Marketisation of education 1988-1997

Question 1

Education Reform Act, 1988

Answer 1

Marketised education - opened up education to marked forces - schools run like businesses having to compete to attract parents/students in order to get more funding

This law introduced:

• National curriculum
• Testing (SATs)
• Open enrolment
• Formula funding
• League tables
• Changed the management of schools
• Created new types of schools - CTC & GM schools
• Created OFSTED

Question 2

National curriculum

Answer 2

Prescribed set of subjects all students must study between the ages of 5-16.

Shifted responsibility for what was to be taught away from teachers to central government.

Created 3 core and 7 foundation subjects.

Introduced coursework as an examination technique.

Question 3

Testing (SATs)

Answer 3

These are tests in Maths, English and Science at the age of 7, 11, 14 and 16 to check if the students had reached their attainment target.

Introduced to drive up standards and show which schools are doing the best, to give parents the information to choose a school and to encourage schools to compete against each other.
- published annually in league tables.

Question 4

Open enrollment

Answer 4

Catchment areas were abolished
Parents could send their children to any school that had places
David calls this ‘parentocracy’ - rule by parents - as they are the ones with the power to choose a school for their children.
This forces schools to be outstanding with high grades in order to attract parents

Question 5

Formula funding

Answer 5

Schools received funding according to the number of students they had.

Introduced to reward the schools which attracted the most parents by having good results.

Failing schools - not attract many students - low finding - close down.
-while successful schools would expand.

Question 6

Local management of schools

Answer 6

The local education authority (LEA) lost control over schools
The power was given to school directly over e.g their finances
State schools were given the option under the act to opt out from LEA control
- if the majority of parents voted for this - newly formed Grant Maintained schools would have complete control over their budgets and how the school was run

This was done in order to improve the quality if teaching and results

Question 7

City Technology Schools

Answer 7

A new type of school was set up in the inner cities - City Technology Colleges specialising in technology, Maths, Science and vocational education.
CTCs were independent of LEA and were intended to be financed by local industry.

Question 8

OFSTED

Answer 8

The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) was set up.

“Rigorous” school inspections every 4 - 6 years.

Emphasis on inspection rather than support of schools.

Aggressive system of naming and shaming and placing into “special measures” for “failing schools”.

Question 9

Bartlett

[criticisms of marketisation]

Answer 9

Bartlett – marketisation has led to selection policies by good schools through cream-skimming and silt-shifting.

Question 10

Gilborn & Youdell

[criticisms of marketisation]

Answer 10

Gillborn and Youdell – MOE contributes to widening the gap in achievement between w/c and m/c students through the A-C economy and educational triage.

Question 11

Gerwitz

[criticisms of marketisation]

Answer 11

Gewritz – schools use home-school contracts to attract the ‘right sort of parents’.
Also, m/c parents can use their economic, educational and cultural capital to select better schools for their children.
This creates a blurred hierarchy of schools with high achieving m/c schools at one end and low achieving w/c schools on the other.

Question 12

Ball

[criticisms of marketisation]

Answer 12

Ball – schools spend money on advertising themselves, not on resources, in order to attract m/c parents.

Ball - ‘myth of parentocracy’ – marketisation gives the impression that parents have a choice, but in reality, m/c parents have more economic and cultural capital which gives them an advantage in choosing a school.

Question 13

Testing

[criticisms of marketisation]

Answer 13

Too much stress is placed on students with excessive testing.
Also, teachers focus more on preparing students to pass the test, than on actually getting them to enjoy learning.

Question 14

League table

[criticisms of marketisation]

Answer 14

League tables - not an accurate indicator of a school’s performance.
e.g, a school with many w/c, low ability students may have excellent teaching, but the students will still get low results so the school will be placed in a low position in the league table.
Also, in order to maintain a high position in the league tables, some school do not enter low ability students for exams.

Question 15

Effects of the Education Reform Act 1988 on achievement in relation to :

1. Gender
2. Ethnicity
3. Social class

Answer 15

Gender - positive for girls – introduction of coursework, compulsory Maths and Science, selected by good schools.

Ethnicity - Negative for e/m – ethnocentric curriculum, selection
– e/m tend to be rejected by good schools.

Social class – negative for w/c – selection – w/c tend to be rejected by good schools, myth of parentocracy.