Thread by @DeanMThomson

"I intend to continue doing what I and the government have done for the last give years, is making the progress, taking the decisions, making the investments to progress [closing attainment gap]" Nicola Sturgeon, FMQs, March 24th

Let's analyse some of this.
[1/11]

➡️'Making the progress'

The FM talks about progress being made toward closing the attainment gap.

How accurate is it to claim progress has been made?
[2/11]

While the latest Audit Scotland report does speak of 'limited progress', this disguises a wider pattern of very real failure.

For example, data shows that 93.3% of 2019-20 school leavers were in a “positive destination".

Looks great, right? But wait...
[3/11]

The 93.3% figure is a DECREASE from 95% recorded in 2018/19.

This represents the lowest figure since 2014/15. Plus, the drop has been felt in greatest extent amongst those from most deprived areas.

No progress closing the attainment gap regarding positive destinations.
[4/11]

The picture gets even worse if we look at the number of school leavers in employment.

That has collapsed from 22.9% in 2018/19 to 16.2% in 2019/20.

Again, I fail to see the 'progress' the First Minister was speaking of.
[5/11]

But wait! Surely the pandemic is responsible for this?

The pandemic can't be blamed for the fact that Scotland's education system recorded its worst ever rating for maths, reading & science in 2016.

Scottish schools have been under-performing under the SNP for years.
[6/11]

And where the attainment gap has narrowed...it's perhaps for the most terrible of reasons.

The rate of decline in achievement among wealthier pupils has been greater than the rate of continuing decline among poorer kids.
[7/11]

Tom Harris, former Scottish Labour MP wrote in his column that, "In Scotland, a land which once boasted of having the best education system in the world, this is seen as progress. We’ll gladly settle for bringing the rich down instead of levelling up the poor"
[8/11]

So I ask you all to think very hard, and ask yourselves, what progress is the First Minister talking about regarding closing the attainment gap on education?
[9/11]

I did a thread not so long ago on the attainment gap statistics, it has more data across the board than this thread. I'd ask you to please read that for a deeper dive into this topic.
[10/11]

https://twitter.com/DeanMThomson/status/1374758962998996997?s=20

Sources:

'Positive Destinations' data reported here:
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/2…

'Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)' data reported here:
telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/0…

Tom Harris Column Feb 17th 2021:
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/1…
[11/11]

Typo correction: the quotation from FMQs by the first minister should read 'five years', not 'give years'.

My apologies.