Lessons from area-based initiatives in education and training

Educational outcomes within countries are spatially patterned, with young people in richer neighbourhoods, cities and regions tending to participate in education for longer and achieve higher qualifications than those in poorer areas. Since the 1960s, many countries have put in place 'positive discrimination' measures in education policy aimed at narrowing the achievement gap between rich and poor. These have included many area-based initiatives - interventions aimed at specific places. This report reviews the available evidence about the nature and impact of area-based interventions. The evidence suggests that across the [European Union] EU area-based initiatives in education and training have varying degrees of success. While many interventions produce some positive outcomes, impacts tend to be small-scale and to be distributed unevenly across different aspects of the intervention and different sites of implementation.

Excerpts from publication. Show less