Closing the Attainment Gap

Available for over a year

Sangita Myska takes a deep dive into some of the biggest problems facing Britain today - and meets the people whose big ideas might solve them. This week in Positive Thinking, we tackle how to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates. The stats are shocking: by the time a disadvantaged child leaves primary school, he or she will be 9 months behind their classmates in their learning. That gap rises to a year and a half, by the time that same child leaves secondary school. We look to Michigan in America's Mid West for solutions on how to tear up the school calendar to help kids fulfill their true potential. Contributors: David Hornack, Superintendent for Holt Public Schools in Michigan in the US. Tracy Argent, Headteacher at Woolmore Primary School in Tower Hamlets, London. Revd Steve Chalke, Founder of the Oasis Academy Trust Ros McMullen, Education Consultant Rosie Murray West, School governor and personal finance journalist Producers: Sarah Shebbeare and Sam Peach