§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make available in the Vote Office the recent report produced for the Department on the education of West Indian or Asian children in state schools; if he will summarise in theOfficial Report the main findings of the report; and what action he intends to take to implement the finding of the report.
§ Mr. ButcherA copy of "The School Effect: A Study of Multiracial Comprehensives" has been placed in the Library. This report is based on research which followed the progress of 3,000 pupils in 20 urban comprehensives, starting in 1981. The research found striking differences between the schools surveyed in what they did and how they did it. The level of achievement of pupils of similar abilities, regardless of their ethnic or social background, varied markedly according to the school they attended. Differences in examination results between ethnic groups were small and very much smaller than the differences between schools.
This report reinforces the Government's determination to press ahead with the implementation of the national curriculum and with the arrangements for assessment and testing so that every child can have the best possible start in life.