An important feature of successful race relations work is a school ethos which is open and vigilant, in which pupils can talk about their concerns and share in the development of strategies for their resolution. This is true of both primary and secondary age pupils. LEA initiatives 19 Fewer than a quarter of the 25 LEAs visited have a clear strategy for raising the attainment of minority ethnic groups. 20 Only a third of the LEAs monitor minority ethnic attainment comprehensively and can therefore target action effectively. These are mostly inner and outer London LEAs, as well as large metropolitan areas.
Most shire counties have yet to collect ethnic performance data systematically.
21 Additional support to raise the attainment of minority ethnic pupils relies almost exclusively on the funding provided by external grants such as Section 11 and Section 488. Generally support services are well structured and posts sensibly deployed. Not all children requiring support have access to it, especially isolated pupils in schools with few minority ethnic pupils. In many LEAs there is uncertainty which verges on helplessness about what are effective strategies to improve attainment for some groups. There is, for instance, a worrying ignorance, generally, about how to raise the attainment of Black Caribbean boys.