What should we do, to improve the educational outcomes of children who live in poverty? The question faces every headteacher of England’s state schools and plays on the mind of many school leaders and teachers alike. Coming to the end of a large study into the use of pupil premium funds, I’ve come to see how difficult and even bizarre it is to want to equalise the qualifications of children from the poorest homes in England with those of the richest. It sounds like a moral and just aim, but it is conceptually broken and messy. We’re running to fix something we don’t understand, like paying for a barber-surgeon to take away a tumour with leeches.
Continue reading “Give pupil premium funds directly to the families of students”