Social Policy And Education 2010 And Onwards

Question 1

Which party was in power in 2010?

Answer 1

Coalition Conservative government

Question 2

What was the Coalition’s view about what makes an outstanding school?

Answer 2

1. Independence of head teachers and staff to develop best learning strategies
2. accountability to parents rather than LEAs
3. Competition to drive up standards
4. Diversity and choice

Question 3

What was the use of academies under labour government?

Answer 3

Replace underperforming secondary schools in low-income areas

Question 4

What were academies like under coalition government?

Answer 4

1. Still concerned with disadvantaged children
2. All schools could apply to become academies

Question 5

What were the two types of academies under the coalition?

Answer 5

1. Sponsored academies
   —> failing, forced to become one
2. Converter academies
   —> open choice

Question 6

How can academies under the coalition be evaluated?

Answer 6

1. Money as the main reason to become academy (78% of schools thought they were better off as academies)
2. Debate about performance continues
   —> GCSE results show improvement, but little to no difference between academies and normal schools in disadvantaged areas (2010-11)

Question 7

When were free schools introduced and why?

Answer 7

2011
1. Increase diversity by offering more parental choice
2. Increase competition to drive up standards

Question 8

What were free schools?

Answer 8

1. Non-profit state-funded schools
2. Independent from LEA
3. Subject to Ofsted
4. Do not have to follow national curriculum
5. Do have to teach maths, English and science
6. Teachers do not require teaching qualifications
7. In response to needs of local people
8. Can be set up by teachers, charities, universities etc.

Question 9

How many free schools were approved to open by the coalition between 2010-2015?

Answer 9

Over 400

Question 10

Evaluation of free schools

Answer 10

1. No evidence that free schools have improved standards (Ofsted reports regular)
2. Competition with good neighbouring schools that already fulfil needs of people
   —> drop in funding of existing schools
3. Free schools receive more funding than normal schools
4. First set of GCSE results show mixed success

Question 11

What happened when the EMA was replaced with the bursary?

Answer 11

1. First fall of 16-18 year olds in full time education since 2001
2. Bursary fund was much less
3. Argued that it was now targeted at those who needed it most
4. Critics: lead to less further education students

Question 12

What happened to tuition fees under the coalition?

Answer 12

1. In 2012 raised to 3x the amount (9000)
   —> response to growing number of students and increasing competition market
   —> However more applications from low-income families, decrease of mature students
2. Continuing and concerning gap between advantaged and less advantaged

Question 13

What continued to influence educational policy after 2010?

Answer 13

Social democratic concerns about equal education opportunities

Question 14

What was pupil premium and when was it introduced?

Answer 14

Additional funding based on number of free meal students enrolled: 2011

Question 15

What did headteachers think about pupil premium?

Answer 15

Welcomed, but effectiveness doubted as it merely made up for cuts elsewhere

Question 16

What did this have to do with the coalition’s social mobility strategy?

Answer 16

Recognition of inequality of chance based on children’s parents’ social class and income

Question 17

What happened to academies from 2015 on?

Answer 17

1. Continued rapid growth
2. Conservatives wanted to make conversion to academies compulsory, but dropped the demand after heavy protests
3. Timo Hannay (2016) found that shift to academy status did not make much difference in performance

Question 18

What is a multi academy trust?

Answer 18

Chain of academy’s governed by the trust
1. 2/3 of academies involved
2. Results of trusts were mixed (conclusion: full academisation should not be pursued)

Question 19

Effect of globalisation on league tables

Answer 19

1. Educational policy increasingly focused on global interaction
2. Education = key to success in global market
3. Low ratings in global league tables can result in changes in educational policy

Question 20

Evaluation of global league tables (Harry Torrance 2006)

Answer 20

Should not be taken seriously as each country uses different methods for testing

Question 21

What is progress 8?

Answer 21

A measure of secondary school performance introduced in 2016

Question 22

What is the aim of progress 8?

Answer 22

1. Measure development from students’ performance at the end of primary to end of secondary school
2. Predict students’ GCSE results based on performance at the end of primary school
   —> prediction is based on the average score that pupils with similar primary results achieved
   —> every point a student achieves over the prediction is added to the school’s performance points

Question 23

Evaluation of progress 8

Answer 23

1. Now every student counts since they all add to the performance points
2. Criticism: every school’s students are judged in the same manner, does not consider schools in low-income areas
   —> should be compared to similar areas instead of a national picture

Question 24

What is Ebacc?

Answer 24

“Core curriculum’ for secondary schools
1. Recommends: English, maths, a science, history/geography and a modern language
2. Compulsory since 2010 to provide skills for further study and work
3. Also a performance measure:
—> schools judged based on proportion of students entering ebacc and their acheived grades

Question 25

Evaluation of ebacc

Answer 25

1. Less space for vocational and creative subjects
2. However, study in 2016 found that students overall benefitted from the changes
3. Most impact on low-income students
4. Concerns of headteachers: not suitable for every student