Herald View: Exam results show Nicola Sturgeon's moral mission to cut attainment gap still has a long way to go

The first minister described the gap as a “moral challenge” to the government and the whole country. But progress has been glacial. Disappointing results in the annual PISA international benchmarking exercise – albeit many question the methodology used by the OECD to compile it – have led many to question the SNP’s approach. Teachers have been unhappy about new standardised tests imposed on pupils. Meanwhile the government has had to deal with repeated controversies over the way councils use a fund designed to close the attainment gap: including suggestions the cash may be used for football lessons, canoeing trips or even to help pay for janitorial cover.

But there are signs in the latest figures released through the Parentzone website that progress is being made.

Scores which measure the highest level exam pass achieved by pupils show a small increase in the overall achievement level of pupils attending schools serving the most deprived areas of the country.

Combine this with the same measure which shows performance as static in schools serving the wealthiest catchments and you have clear signs that the attainment gap is narrowing.

Let us be clear, the difference is modest, not transformational as yet. The best performing schools are still predominantly those drawing on catchments where deprivation is minimal (even taking into account the report earlier in the week showing pockets of poverty in the most affluent parts of Scotland).

But anyone expecting this problem to be solved overnight, or even from one year to the next was always doomed to disappointment.

The attainment gap has repeatedly been shown to be a stubborn problem, and these figures provide further confirmation that is the case.

Inevitably some of the most promising measures – such as the nurture classes for those who arrive at primary school ill-equipped for learning – will not show their impact until pupils come, years later, to take exams.

Glasgow has had these classes in place for more than a decade but their adoption in other council areas has been more recent.

All of this provides context to the “league tables” we publish today which provide a measure of how well pupils in individual schools around the country are performing.

The information they contain can be of value to parents who are choosing where to send their children.

While the government, and teachers’ unions, are not always enthusiastic about such measures they are nevertheless of value in indicating where standards may be dropping and problems may need to be addressed. Likewise they can draw attention to schools which are overachieving so that others can look at what they may be doing to be more effective..

But it must be borne in mind that this is neither a measure of the quality of schools or of the teaching therein. Many other factors come into play, most obviously the level of achievement children have before they even begin formal learning, the social challenges faced by families in poorer areas and the level of support and enthusiasm for education within the family home.

All of these, of course, contribute to the attainment gap.

Likewise, exam results are not the be all and end all. There are many other measures of progress related to the attainment conundrum – from the number of exclusions in schools serving deprived areas to the number of young Scots going on to further and higher education.

The challenge is huge, and austerity policies have not made it any easier, whether through reductions in the number of classroom assistants, increased poverty caused by welfare reforms, or funding pressure restricting the work of charities.

But Ms Sturgeon has made cutting the gap a defining test of her administration. “I want to be judged on this,” she has said.

Pupil exam results provide a test result for the Government too. So far the report card reads “making progress, could do better”.