Differential Achievement

Question 1

CLASS - INTERNAL FACTORS

What are the four internal factors for differential class achievement?

Answer 1

1.) Labelling
2.) The self-fulfilling prophecy
3.) Pupil subcultures
4.) Marketisation policies

Question 2

CLASS - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Becker say about labelling?

Answer 2

• Found teachers judged pupils based on how closely they fitted the ‘ideal pupil’ image.
• Pupils’ work, conduct and appearance were key factors infuencing how closely the teachers saw students as conforming to the ideal pupil.
• Middle class students were closest to the ideal, working class students were the furthest away from it.

Question 3

CLASS - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Dunne and Gazeley say about labelling?

Answer 3

• Studied labelling in secondary schools and found that teachers ‘normalised’ the underachievement of working class pupils, seeming unconcerned about it and felt like they could do little or nothing about it.
• Whereas, they believed they could overcome the underachievement of middle class pupils.
• Teachers labelled working class parents as uninterested in their childrens’ education, but labelled the middle class parents as supportive, which is why they felt the m/c would do better.
• This lead to class differences in how teachers dealt with pupils who they percieved as underachieving: such as setting extension work for underachieving middle class students, but entering the underachieving working class students for easier exams.
• Teachers also underestimated working class pupils’ potential, and those who were doing well were seen as overachieving.

Question 4

CLASS - INTERNAL FACTORS

What did Rosenthal and Jacobsen say about the self fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 4

• Told the school they had a new test which would help to identify which pupils would ‘spurt ahead’, but instead it was a standardised IQ test.
• They picked 20% of students at random, and told these students that they were ‘spurters’.
• When they returned to the school a year later, they found that 47% of those students who were identified as spurters had made significant progress.
• They suggested that the teachers beliefs about the pupils had been conveyed to them via the way they interact with them within the classroom.

Question 5

CLASS - INTERNAL FACTORS

What did Douglas say about the self fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 5

• Found children placed in a lower set at age 8 had suffered a decline in their IQ score by age 11.
• However, children placed in a higher set at age 8 had improved their IQ score by age 11.

Question 6

CLASS - INTERNAL FACTORS

What did Gillborn and Youdell say on the self fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 6

• The publishing of league tables creates an A-C economy in which teachers ration their time, effort and resources into students who can get 5 A star-C grades, therefore improving the schools league tables position.
• The process is called educational triage, schools categorise pupils into three categories:
  1.) Those who will pass anyway without much teacher support (m/c students)
  2.) Those with potential to pass (m/c students)
  3.) Hopeless cases (w/c students)

This process causes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 7

CLASS - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Lacey say about subcultures?

Answer 7

• Differentiation is the process of teachers categorising their pupils according to how they percieve their ability, attitude, and/or behaviour.
• Polarisation is the process in which pupils respond to streaming/sets by moving towards one of the extremes: anti-school / pro-school.
• Pupils in high sets tend to be pro-school.
• Those placed in low sets tend to suffer from a loss of self esteem so they search of different ways to gain status.
• This usually involves rejecting the schools values which gives them status amongst their peers. This, however, causes them to fail.
• Lacey had showed the impact of labelling on subcultures as the boys in the anti-subculture had actually been successful at primary school. However, once they got to the local grammar school, the competitive atmosphere and streaming meant that they were labelled as failures.
• They responded by becoming anti-school.

Question 8

CLASS - INTERNAL FACTORS

What is the criticism against subcultures being an internal factor for class differential achievement?

Answer 8

• Woods argues that other responses are possible, not just anti-school and pro-school.
• Woods also shows how students can change their responses and don’t remain committed to one response.
• One week they may be very anti-school, but the next week they may be very motivated in lessons.

Question 9

CLASS - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What are the studies for intellectual development affecting cultural deprivation?

Answer 9

Douglas - Found w/c pupils scores lower on tests of ability than m/c students, this is due to w/c pupils parents being less likely to support their childrens studies through reading and other activities.
Bernstein and Young - m/c mothers more likely to choose toys that encourage thinking and reasoning skills preparing children for school.

