were directly devolved to

schools in line with a trend begun by the local management of schools, under the

1988 Education Act, that created a national approach to education. As result there

have not been enough resources to initiate well-focused achievement-raising projects

to support Black Caribbean pupils at local authority level.

However, despite restrictions in national funding systems, the LEA has carried out

a number of good practice projects to support its schools. The LEA provides

directly, or through commissioning, a range of services to Black Caribbean pupils.

Lambeth is aware that there is a danger that the national policy is to neglect local

needs with the focus on national priorities. The most effective strategy to counteract

these tendencies seems to be for LEA services to work as closely as possible in

partnership with mainstream schools, with the aim of developing expertise in those

schools as part of school self-improvement.

Providing strategic leadership and management

A key role of the LEA since the 1990s has been to provide to all its schools a level of

strategic leadership and management. The LEA has developed an authority that has

enabled it to articulate a strategic vision based on principles of equality and social

inclusion. Furthermore, the LEA has acted as broker between schools on the one

hand and Black Caribbean pupils, parents and communities on the other. This has

taken a number of forms, from encouraging the involvement of parents in supporting

their children’s learning, through to enabling parents and communities to participate

in school governance. As part of this strategy, the LEA has held a number of parents’

conferences and training sessions and is encouraging the recruitment of Black

Caribbean governors, which is effective in a number of schools. The LEA has

ensured, as much as possible, with limited resources, that it acts as an advocate for

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 501

vulnerable pupils and their parents, making sure their voices are heard in shaping the

LEA’s education system. It is difficult to measure this, but our observations suggest

that equality of opportunities is well addressed in most of our schools.

Using data to raise awareness of teaching staff and governors on underachievement issues

Underpinning the LEA’s strategic approaches is the recognition of the need to use

data and evidence effectively to identify underachieving groups and support schools

in their self-improvement and raising standards. A key feature of the LEA’s support

in the effective use of data is the provision of different kinds of data at different stages

of analysis (see for details Demie, 2003a, 2004). Each school is supported in a

number of ways with its own customised raw data, contextual and value-added

reports, including extensive training on the effective use of the performance data for

all head teachers, teachers and governors. There are a number of ways in which this

has been carried out.

The LEA provides KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4 performance data analysed by

school, cohort, subject area and individual pupils, including analysis by ethnic

background, gender, free school meals, levels of fluency in English and mobility rate,

to identify underachieving groups to all staff and governors in schools every year

since 1997. This is further supported by value-added data to track individual pupil

performance, including ethnically based performance forecasts to identify under-

achieving groups (see for the sample of the data in Figure 2, Appendix Table 1a and

Demie 2003a, 2004). This individual pupil-level data at ages 7, 11, 14 and 16, along

with national and LEA comparative data, provides teachers with the necessary tools

to identify pupil underachievement, set targets, monitor progress and evaluate

performance. An examination of these key stage and GCSE results by ethnicity, in

most schools, throws up discrepancies of achievement. These reports have been used

widely in schools to identify factors influencing performance and key areas of action

to ensure improvement. They have helped teachers, governors, students and parents

to improve their knowledge and awareness of the culturally diverse nature of the

ethnic minority communities served by the schools in the LEA. They are now widely

used by schools to set targets and have helped to improve intervention strategies to

support and enhance learning (Demie, 2004).

As part of the LEA’s school improvement strategy, the LEA also supports schools

through organising conferences, as well as school-focused training courses, on the

use of performance data for school self-evaluation and target setting. The school-

focused sessions include a presentation to head teachers, the senior management

team and the governing body. The training programme covers how best to

understand and interpret school profiles, contextual and value-added data, and key

issues raised from the data. This is followed by a workshop where head teachers,

teachers and governors are asked to look carefully at key issues for school

improvement and draw action plans to that end. Training is also tailored to

individual schools and in most cases governors and senior teachers in each school

were asked to form specific working parties to look at the key issues for their schools.

