Evaluation of Excellence in Cities Primary Extension: A report of the Gifted and Talented Strand Study
01 March 2004
Excellence in Cities (EiC) is a major policy aimed at improving schools in urban areas. Phase 1 was launched in 1999 in 25 LEAs. Within each LEA, EiC is delivered through a Partnership comprising the LEA and all the secondary schools. EiC was extended to further LEAs in 2000 and 2001. At the same time as the launch of the second phase, EiC was extended to about half the primary schools in Phase 1 Partnerships. This Primary Extension included the three main EiC Strands: Learning Mentors (LM), primary Learning Support Units (LSU), and provision for gifted and talented pupils. All primary schools involved in the EiC Primary Extension received funding for the LM Strand but only a sample was resourced for the Gifted and Talented Strand and for LSU provision. The aim of the Gifted and Talented Strand was to provide schools with additional resources to identify the most able pupils (defined as the top five to ten per cent of pupils within each school) and to support the teaching and learning of these pupils.
The research reported here focused in detail on the implementation and operation of the Gifted and Talented Strand in eight primary schools.