Question 10

CLASS - EXTERNAL FACTORS

How does language affect cultural deprivation?

Answer 10

• Bernstein: restricted code and the elaborated code
  Restricted - w/c, limited vocab, short, unfinished, simple sentences
  Elaborated - m/c, wide vocab, complex, longer sentences
  Middle class get an advantage in education, the elaborated code is the speech code used in education by teachers, textbooks and exams. The m/c feel more comfortable using it at home as they have been socialised to it.

Question 11

CLASS - EXTERNAL FACTORS

How does housing affect material deprivation?

Answer 11

• Overcrowding means less room for a child to study and have undisturbed sleep.
• Temp accommodation means families must move often
• Damp houses can cause illnesses

Question 12

CLASS - EXTERNAL FACTORS

How does diet and health affect material deprivation?

Answer 12

HOWARD:
- Young people from poorer homes have lower energy intakes, vitamins and minerals.
- Poor nutrition can result in more absences or trouble concentrating.

Question 13

CLASS - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Ridge say about the costs of education affecting cultural deprivation?

Answer 13

• Children in poverty take on jobs such as babysitting, cleaning, paper rounds etc, resulting in a negative impact on their education.
• Poverty can also cause w/c students to leave education asap to work
• Fear of debt if they go to uni

Question 14

What is the criticism of the study of language?

Answer 14

• Troyna and Williams argue that the problem is the school’s attitude towards language.
• Schools have a speech hierarchy where they value m/c speech the highest
• Labov studies boys who used the restricted code and found they could still think analytically.
• He argues the elaborated code can result in arguments being lost in irrelevant detail.

Question 15

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

How can equal opportunity policies be internal factors for differential gender achievement?

Answer 15

• Prevented teachers and the education system from discriminating against females.
• Policies such as GIST (girls into science and technology) and WISE (women into science and engineering) encourage girls to pursue careers in these non traditional areas.
• Similarly, the introduction of the National Curriculum removed one source of gender inequality by making girls and boys study mostly the same subjects.

Question 16

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Boaler say about the impact of equal opportunity policies?

Answer 16

BOALER:
- Sees the impact of equal opportunity policies as a key reason for the changes in girls’ achievement.
- Many of the barriers have been removed and schooling has become more meritocratic.

Question 17

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Weiner say about the equal opportunities policies?

Answer 17

WEINER:
- Research in the 1970s and 80s found that reading schemes portrayed women mainly as housewives and mothers, that physics books showed them as frightened or amazed by science, and that maths books depicted boys as more inventive than girls.
- He argues that since the 1980s, teachers have challenged such stereotypes, and in general, sexist images have been removed from learning materials.

Question 18

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

How does role models in school affect differential gender achievement?

Answer 18

• There has been an increase in the proportion of female teachers and headteachers.
• These women in positions of authority may act as role models for girls.
• Between 1992 and 2012, the percentage of female teachers in secondary schools has increased from 49% to 61% and the percentage of headteachers has increased from 22% to 37%.
• Only 14% of primary school teachers are male.
• This leads to boys seeing education as feminised.

Question 19

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What is a criticism of role models in schools being an explanation for differential gender achievement?

Answer 19

• Francis found that two thirds of 7-8 year olds believed the gender of teachers does not matter

Question 20

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Francis say about teacher attention affecting differential gender achievement?

Answer 20

• Boys get more attention than girls but were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on teachers who tended to have lower expectations of them.

Question 21

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Swann and Graddol say about teacher attention affecting differential gender achievement?

Answer 21

SWANN AND GRADDOL:
- Found that boys are generally more boisterous and attract the teachers attention more than girls.
- However, the way teachers interact with girls is positive because it is focused on schoolwork rather than behaviour.

Question 22

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Jackson say about league tables affecting differential gender achievement?