502 F. Demie

Since 1998, over 700 governors, head teachers and teachers have attended the

training programmes, which have made them to aware of the issue of under-

achievement of Black Caribbean pupils and other underachieving groups in their

school and the LEA. This training has led to greater focus on issues that impact on

school improvement and target setting. Governors and teachers were asked how they

rated the support in the effective use of data, including LEA value-added, contextual

and school profile data and the training programmes. ‘Almost all the respondents felt

that the service and the information provided by the LEA were either very useful or

useful. General comments were positive and schools felt that all the information was

useful for their school improvement and self-evaluation and helped them to draw

action plans and identify underachieving groups’ (Demie, 2004).

As a result, many teaching staff and governors in the LEA are now well aware that

Black Caribbean underachievement is an issue in schools and there is great

awareness of the Black Caribbean culture and its difference from that of the White

population.

Sharing the Raising Achievement Project (RAP) schools good practice with other schools

The head teachers of the 13 schools in the Raising Achievement Project (RAP) have

taken the responsibility of launching and further disseminating Lambeth’s good

practice within the LEA. The schools see the good practice as a signal of a renewed

energy to tackle the issues of underachievement and underperformance by other

schools, in involving other schools as well as their own in a spirit of collegiality,

collaboration and shared purpose. All the schools are appreciating the benefits of

sharing good practice across the LEA.

Good practice is disseminated in a variety of ways, including through in-servcice

education and training, conferences, seminars in Black History month, and guidance

produced by the LEA to its schools and through the DfES and the Local Authorities

Education Network (TEN) at national level (for details of the national dissemination,

see TEN, 2003; DfES, 2003b). The LEA and schools, in collaboration, have carried

out a number of briefing sessions and conferences where each of the schools has shared

its good practice with others. The head teachers have run a significant number of train-

ing courses and workshops in collaboration with the LEA for other Lambeth schools

since the report was published. This includes good practice training and workshops at

a DfES conference, Lambeth Head Teachers’ conference and the national school

improvement conference organised by the Local Government Association. The good

practice workshops and conferences were attended heavily by EMAG teachers, head

teachers, senior teachers, governors, and advisers, both in Lambeth and nationally.

The LEA advisory service has also shared the good practice in their termly

meetings with each school and has continued discussing issues with head teachers

and governors, looking for common specific factors within the successful 13 RAP

schools. It has also provided training using the RAP good practice criteria to help

other schools in the LEA to identify strengths and weaknesses in relation to raising

achievement of Black Caribbean pupils. This has allowed the spreading of best

practice and mutual problem solving in Lambeth schools.

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 503

In addition, one of the RAP school head teachers was seconded on a part-time

basis as a consultant, to provide additional support to 16 primary and 4 secondary

schools where Black Caribbean pupils are underachieving, as part of the LEA’s

intensified support programme in tackling underachievement and spreading good

practice. The issue of underachievement of Black Caribbean pupils is now firmly on

the agenda, with greater awareness from Lambeth policy makers, governors, head

teachers and parents. The RAP school consultant head teacher, in collaboration with

link advisers, is helping these schools. It is expected that with this additional support

in improving the quality of teaching and learning, the LEA will further improve its

KS2 and GCSE results and narrow the gap of performance between Black

Caribbean pupils and other ethnic groups.

Conclusions and policy implications

Conclusions

In this study we examined good practices in raising the achievement of Black

Caribbean pupils in schools. A number of conclusions can be drawn from the case

study schools’ evidence. The findings suggest the following.

N Caribbean pupils tend to make a start to their primary schooling which is broadly

in line with the national average but then underachieve at the highest levels of

attainment and underachieve markedly in secondary schools. The gap in

performance is particularly widening at GCSE compared to English, Scottish

and Welsh, and African pupils.

N Lambeth has a number of excellent primary and secondary schools that offer good

education to Black pupils.

N Black Caribbean pupils have made huge improvements in the past four years. The

KS2 results have improved by 34% at level 4+ in the case study schools, compared

to 14% nationally. The numbers gaining 5+ grades A*–C at GCSE improved by

22% compared to 3% nationally.

