Ethnicity and educational attainment

Question 1

Percentage of pupils getting grade 5 above in English and maths GCSE and their sex

Answer 1

Bangladeshi = males 60.8
Females 63.5
Black Caribbean = males 29.2
Females 40.0
White British = males 45.1
Females 50.4

Question 2

Percentage of people getting a grade 5 above in English and maths eligibility for free school meals

Answer 2

Bangladeshi 52.7
Black Caribbean 26.1
White British 21.8
Chinese 69.8

Question 3

Percentage of high educational attainment based on ethnicity

Answer 3

80.9% what students receive first class honours 67.7% black Asian minority ethnic groups receive first class honours.
Black first class 17.3%
Asian first class 27.5%

Question 4

What did Palmer say about social class position?

Answer 4

Nearly 50% of ethnic minority children live in low income households. Ems Twice likely to be unemployed and three times as likely to be homeless. social class may be a bigger factor than ethnicity however even those Chinese and Indian students on FSM do statistically better.

Question 5

What did Steve Strand say about cultural factors in the home?

Answer 5

Conducted a longitudinal study of 15,000 students in England and Wales to analyse differences in entertainment between ethnic groups. The attainment gap associated with class was twice as large as the biggest ethnic gap. He looked at parental factors,student factors,school factors.

Question 6

Steve Strand results

Answer 6

Parental factors- parental attitudes and behaviour associated with attainment
Student factors- strand divide student factors into resilience factors which encourages high attainment and risk factors which reduce attainment levels
Resilience factors-strong academic self-concept positive attitude towards school ECT minority groups are more likely to have high levels of resilience .
Risk factors- special educational needs excluded from school extended absence
School factors - the quality of the school appeared to only have a moderate effect on educational attainment except in the case of black Caribbean students were factors such as teachers expectations might make a difference.

Question 7

Archer and Francis study of British Chinese students

Answer 7

Found that higher attainment was the result of Chinese subculture. Both parents and students placed high value on education including parents who would receive little formal education themselves was seen as parents and all 80 students said they wanted to go to uni education was seen as a family project with investing time and effort and money into their children. A family standing in the community was also related to the educational performance of their children and children appreciated their parents with their high expectations, encouragement and support. 13 out of 30 paid for the children to be educated at a Chinese supplementary school.

Question 8

What did Bassett find out about attitude to education?

Answer 8

Migrants and their children always have aspirations of upward social mobility. This is a key attitude of people who leave their country in search for a better life. Did interviews and focus groups on 36 Indian and Pakistani students and their parents and grandparents. “my parents are always telling me education is good”

Question 9

What did mood say about ethnic minorities having higher levels of attainment?

Answer 9

Many members of minority groups may have more cultural capital than would be expected from the present class position. This might be because their jobs after migrating to the UK will lower in prestige than their previous jobs. This might be due to the time taken to find suitable jobs after arrival in the UK or to discrimination in the labour market Parents and grandparents of higher level of ambition for their children and pass on their knowledge and values through socialisation

Question 10

Why do white working class pupils have lower levels in attainment

Answer 10

A survey of 16,000 pupils by McCulloch found the estimate minority peoples are more likely to aspire to go to university than white British pupils. this low level of aspiration and achievement may be down to lack of parental support. Lupton studied four mainly working class schools she found teachers reported poor levels of behaviour in white working class schools despite the fact they had fewer students on FSM, teachers blamed this on lower levels of parental support and negative attitude white working class parents had towards education by contrast ethnic minority parents were more likely to see education as a way up in society

Question 11

What does Evans argue about street culture?

Answer 11

Street culture in white working class areas can be brutal and so young people need to be able to withstand imitation and imitate others in this context. School can become a place where power games young people engaging on the street are played out again.

Question 12

What does Tony Sewell identify as the key reason for underachievement in black Caribbean groups?

Answer 12

Black boys underachieve due to a lack of fatherly nurturing due to this black boys to seek role models within their peer groups and adopt an anti-school street culture in schools this leads to opposition of authority of teachers and a rejection of achievement this form of black masculinity is reflected and reinforced by the media. Just note that only a small % of black students (18%) fit the stereotype but teachers tend to label all black male students in this way.

Question 13

What does Gilborn argue about lower attainment levels of black Caribbean pupils

Answer 13

Lower attainment levels is due to institutional racism and the radical expectations of teachers. Other factors are the eccentric curriculum and formation of Anti school subcultures. His research suggests that teachers have negative preconceived ideas or radicalised expectations about black students often misinterpreting their manner speech body language ECT as disrespectful or challenging as a result. These boys are mostly to be placed in lower sets receive more detentions and more exclusions and are more likely to be identified as having special needs.

Question 14

The ethnocentric curriculum and Stephen Ball

Answer 14

The British curriculum focuses on the dominant culture of the majority white ethnic group for instance it focuses on language, literature and music of the English. Stephen Ball criticises the British curriculum as trying to re-create a mythical age of Empire and past triumphs while ignoring the history of black and Asian people.

Question 15

What does archer say about about labelling

Answer 15

Teachers define pupils as having stereotypical identities ethnic minority pupils are labelled as lacking the favoured identity of the ideal pupil. Asian couples were stereotyped as more passive learners and achieving through hard work rather than natural ability Asian girls and particular was seen as docile and quiet. Black and white working class people were seen as unintelligent and challenging having low aspirations and being culturally deprived.

Question 16

What did Cecile Wright find out about labelling in multicultural primary school?

Answer 16

Graphic study almost 1000 primary school children across four schools. Asian students largely ignored particularly girls due to teachers assuming they would have poor grasp of English teachers would often use simplistic language with the Asian students. Asian students became isolated and more withdrawn. Black Caribbean students rather than being labelled based on academic ability Black Caribbean students were punished for behaviours as white students were also exhibited. 

Question 17

What did Miraza study?

Answer 17

Conducted a study of Prokes 200 young people in a London comprehensive she argues that there is a miss of under achievement for black women and that in her sample they did better than black boys and white students. She denies that teacher racism significantly impacts the self esteem of black girls and said 48% of a sample named themselves when asked for someone they admired.

Question 18

What did Fuller find in her study?

Answer 18

Conducted a study of year 11 black girls in London comprehensive and found that they experienced negative teacher labelling the girls were higher achievers in school where most black girls were in lower sets the girls channel there and go towards the pursuit of educational success and did not seek approval of teachers. They also mixed with students from low sets and the appearance of not being concerned with school routines being conscientious.

Question 19

Gilbert and the assessment game

Answer 19

Gilbert argues that the assessment game is rigged so as to validate the dominant cultures superiority if black children succeeded as a group the rules will be changed to re-engineer failure. in the past primary schools used baseline assessments which tested pupils however these were replaced in 2003 by a new way of measuring peoples abilities which was determined by teachers perception. Gillborn shows that the result of the change was that black peoples that appeared to be doing worse than white peoples in one local educational authority where black children had been ranked the highest achievers in 2000 in 2003 the new FSP had black children ranked than white children amongst all developmental areas that were twice as likely to be labelled as gifted and talented as black Caribbean heritage pupils.