Answer 22

• Notes the introduction of exam league tables, which place a high value on academic achievement, has improved opportunities for girls.
• High achieving girls are attractive to schools, whereas low achieving boys are not.

Question 23

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Slee say about league tables affecting differential gender achievement?

Answer 23

SLEE:
- Argues boys are less attractive to schools because they are more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and are four times more likely more likely to be excluded.

Question 24

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Sewell say about the feminisation of education affecting differential gender achievement?

Answer 24

SEWELL:
- Argues schools do not nurture masculine traits such as competitiveness or leadership.
- Instead they celebrate qualities more closely associated with girls, such as methodical working and attentiveness in class.
- Sees coursework as a major cause of gender differences in achievement.

Question 25

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Mitsos and Browne say about the feminisation of education affecting differential gender achievement?

Answer 25

MITSOS AND BROWNE:
- Argues girls are more successful in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised than boys.
- This can be attributed to socialisation in the family.

Question 26

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What is the criticisms for the feminisation of education being an explanation for differential gender achievement?

Answer 26

• Elwood argues that although coursework has some influence, it is unlikely to be the only cause of the gender gap as exams count more towards final grades.

Question 27

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Epstein say about the laddish subcultures affecting differential gender achievement?

Answer 27

EPSTEIN:
- Found that working class boys are more likely to be harassed and subjected to homophobic verbal abuse if they appear to be trying in education.

Question 28

GENDER - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Francis say about the laddish subcultures affecting differential gender achievement?

Answer 28

FRANCIS:
- Femininity in school involves cooperative attitudes to teachers, other pupils and authority in general.
- This is linked to a supportive attitude to schoolwork which results in a pro school peer group.

Question 29

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

How can the impact of feminism be an external factor of differential gender achievement?

Answer 29

• The feminist movement has had considerable success in improving women’s rights and opportunities through changes in the law.
• More broadly, feminism has raised women’s expectations and self esteem.

Question 30

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does McRobbie say about how the impact of feminism can be an external factor of differential gender achievement?

Answer 30

MCROBBIE:
- Compared girls’ magazines in the 1970s and the 1990s.
- In the 1970s, girls magazines such as Jackie, focused on the importance of getting married and not being ‘left on the shelf’ whereas nowadays, they contain images of assertive, independent women.

Question 31

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Sharpe say about how the impact of feminism can be an external factor of differential gender achievement?

Answer 31

SHARPE:
- Interviewed girls in the 1970s and found that the girls had low aspirations.
- Most of the girls wanted to become housewives.
- In the 1990s however, most girls wanted careers.

Question 32

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

How does changes in the family affect differential gender achievement?

Answer 32

• Since the 1970s, there has been an increase in the divorce rate and an increase in the number of lone parent, particularly matriarchal families.
• Increased single mother families may mean women need to take on the instrumental role.
• This provides positive role models for girls as their mothers are independent ,which requires a good job and therefore good qualifications for it.
• In addition, girls nowadays may feel they don’t need to rely on a husband to provide for them.
• This may encourage them to do better in education.

Question 33

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

How does changes in women’s employment affect differential gender achievement?

Answer 33

• The 1970’s Equal Pay Act makes it illegal to pay women less for doing the same job as men, whilst the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act outlaws sexual discrimination in employment.
• The proportion of women in employment rose from 47% in 1959 to 67% in 2013. The growth of the service sector and part time work has provided more employment opportunities for women.
• Since the 1975 pay gap between men and women has fallen from 30% to 15% and more women are breaking through the glass ceiling.
• These changes may have encouraged girls to see their future in terms of paid work. There are also greater employment opportunities for women now than there used to be.

Question 34

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Mac an Ghail say about how Globalisation and the Decline of Traditional Men’s Jobs affects differential gender achievement?

Answer 34

• The decline of traditional men’s jobs has resulted in a crisis of masculinity.

Question 35

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Mitsos and Browne say about how Globalisation and the Decline of Traditional Men’s Jobs affects differential gender achievement?