N Good practice research findings from the case study schools in the LEA has

shown that schools which achieve successful outcomes for their Black Caribbean

pupils are characterised by certain principles, including strong and purposeful

leadership, high expectations for all pupils and teachers, effective use of data,

effective teaching and learning, an inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of Black

Caribbean children and inner London pupils, a strong link with the community, a

clear commitment to parents’ involvement, good and well-coordinated support to

Black Caribbean pupils through extensive use of learning mentors and role models,

and effective use of Black and White teachers as advocates and role models.

N Black Caribbean pupils are as valued as others are in the case study schools;

teachers have high expectations of them.

N Overall, the finding of this case study LEA confirms that in good schools Black

Caribbean pupils do well. The reasons for bucking the national trends are all to do

with education provided in the LEA and schools.

504 F. Demie

Policy implications

The finding of this case study LEA confirm that in good schools, Black Caribbean

pupils do well, and they offer some useful pointers for developing effective

approaches to tackling underachievement in general. This finding offers much

encouragement for policy makers and school improvement practitioners by

providing positive messages about what can be done. It demonstrates the potential

of raising standards and the continued need to analyse and disseminate effective

action to address the underachievement of particular minority ethnic groups.

We have demonstrated that a good head teacher and a good programme can boost

the achievement of Black Caribbean pupils. We are now challenging the government

to change its policy with ring-fenced funding to support local initiatives in

geographical areas or LEAs.

However, it is important to note that our study is not complete, and it is useful to

pose questions for further research. There are some clearer areas where research is

needed if we want to obtain a fuller picture, particularly, why government policy has

not addressed the needs of Black Caribbean pupils. We now know, as argued above,

that in good schools Black Caribbean pupils do well. However, the national

education policy and the current colour-blind national priorities such as Excellence

in Cities and numeracy and literacy strategies and the Ethnic Minorities

Achievement programme (EMAG) have not addressed the needs of Black

Caribbean pupils, particularly regarding teaching and learning styles. These services

lack local innovations and are highly centralised to meet the central government

agenda. There is no overall binding through the programmes that recognises

Caribbean pupils’ achievement as an issue. The government, although concerned by

the reported underachievement of Black Caribbean pupils in its recent Aiming High

Strategy (DfES, 2003c), has decided against specific initiatives or interventions

within literacy and numeracy, KS3 strategy and Excellence in Cities national

initiatives to address the situation. Instead it has launched a very limited pilot

research programme since 2003 to implement its recently widely consulted Aiming

High Strategy to look at good practices in 30 secondary schools to tackle the issue

using 7 part-time consultants and advisors. The reasons for this were that schools

were already groaning under the accumulated burden of initiatives. It is impossible

at this stage to know whether the government’s Aiming High EMAG initiatives

would be sufficient to address Black Caribbean underachievement effectively even

after the pilot years. Much of its consultation seems very worthy but its strategy of

ignoring LEA local innovations and focusing on a centralised approach working

directly with schools raises a number of questions. We do have some concerns about

some aspects of the applications of these national strategies including EMAG,

particularly the lack of allocating ring-fenced funding for RAP at LEA level by the

DfES. If the DfES is serious about issues of equality and diversity, it must take the

lead in addressing the issue of underachievement of Black Caribbean pupils in

British schools. Therefore, the key question for further research is to examine

critically the impacts of government policies and initiatives with a focus on what can

be done to challenge the education systems that do not address effectively the needs

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 505

of Black Caribbean pupils and indeed other underperforming groups in the drive to

raise standards.

There is also a lot of work to be done with teachers and management in under-

standing the roots of Caribbean culture and Black Caribbean pupils as learners—how

and why some underachieve and what teachers can do about it. This is a major area

where we have little research evidence. There is a need for further research to improve

our understanding of the ways in which schools can enhance pupils’ academic

achievement and the extent of the effect of the failure of government policy in

addressing the needs of underperforming groups including Black Caribbean pupils.

