educational policies Flashcards
1944 Butler Act
the tripartite system:
1. “practical intelligence”- secondary modern. This was for w/c who would leave for employment at the age of 15, and inferior to grammar
2. “techical intelligence”- technical schools. <3% attended
3. “academic intelligence”- grammar. The m/c who would have had extra support in 11+
1944 Butler Act aims+evaluation
aims:
- make secondary education universal and free
- parity of esteem= equal status
- schoools were ‘equal but different’
evaluation:
- academic intelligence led to a better life
- the 11+ was unfair for a variety of skills and development at different ages
- some families struggled without kids at work
- gender bias in 11+ subject choice
1988 Education Reform Act
new right/ conservative Maggie Thatcher- individual choice and business= large part of social progress
- National Curriculum: all state schoold follow the same content. Not compulsory in free schools, academies + private schools
- League tables and SATs: all students tested on the same core content at ages 7, 11, 14 and GCSE levels. Aim= fair comparison + use in league tables
- Formula funding: funding based on how many pupils a school attracted = incentive for competition
- Local management of schools: headteachers and governors manage the school budget, not local authority. Ensures sufficient school operation and weakens local authority (the gov distrust)
- Grant Maintained schools: funded directly by central govt, specialised in subjects meaning increased diversity and choice
-
City technology colleges: focus = maths, science, tech, funded by central government. In inner cities to compete with existing ones
-Open enrolment: parents can choose school for children= competition
-League Tables: schools are required to showcase results=competition+parentocracy
Education Reform Act 1988 aims+evaluation
aims:
- make schools competetive through marketisation and parentocracy
- drive up standards by dictating what is taught
evaluation:
- favours ‘skilled choosers’
- neglects sink schools
- teaching to tests
- SATS= pressure on pupils
- national curriculum= restrictive
legislation
preparation and making of laws
marketisation
market forces to encourage competition
parentocracy
parental choice/control
academy
state funded schools (gov)
pupil premium
a grant given to schools by government to decrease class attainment gap
1997 New Labour policies
Tony Blair
- EAZ: a group of schools in deprived areas that recieved extra funding and sponsorship, drives up standards, focus on underachieving students in deprived areas
- Sure Start: 12h/week of free nursery ages 2-4 for deprived areas, getting on the same level as m/c counterparts
- EMA: 30 quid weekly to fund low income families to encourage students to stay in education aged 16-18
- EIC: improve attainment levels for students in low income areas
- Further and higher education: increase in higher education spaces, participation was varied. Tuition fees were introduced to improve facilities in universities and this lowered the amount of w/c people who went.
- academisation: turning failing comprehensive schools into academies (diff from in 2010)
-
specialost schools
-literacy and numeracy assessment and targets
1997 New Labour policies aims to+ evaluation
aims:
- raise standards of education through smaller class sizes, stricter ofted, more maths and english hours
- increased diversity and choice through specialist schools, individual support
- improved equality of opportunity through EAZ, sure start, EMA
evaluation:
- the gap between m/c and w/c continues to grow due to cream skimming
- introduction to tuition fees puts many off
- city academies enable those with money to shape the curriculum
- gillborn and youdell- negative experience in A-C economy
- schools are too test focused, reducing real diversity of educatoinal experience
- less critical thinking, more tests
Education Action Zones (EAZ)
a group of schools in deprived areas that would recieve extra funding and sponsorship to increase the standards within the school
Sure Start- what was it?
12hr per week of free nursery provision from ages 2-4 for deprived areas to catch up with m/c
Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA)
30 quid weekly to fund low income families to enocurage students to stay in education from ages 16-18
Excellence In Cities (EIC)
a programme to raise standards and promote _____ in inner cities and other urban areas
academy
state funded schools that are funder directly by the government rather than by the local education authority
further education
training after secondary school such as A-levels, college and T-levels
higher education
education beyond the age of 18 including uni and apprenticeships
Conservative educatoinal policy 1979-1997 (New Vocationalism)
- National Vocation Qualifications (NVQs): standardised vocational qualifications for particular occupations
- General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs): more general qualificatoins which covered wider areas
- Modern Apprenticeships: from 1995, these programmes combined training at work with the part time attendance at college, with the aim of achieving NVQ at level 3
- New vocationalism= new vocational training initiatives introduced in the 1970s. eg the youth training scheme combined education and work for school leavers
evaluation of new vocationalism (1979-1997)
- it essentially brought back a two tier system that comprehensivisation had sought to erradicate
- sometimes vocational qualifications have been accused of being valued too highly. Some level 2 BTECs were said to be the equivalent to several GCSEs, giving misleading school and pupil performance data.