Answer 35

• Claim this decline in male employment opportunities have led to an identity crisis for men.
• Many boys now believe they have little prospect of getting a proper job.
• This undermines their motivation and their self-esteem and so they give up trying to get qualifications.

Question 36

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What are criticisms of Globalisation and the Decline of Traditional Men’s Jobs being an explanation for the differential gender achievement?

Answer 36

• However, many traditional manual working class jobs didn’t need qualifications, so the decline of these jobs shouldn’t make much difference to boys’ achievement.

Question 37

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

How does socialisation affect differential gender achievement?

Answer 37

• Parents spend less time reading to their sons.
• In addition, it is usually mothers who do most of the reading with their children.
• This may lead males to see reading as feminine.

Question 38

GENDER - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Hannan say about how socialisation affects differential gender achievement?

Answer 38

• Argues girls are better socialised for schools.
• They often spend more time interacting and communicating with other girls (e.g. bedroom culture), whereas boys are more likely to play computer games.

Question 39

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What did Gillborn and Mirza say about the achievement of black students throughout their education?

Answer 39

GILLBORN AND MIRZA:
- In one local education authority, black children were the highest achievers on entry to primary school, yet by the time it came to GCSE, they had the worst results of any ethnic group.

Question 40

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What did Gillborn and Youdell say about labelling and teacher racism affecting the achievement of ethnic groups?

Answer 40

GILLBORN AND YOUDELL:
- Teachers are quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behaviour due to teachers’ racialised expectations.
- Teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening.

Question 41

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What did Bourne say about labelling and teacher racism affecting the achievement of ethnic groups?

Answer 41

BOURNE:
- Schools tend to see black boys as a threat and label them negatively.
- This eventually results in exclusion.
- This could explain the higher exclusion rates of black boys.

Question 42

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What are the criticisms against labelling and teacher racism being the cause of differential ethnic groups?

Answer 42

FULLER:
- Fuller studied black girls who suffered racist labelling from teachers.
- These girls rejected these labels and didn’t ask for help from teachers they perceived as racist.
- They were successful through relying on their own efforts.

Question 43

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Mirza say about pupils responses and subcultures affecting the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 43

MIRZA:
- Studied ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism. However, the girls in Mirza’s study failed to achieve because their coping strategies resulted in underachievement.
- Found racist teachers discouraged black pupils from being ambitious through the advice they gave about careers and subject options.
- The girls were selective about which staff to ask for help; got on with their own work in lessons without taking part and didn’t choose certain options in order to avoid racist teachers.
- However, these strategies were unsuccessful and resulted in the girls underachieving.

Question 44

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Sewell say about pupils responses and subcultures affecting the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 44

SEWELL:
- In Sewell’s study of a boys’ secondary school, he found that most teachers had a stereotype of ‘black machismo’, which sees all black boys as rebellious and anti-school.
- Sewell identified four ways in which the boys responded to this labelling:
1) The rebels: a minority of black pupils. Were anti-school and conformed to the stereotype of the black macho lad. Were often excluded.
2) The conformists: the largest group. Were keen to succeed and were pro school.
3) The retreatists: disconnected from school and black subcultures.
4) The innovators: pro education but anti-school. Valued success but did not seek the approval of teachers and conformed only as far as schoolwork itself was concerned.
- Sewell shows that only a minority of pupils fit the stereotype of the black macho lad but teachers tend to see all black males in this way.
- In addition, many of the boys’ negative attitudes towards school were a response to racism.
- Sewell also recognises the importance of external factors though, such as low aspirations and lack of male role models. In addition, he blames a media inspired role model of anti-school black masculinity. This links to hypermasculinity.

Question 45

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Troyna and Williams say about how the Ethnocentric curriculum affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 45

TROYNA AND WILLIAMS:
- Describe the curriculum in British schools as ethnocentric because it gives priority to white culture and the English language.

