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Published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) on 29 March 2010, this report focuses on a range of factors associated with aspirations, attitudes and behaviours, encompassing a wide variety of influences throughout childhood.
The study examines attainment gaps between richer and poorer children and explores the influences on these, from pre-school through to secondary school. It also considers the importance of expectations and aspirations for higher education and uses a number of large-scale longitudinal data sources, capturing groups of children in the UK from early childhood through to late adolescence.
The report advances some policy conclusions relating to parents and the family home; children's own attitudes and behaviours; and the intergenerational picture.
Poorer children’s educational attainment: how important are attitudes and behaviour? (PDF)