This study aims to investigate the current mental health supports available to teachers in underserved urban schools and identify potential interventions to address burnout and improve teacher retention. The focus is on understanding the specific challenges faced by educators, particularly those from marginalized communities, and proposing pathways to promote educational equity through mental health initiatives.

Grounded in Social Support Theory, the study examines how emotional, informational, and practical support systems can mitigate the impact of burnout among teachers. The framework highlights the importance of equitable mental health support, particularly for Black women educators, as a critical factor in fostering resilience and sustaining teacher engagement in urban school settings (Marcionetti & Castelli, 2022).

This preliminary study employs qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews with teachers to explore the mental health supports they currently receive and the gaps that exist. Teachers will share their experiences of burnout, stress, and coping mechanisms, providing insights into the types of interventions that could be most beneficial. Data will be analyzed to identify trends in teacher well-being and offer recommendations for targeted mental health support systems (Bottiani et al., 2019). Although student outcomes will not be measured, the study will provide a foundation for future research on the broader impacts of these interventions.

Initial findings are expected to shed light on the mental health challenges faced by teachers and highlight the need for systemic reforms. These insights will help inform the development of effective mental health interventions that can improve teacher retention in underserved schools.

The study aligns with the conference strands characteristics of quality teaching and equity and inclusion in teacher education, by emphasizing the role of mental health supports in promoting teacher sustainability and educational equity in urban schools.

The research aims to understand to what extent the Scottish Government’s Pupil Equity Funding reduced the poverty related attainment gap for a cohort of urban pupils from 2017/18 to 2020/21. Pupil Equity Funding is where schools are given additional funding per deprived student to increase equity in attainment. A positivist approach is utilised to understand the interplay between the variables of interest (such as poverty, attendance, ethnicity etc.) and changes in attainment.

The methods for this research involved combining datasets on school attainment, student and teacher statistics and deprivation. The attainment data was then compared to create a change variable for each attainment measure (Reading, Listening and Talking, Numeracy and Writing). These change measures were then used as dependent variables in four models (one for each measure) and were then analysed for statistical significance.

Overall, the research showed that the attainment gap had increased over the cohort period. The findings built on previous research and showed how variables such as class size had a negligible impact on attainment. However, it also showed the interconnectedness and nuances between the different attainment measures. It illustrated how the impact of variables such as attendance and parental qualifications changes based on which measure of attainment you are using. Furthermore, it illustrated how variables such as ethnicity, additional support needs etc. were statistically significant in relation to base attainment but not in relation to changes in attainment over time.

Pupil Equity Funding focuses on addressing equity and inclusion through giving school leaders’ autonomy in how to spend additional funds. The research contributes to understanding where Pupil Equity Funding should be targeted to increase equity. Building on this research schools could establish greater partnerships with one another and with the third sector to utilise funding to increase joint curriculum offers or increase shared student support options.

This paper presents a study on quality teaching (Hollins, 2011; Lovat & Toomey, 2009) in rural schools characterised by age heterogeneity. The focus on Italy provides useful reflections on school systems with similar characteristics and problems.

The research fits into the discourse on equity in education (Griffiths, 2003; Hackman, 2005), understood as a commitment to guarantee quality schooling to all students by responding to their specific educational needs and valuing heterogeneity without reducing it to a non-existent standard (Pica-Smith & Contini, 2020). In this sense, multi-age classes are a challenge in rural contexts (Cornish, 2009; Fargas-Malet & Bagley, 2022; Lund & Karlberg-Granlund, 2023): they are often viewed with concern by families and by teachers, who feel more comfortable in age-homogeneous classes. Conversely, age homogeneity represents a cultural trait (Rogoff, 2004) that does not allow for an appreciation of the benefits of different ages and learning styles in the classroom (Gray, 2012).

The paper aims to answer these questions:

• how can equity and quality be promoted in rural schools?
• how is quality teaching in multi-age classrooms designed in terms of organisational and pedagogical practises?

An action research was conducted in a K-8 rural school in Italy. A qualitative approach was used; data were collected through focus groups, logbooks and a final open-ended questionnaire and thematically analysed (Braun & Clarke, 2021).

Teachers and leaders reviewed school organisation and pedagogical methods. The actions concerned three areas: synergy with the territory and the community; reorganisation of school time; creative use of professional resources. In this way, it was possible to improve the quality of teaching and consequently students’ school experience through a design that consciously takes into account the age heterogeneity.

This paper aims to contribute to the reflection on quality teaching by highlighting its importance in contexts characterised by age heterogeneity.

With an average of about 10 million out of school children in Nigeria, the country not only ranks very low in school enrolment but also disproportionately positioned in the attainment of the global goal of education for all. The objective of this paper is to examine how the implementation of equity and inclusion clauses in teacher education could improve school enrolment and achieve education for all (EFA) in the country within the shortest possible time. The theoretical framework adopted is the relative deprivation theory. The paper focused on the three geo-political zones that make up Northern Nigeria which has the largest number of out of school children. The paper adopted the qualitative research method and relied on secondary data to examine the phenomenon and analyze the issues therein and make appropriate deductions. The findings of the paper are that the misapplication of the teacher education policy which is responsible for the out of school children syndrome contributes significantly to the failure to achieve education for all in Nigeria. To that effect, the paper concludes that the poorly conceptualized teacher education programme was largely responsible for the failure to achieve the universal goal. It hereby recommends among others the inclusion of equity and inclusion clauses in teacher education programme as strategy to addressing the out of school children syndrome as well as the attainment of Education for All (EFA) in Nigeria. This abstract/paper is relevant to the conference theme in the sense that an improved teacher education programme has the propensity to boost enrolment and also ensure that education for all is achieved within the framework of social justice and sustainable development. Specifically, the abstract is specifically tied to the sub-theme on Equity and inclusion in teacher education