Question 46

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Coard say about how the Ethnocentric curriculum affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 46

COARD:
- The ethnocentric curriculum may produce underachievement. For example in history the British are presented as bringing civilisation to the ‘primitive’ people they colonised.
- This undermines black children’s self-esteem and leads to their failure.

Question 47

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What are the criticisms of the ethnocentric curriculum being an explanation for the differential ethnic achievement?

Answer 47

• Doesn’t explain the achievement of Chinese and Indian pupils whose culture is not focused on.

Question 48

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Hatcher say about how Institutional Racism affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 48

HATCHER:
- School governing bodies give low priority to race issues. In the schools he studied there were no formal channels of communication between governors and ethnic minority parents.
- This meant, for example, that nothing was done about parents’ concerns about language support.

Question 49

ETHNICITY - INTERNAL FACTORS

What does Moore and Davenport say about how Selection affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 49

MOORE AND DAVENPORT:
- Found schools discriminated against ‘problem students’.
- For example, they used primary school reports to screen out students with language or learning difficulties, while the application process was difficulty for less educated or non English speaking parents to understand.

Question 50

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Bereiter and Engelmann say about how Language affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 50

BEREITER AND ENGELMANN:
- Consider the language spoken by low income black American families as inadequate for educational success.
- They see it as ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable of expressing
abstract ideas.

Question 51

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What are criticisms against the argument that language affects ethnic differential achievement?

Answer 51

GILLBORN AND MIRZA:
- Gillborn and Mirza note that Indian pupils do very well despite often not having English as their first language.

Question 52

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What is the argument that attitudes and values affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 52

• Cultural deprivation theorists argue some black children are socialised into a subculture that instils a fatalistic attitude and present time orientation that does not value education. (You can include Sugarman here and apply this study to ethnic minority groups).

Question 53

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Moynihan say about family structure affecting the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 53

MOYNIHAN:
- Argues that because many black families are headed by a lone mother they are financially deprived causing problems for their educational achievement.
- Also argues that the lack of a male role model means that black boys don’t have a positive role model of male success.

Question 54

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What are the criticisms against Moynihans argument that family structure affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 54

• Ignores the fact that matriarchal families provide positive role models for African Caribbean girls.

Question 55

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Pryce say about how the family structure and parental support affects achievement between different ethnic groups?

Answer 55

PRYCE:
- Asians are high achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism and gives them greater self esteem.
- Black Caribbean culture, however, is less resistant to racism leading to
low self esteem and failure.
- This is due to the impact of colonialism.
- The experience of slavery destroyed black culture whilst Asian culture remained largely intact.

Question 56

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Lupton say how the family structure and parental support affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 56

LUPTON:
- Adult authority in Asian families is similar to the model that operates in school.
- Respectful behaviour towards adults was expected from children.
- This means parents were more likely to be supportive of school behaviour policies.

Question 57

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Palmer say how the material deprivation affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 57

PALMER:
- Almost half of all ethnic minority children live in low income households compared to a quarter of white children.
- Ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared with whites.

Question 58

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What are the criticisms against the idea that material deprivation affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 58

GILLBORN AND MIRZA:
- Gillborn and Mirza argue when we compare pupils of the same class but of different ethnicities we still find differences in achievement.
- This can be seen with middle class black children.

Question 59

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Rex say how racism in wider society affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 59

REX:
- Racial discrimination leads to social exclusion. - This worsens the material deprivations ethnic minorities face.
- For example, in housing, discrimination results in minorities being more likely to be placed into substandard housing than whites.

Question 60

ETHNICITY - EXTERNAL FACTORS

What does Wood et al say how racism in wider society affects the achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 60

WOOD ET AL:
- Sent three closely matched job applications to each of almost 1,000 job vacancies.
- These came from fictitious applicants using names associated with different ethnic groups. - Wood et al found that only 1 in 16 ethnic minority applications were offered an interview compared to 1 in 9 white applications.