This practical resource shows what teachers can do to combat disadvantage and underachievement in schools and from early years to secondary education. Written by an experienced teacher, teacher educator and chartered psychologist, the book highlights effective teaching and learning methods that can be used to overcome barriers to learning, satisfy different learning needs and help students achieve their full potential. Packed with up-to-date research, useful guidance and examples, the book explores what schools have done and what they can do without need for extra resourcing. It includes case studies that examine the types of underachievement patterns that are found across age ranges and, by detailing approaches in subject teaching, defines the nature of effective learning and shows what strategies can be used to meet these criteria. Moreover, the chapters provide: An exploration into the central needs of underachieving and disadvantaged learners across the ability range Information about how to audit the provision and the needs Accessible resources for the classroom changes that need to be made to the education and training of teachers Tackling Disadvantage and Underachievement in Schools is essential reading for teachers in early years education and primary and secondary schools, teachers in training and their educators, as well as leaders, policymakers, researchers and anyone interested in improving performance in schools.

Becoming a Teacher, 4e remains a unique and powerful combination of ideas, analysis, questions, answers and wisdom, drawing on the professional experience of the editors and contributors.

This text investigates UK policy issues and strategies in an international context, highlighting the importance of educational exclusion and disaffection on the international agenda. The authors examine the problems and key areas of policy development for education.

Changing Urban Education considers the way we approach teaching and learning in the urban context and examines the debates concerning developments in wider social, cultural, political and economic contexts. Grounded in a strong conceptual, theoretical framework, this accessible text will guide the reader through this evolving area. Reflective exercises, interviews, chapter summaries and useful websites will encourage and support student learning and the application of new concepts. Recent debates and developments are considered, including: * The city as a social, cultural and economic resource * Virtual communities * The impact of the forces of globalisation on urban education * Challenging schools and urban policy * Mobile urban learning Changing Urban Education is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students on education studies and related courses.

Sutton Trust research showed that disadvantaged children were 11.5 months behind advantaged peers in reading by the end of their first year of primary education, and never caught up. By the time these students were completing their GCSE examinations, they were 20 months behind. This book provides a 7-point plan to change this, so that all children, including those with dyslexia, can become readers by the end of Year 1 and critical readers in secondary school. The changes proposed are cost-free, in terms of both money and teachers’ time. This book is for educators and their students, early years teachers, English teachers and Special Education Co-ordinators (SENCos) in primary and secondary schools, and in Further Education as well as reading researchers and policy makers. Altogether, the 7-point plan proposed in this book will improve reading fluency, comprehension, and subject attainments across the curriculum, including mathematics.

This edited volume critically examines the link between area based policies, neighbourhood based problems, and neighbourhood effects: the idea that living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods has a negative effect on residents’ life chances over and above the effect of their individual characteristics. Over the last few decades, Western governments have persistently pursued area based policies to fight such effects, despite a lack of evidence that they exist, or that these policies make a difference. The first part of this book presents case studies of perceived neighbourhood based problems in the domains of crime; health; educational outcomes; and employment. The second part of the book presents an international overview of the policies that different governments have implemented in response to these neighbourhood based problems, and discusses the theoretical and conceptual processes behind place based policy making. Case studies are drawn from a diverse range of countries including the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Australia, Canada, and the USA.

′This is an excellent book which is organised for teachers, heads of schools, and those specifically involved with very able youngsters. Many ideas are provided in this book for teachers to follow in order to render their professional expertise appropriate for helping youngsters with high ability′ - Dr L. F. Lowenstein, Educational, Clinical and Forensic Psychological Consultant Using ideas that have been tried and tested in the classroom, this book takes a whole school approach to providing appropriate challenge and support for gifted and talented pupils in an inclusive educational setting. Packed with practical ideas for meeting the needs of gifted pupils and containing plenty of case studies that show what can be achieved, this book also provides advice on: " Defining and Identifying giftedness and talent; " Strategies for resolving underachievement by gifted and talented pupils; " Dual exceptionality and removing barriers to attainment; " support strategies for gifted and talented pupils (in schools and in LEAs); " different teaching and learning strategies, such as differentiation and enrichment; " devising a tailored curriculum to meet the needs of individual able pupils. Gifted and Talented Co-ordinators, class teachers, LEA Advisers and Learning Support Teachers looking for a whole-school approach to helping more able pupils develop their abilities to the fullest potential will find this book invaluable.

First Published in 2004. This pack on tackling truancy in schools is specifically written for use by teachers and for other caring professionals in the field, such as, education welfare officers, education social workers and educational psychologists. It brings together in twenty-four concise units the latest knowledge and good practice in the prevention and combating of truancy and other forms of non-attendance at school. Some units focus on understanding the causes and issues involved in truancy while others focus on the Government’s latest initiatives. The ideas contained in the units are specifically designed to help schools, LEAs and other caring professionals meet the Government’s new targets for reducing truancy. In order to help readers make the best use of the pack and its materials: each unit begins by providing a summary of its contents; each unit ends with a range of professional development questions or tasks which can be undertaken during training events. The pack can be read alongside Ken Reid’s book Truancy and Schools, also published by Routledge.