British Educational Research Journal Vol. 31, No. 4, August 2005, pp.

481508

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 ISSN 0141-1926 (print)/ISSN 1469-3518 (online)/05/040481-28 # 2005 British Educational Research Association DOI: 10.1080/01411920500148705

482 F. Demie 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 governments 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

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 483 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 Englands 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

484 F. Demie quality of teaching and learning, how the school monitored pupils performance and used data, how it supported and guided the pupils and the schools 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 discourseto 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

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 485

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

486 F. Demie 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, 19982002 KS2 (Level 4 +) 1998 % 48 50 49 55 64 1999 % 63 56 57 64 73 2000 % 78 65 67 71 77 2001 % 81 65 68 73 78 2002 % 81 64 67 72 78 Improvement % 34 14 18 17 14

Black Caribbean pupils in case study schools Black Caribbean pupils other LEA schools Black Caribbean pupils all schools LEA average National average

*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.

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 487

Figure 3. KS2 performance of Black Caribbean pupils in all case study schools: LEA and national comparison (% level 4+)

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 N N

attainment of Black Caribbean pupils has been consistently high for many years and above national and LEA averages; Black Caribbean pupils in the case study schools make good progress and consistently do better than the Black Caribbean pupils in other LEA schools; 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.

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

488 F. Demie

Table 2. KS3 and GCSE Performance trends of Black Caribbean pupils in the case study schools (%) KS3 Level 5+ 1999 Black Caribbeanpupilscase study schools Black Caribbean pupilsother schools Black Caribbean pupilsall schools LEA average National average 60 30 36 44 60 2000 65 28 37 45 63 2001 72 34 44 48 65 2002 76 41 50 58 68 Improvement 16 12 13 14 8 1999 37 20 24 32 48 2000 33 15 20 32 49 GCSE 5+A*C 2001 41 17 23 36 50 2002 59 22 33 41 51 Improvement 22 3 9 11 3

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 489

Figure 4. GCSE performance of Black Caribbean pupils in all case study schools compared with LEA and national results (% 5+ A*C)

N 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. 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

490 F. Demie 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 schools 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 95? We model commitment but is there anyone out there who wants to take on the mantle? Were being asked to solve the worlds problems and heres 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.

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 491 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 childrens 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 dont 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:

492 F. Demie
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 didnt 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.

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 493 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 childrens education and want to know about their progress, the development of the curriculum and homework. They want useful information about their childrens 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 students 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 teachers 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 (CATs) 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.

494 F. Demie 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 childs 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 pupilsHow 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 teachers heart isnt 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

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 495 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 cant 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

496 F. Demie 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 Londonthe 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: Its 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 23 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 themselvesthey 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:

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 497

I like to put people into a position where they do things they didnt think they could do before. Our children performed in the Millennium Dome and that gave them the message Stick with us and well 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. Weve got a fantastic dance company Wise Moves and they are without exception the best professionals Ive ever seen and governors buy them in to work with our boys and girls 1 day a week. Thats 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 Teachers (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

498 F. Demie 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

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 499 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 teachersI am a well-educated Black woman in a position of authority which helps to confront stereotypes in British cultureand role models to all girls in the schoolI 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:

500 F. Demie
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 whats 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.

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 501 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 LEAs 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 underachieving 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 childrens 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

502 F. Demie vulnerable pupils and their parents, making sure their voices are heard in shaping the LEAs 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 LEAs 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 LEAs 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 underachieving 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 LEAs 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 schoolfocused 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.

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 503 Since 1998, over 700 governors, head teachers and teachers have attended the training programmes, which have made them to aware of the issue of underachievement 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 Lambeths 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 training 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.

504 F. Demie 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 LEAs 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 N

N 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. Lambeth has a number of excellent primary and secondary schools that offer good education to Black pupils. 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. 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. Black Caribbean pupils are as valued as others are in the case study schools; teachers have high expectations of them. 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.