Conservative educational policy 1979-1997 aims+ evaluation (New Vocationalism)
aims:
- promoting economic growth through improving the skills of the workforce
- encourage competition in the educational marketplace to do this
- make schools more efficient by introducing market forces
- more incentive for schools to improve because of competition
- inspections required to assess quality of schools, which must be availible to parents
evaluation:
- schools wanted to only attract academically able students, boosting reputation
- shift from what the school can do for the students to what the students can do for the school
- schools became more cocnerned about atracting the gifted than helping the disadvantaged
vocational
practical skills and training for specific occupations or professions
conservative government
uphold traditional approaches to social topics
marketisation of schols
the introductoin of market principles such as competition into the education system
league tables
the ranking of schools in terms of exam results
vocatoinal education and training
an education and training system designed to teach work skills to meet the needs of the industry
open enrolment
parents have the right to send their children to the school of their choice
Comprehensivisation 1965 Anthony Crossland
aims and evaluation
aims:
- overcome class divide and make education more meritocratic
evaluation:
- class differences remained largely unchanged
- did not achieve their aim because grammar schools still exist in a number of areas
what was comprehensivisation/ the comprehensive system?
- providing one type of school (comprehensive school) so students of all backgrounds and abilities can be offered the same opportunities
- merging grammar schools and secondary modern schools into a more mixed ability set of students
tripartite system
a 3 part system of secondary education
comprehensive schools
a secondary school that does not select its intake based on academic performance
social mobility
the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within social strata of society
streaming
splitting pupils into groups based on their ability, whichthey stay in across all their subjects
monopoly
when there is only one provider of specific goods and services that consumers can choose (they monopolise over a certain market)
what do functionalists think about comprehensivisation
- it promotes social integration by bringing children of different social classes together in one school
- see the system as more meritocratic because it gives pupils a longer period in which to develop and show their abilities
what do marxists think about comprehensivisation?
- argue they are not meritocratic
- they reproduce class inequality from one generation to the next through the continuation of streaming and labelling
- comprehensives have a myth of meritocracy, it is only superficial
evaluation of educational action zones EAZ
- not deemed a great success
- an ofsted reprt on EAZs praised some initiatives like homework clubs and breakfast clubs
- it attracted limited sponsorship
- the report found some improvement in standards at KS1 but not change at KS3 or KS4 (GCSE)
evaluation of EIC excellence in cities
- mixed results
- limited access, impact was not evenly distributed
- did not address broader social and economic inequalities
- some attainment gaps reduced for disadv pupils
- specialist schools emphasis= teaching qality up, because they had additional training and resources
- diverse range of skills and interests developed because a broader range of educational opportunities offered
- stronger links between schools, businesses and community organisations+ social cohesion+ sense of belonging btween students and their families
evaluation of sure start
- mothers reported having a more stimulating environment for their children who had better physical health
- ## the government found that they were at a net financial loss but overall the benefits provided value for money
coalition government
- joint government of conservatives and liberal democrats 2010-2015- influenced by neoliberalism and new right
- majority neoliberal economics
- think that independence, accountability, competition, diversity and choice all make an outstanding school
- aim to reduce the role of the state- free schools from ‘dead hand of the state’
what was introduced by the coalition government in 2010-2015?
