Literacy news

New research - Poorer children’s educational attainment: how important are attitudes and behaviour?

28 Jun 2011

How much do affluence and disadvantage influence educational attainment?

New research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlights the impact of a range of factors under the umbrella term 'aspirations, attitudes and behaviours', . The study:

• uses a number of large-scale longitudinal data sources capturing groups of children in the UK from early childhood through to late adolescence;
• examines attainment gaps between richer and poorer children and influences on these, from pre-school through to secondary school;
• considers the importance of expectations and aspirations for higher education;
• looks at the intergenerational picture; and
• suggests some policy conclusions relating to parents and the family home, and children's own attitudes and behaviours.

See the Joseph Rowntree website for more information and to download the report.

At the National Literacy Trust we have been interested in the interplay between attitude (aspirations), behaviours and skills for a long time. Many local authorities that we work with are keen to work with a broader range of community partners who can help influence parental attitudes and home literacy practices. Targeting these partnerships to reach the poorest families is also a priority.

If you are interested in finding out more about this work then visit the Local Areas and Communities pages of our website. You may also be interested in our conference Breaking the Cycle: literacy, aspirations and the home which is taking place on 11 October.

Tags: Children, Communities and local areas, Families, Leaders Network, Literature reviews

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