Giving evidence at the first session of the children, school and families committee's inquiry into Sure Start Children's Centres, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, professor of early childhood education at the Institute of Education, said there was a tension between universal services, in better-off areas, and targeted services, aimed at helping disadvantaged families.
She said, 'If you're talking about narrowing the gap and if you improve quality for everyone, you can actually extend the gap.'
She added, 'We have some figures from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile that show the gap is narrowing, but in some areas it is widening and in others it is narrowing a lot more. What I think we should be doing a lot more of is looking at where things are working and then trying to use that practice in other areas. But it is not universally narrowing the gap.'
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