Report
Resilient schools: excellence in educational centres in contexts of poverty
Lessons learned from the Canary Islands and Catalonia
Lucía Cobreros Vicente and Lucas Gortazar, ESADE
A collaborative report between the Esade Centre for Economic Policy (EsadeEcPol), the ”la Caixa” Foundation and Save the Children Spain
This study aims to identify and characterise educational centres that achieve student progress beyond what would be expected in contexts of high social vulnerability compared to other schools in their area. Two case studies — primary education in the Canary Islands and secondary education in Catalonia — are examined using Spain’s first value-added analysis, which uses longitudinal microdata to measure the actual contribution of each school to student progress. This approach enables the reliable identification of centres that are designated as ‘resilient schools’ in this study. A qualitative analysis of a sample of these schools was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of how they operate. This revealed five key pillars: a) leadership focused on student well-being; b) balanced methodologies between explicit and active learning; c) a coherent organisational structure; d) stability and support for teachers; and e) close collaboration with families.
Key points
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1Measuring school effectiveness needs to take into account both student progress and contextual vulnerability; otherwise, those schools that manage to achieve a greater impact despite the adversities are undervalued. In this framework, it is crucial to systematically identify resilient schools and facilitate the transfer of their models and practices.
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2In primary education (Canary Islands), the impact of the school on student progress shows a weak correlation with socioeconomic level. It is estimated that 38% of the most complex schools are resilient in mathematics and 44% in language and that between 40% and 60% of these achieve significant student progress.
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3In secondary education (Catalonia), where the correlation between the added value of the schools and socioeconomic level is lasting (reaching 0.5), it is estimated that between 41% and 46% of the schools are resilient. However, only between 11% and 16% of these manage to ensure their students make substantial progress.
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4Resilient schools share a school culture focused on student well-being and the early identification of their needs. Furthermore, they function as cohesive educational communities that prioritise clear and coordinated organisation, support for teachers and strong ties with families.
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5The following lessons stand out among those learned for achieving resilience: the need to strengthen educational leadership, develop a viable investment plan that is committed to non-teaching staff, guarantee the stability and cohesion of teaching teams, and expand the learning time and opportunities of students, with the aim of redressing inequalities of background.