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 505 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 governments 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

506 F. Demie 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 understanding the roots of Caribbean culture and Black Caribbean pupils as learnershow 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
Blair, M. & Bourne, J. (1998) Making the difference: teaching and learning strategies in successful multi-ethnic schools. Department for Education and Employment Publication Research Report RR59, London. Demie, F. (2001) Ethnic and gender difference in educational achievement and implications for school improvement strategies, Educational Research, 43(1), 91106. Demie, F. (2003a) Using value added data for school self-evaluation, School Leadership and Management, 23(4), 445467. Demie, F. (2003b) Raising the achievement of Black Caribbean pupils in British schools: unacknowledged problems and challenges for policy makers, London Review of Education, 1(3), 229248. Demie, F. (2004) Examples of good and innovative practices in effective use of data in Lambeth schools, in: F. Bird & J. Fowler (Eds) School improvement: making data work, DfES and TEN publications), 2228 & 6062. Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2003a) The statistical first release: National Curriculum assessment and GCSE/GNVQ attainment by pupil characteristics, in England, 2002 (final) and 2003 (provisional). Available online at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/ DB/SFR/s000448/index.shtml Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2003b) Raising the achievement of Black Caribbean pupils in Lambeth, in: Tackling underachievement: a collection of innovative and effective local practice. DfES/0318, HMS, 4951. Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2003c) Aiming high: raising the achievement of minority ethnic pupils. DfES Consultation Paper, March, London.

Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils 507

Gillborn, D. (2002) Education and institutional racism. Inaugural Professorial Lecture, Institute of Education, University of London. Gillborn, D. & Gipps, C. (1996) Recent research on the achievement of ethnic minority pupils. OFSTED Reviews of Research (London, HMSO). Gillborn, D. & Mirza, H. S. (2000) Educational inequality: mapping race and class (London, Office for Standards in Education). Gillborn, D. & Youdell, D. (2000) Rationing education: policy, practice, reform and equity (Buckingham, Open University Press). Macpherson, W. (1999) The Stephen Lawrence inquiry. CM 4262-I (London, The Stationery Office). McKenley, J., Power, C., Ishani, L. & Demie, F. (2003) Raising the achievement of Black Caribbean pupils in British schools: good practice in Lambeth schools. Research and Statistics Unit, Lambeth Education, February. Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) (1999) Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils: school and LEA responses. OFSTED Publications HMI 170. Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) (2001) Managing support for the attainment of pupils from minority ethnic groups. OFSTED Publications HMI 326, October. Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) (2002) Achievement of Black Caribbean pupils: good practice in secondary schools. OFSTED Publications HMI 448, April. Rampton, A. (1981) West Indian children in our schools. Cmnd 8273, London, HMSO. Swann, Lord. (1985) Education for all: Final report of the committee of inquiry into the education of children from ethnic minority groups. Cmnd 9453, London, HMSO. TEN (The Local Authorities Education Network) (2003) Success for Black Caribbean pupils, The Education Network News, p. 7.

Appendix St Martin-in-the Fields Secondary School: good practice in the use of data
Table A1. Source of data School data Data used for tracking performance and self-evaluation Used by

NFER and CATS 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 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 talentsubject Year Group and Tutor Groups Prediction for 5+ A*Cs and 1+ A*G Mean SAS 95+ and Mean SAS 100+ Maths overall scores Verbal reasoning Mean SAS 95+ and Mean SAS 100+

Heads of Department All staff

Senior Management team, Curriculum Coordinators Head of Maths and English & Senior Management Team (SMT)

508 F. Demie
Table A1. (Continued) Source of data School analysis Data used for tracking performance and self-evaluation Used by

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. Individual targets set for English/Maths/Science using autumn package for KS3 & KS4 for school target setting. 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. Individual action planningpupils 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 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 School profileused to compare results, attendance, etc. with Lambeth, and to help set targets

Departments, Senior Management Team Senior Management Team Heads of Department

All Staff

All Staff

LEA data

KS3 and GCSE contextual reportsused 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. Year 7 Key Stage 2 dataused for monitoring and tracking Year 7 pupils GCSE value-added subject residualsused to compare subjects with Lambeth and national results and departmental performance KS2 to KS3 and KS3 to GCSE value-added reportsused to compare pupil progress with similar pupils in Lambeth and tracking pupils performance National PANDA report and autumn packagesused to compare and data monitor progress compared with national performance

Senior Management Team, Governors Senior Management Team, Heads of Department SMT, Heads of Department Heads of Department, SMT, Governors SMT, Heads of Department, Teachers SMT, Governors