Acknowledgements

This article is based on a paper presented to the Annual Conference of the British

Educational Research Association, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, 11 September

2003.The main source of this article is the research report ‘Raising achievement of

Black Caribbean pupils: good practice in Lambeth schools’ by Jan McKenley, Chris

Power, Louise Ishani and Feyisa Demie, published in February 2003 by Lambeth

Research and Statistics Unit, Lambeth Education, Canterbury Crescent, London

SW9 7QE. The research report contains detailed case studies of good practice in 13

Lambeth schools. All extracts from the research report are produced with kind

permission of Jan McKenley, Chris Power and Louise Ishani. The author would like to

acknowledge their helpful comments and support. The views expressed in this article

are those of the author and are not to be taken as the views of Lambeth Education.

References

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Demie, F. (2001) Ethnic and gender difference in educational achievement and implications for

school improvement strategies, Educational Research, 43(1), 91–106.

Demie, F. (2003a) Using value added data for school self-evaluation, School Leadership and

Management, 23(4), 445–467.

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unacknowledged problems and challenges for policy makers, London Review of Education,

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minority ethnic pupils. DfES Consultation Paper, March, London.

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Appendix

St Martin-in-the Fields Secondary School: good practice in the use of data

Table A1.

Source

of data

Data used for tracking performance and self-evaluation Used by

School

data

YEAR 7: Social information distributed prior to pupils’ arrival

including predicted levels if known, medical information, if on

G&T register, social concerns and specific skills

Heads of

Department

ALL PUPILS: Termly reports and updates for all teachers,

giving details regarding each of their teaching groups as follows:

NFER/CATs mean SAS, previous key stages test level, if on

G&T register, SEN level and need, EAL level, if on widening

project cohort register and special talent—subject

All staff

NFER

and

CATS

data

Year Group and Tutor Groups Senior

Management

team, Curriculum

Coordinators

Prediction for 5+ A*–Cs and 1+ A*–G

Mean SAS 95+ and Mean SAS 100+

Maths overall scores Head of Maths

and English &

Senior

Management

Team (SMT)

Verbal reasoning

Mean SAS 95+ and Mean SAS 100+

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 507

Source

of data

Data used for tracking performance and self-evaluation Used by

School

analysis

Key stage test results to set targets and monitor performance

Used in association with autumn package and using teachers’

professional judgements to set individual end of KS targets for

pupils in each subject. These to be reported to pupil and parents

and judgements made as to whether pupils are (a) on track, (b)

below expectations, or (c) exceeding expectations.

Departments,

Senior

Management

Team

Individual targets set for English/Maths/Science using autumn

package for KS3 & KS4 for school target setting.

Senior

Management

Team

Progress plotted on scatter graphs for KS3 & KS4 results and

used to pinpoint specific pupils who are in upper and lower

quartiles in order to help analyse why pupils achieved so highly

or underachieved.

Heads of

Department

Individual action planning—pupils each have an individual

interview in September and January. Each interviewer has details

on each subject level, effort (using colours), class mean and year

mean

All Staff

KS3 and GCSE results analysed by ethnicity, SEN levels, date

of birth, EAL level, and mobility rates and value-added

evaluated using CATs and autumn package

All Staff

LEA

data

School profile—used to compare results, attendance, etc. with

Lambeth, and to help set targets

Senior

Management

Team, Governors

KS3 and GCSE contextual reports—used to identify

underperforming groups and to monitor performance by gender,

ethnicity, fluency in English, mobility and free school meals,

as well as overall trends over time; gaps analysis.

Senior

Management

Team, Heads of

Department

Year 7 Key Stage 2 data—used for monitoring and tracking

Year 7 pupils

SMT, Heads of

Department

GCSE value-added subject residuals—used to compare

subjects with Lambeth and national results and departmental

performance

Heads of

Department,

SMT, Governors

KS2 to KS3 and KS3 to GCSE value-added reports—used

to compare pupil progress with similar pupils in Lambeth and

tracking pupils’ performance

SMT, Heads of

Department,

Teachers

National

data

PANDA report and autumn packages—used to compare and

monitor progress compared with national performance

SMT, Governors

Table A1. (Continued)

508 F. Demie