- academies
- free schools
- further/higher education changes
- pupil premium
academies and their impact
2010-2015
- sponsored and converter academies
- not under local authority control
- some run by private businesses
- some direct state control
impact:
- In may 2010, there were about 200 academies, in April 2012, there were 1176. Most were converter
- Money was a major reason
- In June 2012, the department for education claimed that the improvement in GCSE results for academies was twice than that of non academies
- However, a comparison of the two in disadvantaged areas showed no difference
pupil premium and impact
2010-2015
- social democratic policy
- additional payment schools for free schol meal students
- aims to increase life chances and reduce child poverty
impact:
- 2010-2015 between 2 and 2.5M who qualified
- closed achievement gap between disadvantaged and other students through targeted funding
- boosted social mobility, boosted long term prospects by reducing inequality in and outside of classrooms
further/higher education and impact
2010-2015
- bursaries replaced the removal of EMA
- tuition fees raised to 9000 pounds
- change in those who attended university
impact:
- attendance of university was 2.3M in 2015-2016
- 636,000 people were given bursaries
- less w/c went to university due to the costs and it was harder to get a bursary.
free schools and impact
2010-2015
- run by parents, teachers, faith organisations or businesses
- to overcome problems in the area
- criticised by many as only benefitting m/c
impact:
- 2010-2015 over 400 free schools were aproved for opening
- the idea of free schools came from the coalition
- there is no evidence they achieve better results because the results are mixed.
- it is focused on locals’ needs and do not have to teach a national curriculum or employ qualified teachers as long as there is english and maths
coalition policies and inequality: some policies attempt to decrease inequality
- free school meals for all reception, year one and year two
- pupil premium: extra money for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds
coalition policies and inequality: some policies maintain inequality
- spending cuts: buildings, cuts to sure start, EMA abolished, university fees tripled
cream-skimming
choosing the best students to be admitted through testing, they are more likely to succeed and improve the reputation of
silt-shifting
deselecting students with special educational needs or other disadvantages to other schools
equality of opporunity
everyone is presented with equal chance of success, sitting the same exams
parity of esteem
equal status
neo-liberal
otherwise known as ‘new right’ views. Argues that competition drives up standards, just like in business
Social democratic
this political view argues that everyone should be equal and education is essential for economic growth
were they driven by economic profit for the government? capitalism, business (sd+nl)
positives
+ SD+NL policies were complementary rather than contradictory-raising standards through competition and choice aso increases the opportunities for the most disadvantaged
negatives
-improved skills of workforce also good
-raised standards may have been for economic reasons, competing in the global market
-overall market principles benefitted m/c skilled choosers who already had capital to make choices
-focus on league tables so teachers taught to tests rather than useful knowledge
-over belief that education can fix all of society’s problems, why would it fix them when education is a paradigm of wider society
ERE acronym
Economic efficiency
Raising educational standards
Equality of opportunity
Grant maintained schools and impact
1988 education reform act (conservatives)
state schools could opt out of local authority control if enough parents voted for it
impact:
- more parentocracy
- marketisation- encourage them to compete
City technology colleges and impact
1988 education reform act (conservatives)
schools funded by central government and private industry which were in cities, focused on maths, science and tech. 11-18y/o students
impact:
-cream-skimming to get the very reputation- prestigious and affected by the market
- parentocracy increased bc more choice
- no equality of opportunity because cities are expensive
Open Enrolment and impact
1988 education reform act (conservatives)
parents were given the right to send their children to school of their choice
impact:
- more competition
- marketisation- they want to be the ideal choice
- parentocracy increased
- silt shifting to improve league tables
Formula funding schools and impact
1988 education reform act (conservatives)
financing schools based on how many students they attract
impact:
- incentivised competition
- marketisation- it becomes about the money and attracting more people
National curriculum and impact
1988 education reform act (conservatives)
what the government tells schools to teach
impact:
- more equality of opportunity- everyone learns the same thing
League tables and SATs + impact
1988 education reform act (conservatives)
state secondary schools required to publish their key stage, A level and GCSE results
impact:
- more parentocracy
- marketisation- they all want to look desireable so cream skimming and silt shifting are done
What did Ball et al find in 1994 about the impact of the 1988 education reform act?
- schools were paying more attention to what parents want
- not keen to attract all students due to league tables (silt shifting)
- emphasis on student performance rather than student needs (educational triage)
- money moved from SEN to marketing (silt shifting)
