sociology educational policy and inequality

Question 1

what is an educational policy

Answer 1

plans and strategies for education introduced by the government

Question 2

what was the 1944 tripartite system main aims

Answer 2

selective education-to provide different education to different types of students
grammar school-20% pupils who passed 11+
secondary modern-75%-80% pupils who failed 11+ (basic education)
technical college- vocational education for those with practical aptitude
equality of opportunity-ability not money to determine schooling- free for all and raised leaving age to 15
created a class divide

Question 3

what were the evaluations to the 1944 tripartite system

Answer 3

11+ was culturally biased and favoured m/c
legitimised inequality by incorporating it into a system
all 3 schools were supposed to be considered equal but they werent
not all towns and cities had technical colleges and quality of teaching at secondary moderns was poor- in 1953/54 only 10% achieved 5 passes

Question 4

what was the 1965 comprehensives introduced by labour government main aims

Answer 4

equality for opportunity-one type of school for all pupils
every pupil received the same educational opportunity
child centred approach which promotes respect for child learner as individual, prgressive educations core concepts are individuality freedom and growth, schools controlled by LEA (local education authority)

Question 5

what are the criticisms for the 1965 comprehensives introduced by labour government

Answer 5

only one type of schools so no parental choice, failing schools in deprived areas, disadvantaged w/c through banding and streaming, m/c upper streams/sets and w/c and ethnic minorities lower sets/streams

Question 6

what was the 1997-2010 new labour reduce inequality and increase diversity main aims

Answer 6

established learning society-learning more highly valued and created opportunities where adults are able to relearn new skills to adapt to everchanging economy
built on what the new right had done previously through raising standards

Question 7

describe the 1997-2010 new labour reduce inequality and increase diveristy

Answer 7

extended school provision-nursery from 4 and 16-18 to pp in some form of EET (education employment training)
increased funding to education
reduced class size to 30, intro literacy and numeracy hr
EAZ- extra money for schools in deprived areas
academies-run outside lea, funded directly from gov, managed by private team of independent cosponsors
sure start (compensatory education) 12hrs per week free nursery provision for children 2-4
widening pp-expanded number of places available in unis
EMA-£30 per week to encourage students from low income households to stay on 16-18 education
£1000 tuition fees introduced for he
wider subject/exam choice-A level diploma GCSE eg polish
policies designed to increase diversity-specialist schools providing experitse in areas from sciences to performing arts, teachers expected to focus on each childs learning needs, special education needs provision, faith schools

Question 8

what are the evaluation to 1997-2010 new labour reduce inequality and increase diversity

Answer 8

standards improved and greater choice and diversity-SATs and GCSEs scores improved under new labour, greater diversity of subjects and greater variety subjects one can study=more choice
not improved equality of educational opportunities
gap between m/c and w/c achievement grows because of selection by mortgage cream skimming etc
provate school system-those with money can get their kids into better education, city academies enable those with money to shape curriculum

Question 9

what was the 2010 coalition government and conservative government main aims

Answer 9

same as new right, marketisation policies, more choice increased academisation and intro of fsm, reduce control by lea, cutting public spending money including education

Question 10

describe 2010 coalition gov and conservative gov

Answer 10

replaced EMA with £180million bursary scheme, all unis to promote fair access to he and intro fees bursary scheme,
any school to convert to academy, schools received satisfactory or below grading forced to convert to academy even when majority parents didnt want school to convert, coalition oversaw growth of academy chains,
free schools (non profit making state funded school which is free to attend), not controlled by lea but governed by a non prpfit charitable trust, new school run by parents, not required to follow national curriculum, ont have to employ qualified teachers, 2010-2015 more than 400 approved for opening in england by coalition
patchwork of different schools in the move away from comprehensives
give schools extra funding based on number of FSM-£600 per fsm pupil, progress 8-all students scores count type of value added measurement based on GCSE performance in 8 subjects compared to prior attainment at ks2 SATs
grammar schools-campaign bring back grammar schools
covid digital deprivation-issued laptops to schools
post covid-national tutoring schemes catch up additional funds for schools to employ mentors
2022 exam series-advanced info to students
all schools to become academies postponed to 2030 instead of 2022

Question 11

what is the evaluation to 2010 coalition gov and conservative gov

Answer 11

standards continued to increase, attainment gap between fsm and non fsm decreased, free schools reduce fundings for other lea schools, scrapping of EMA lowered stay on rate in further education, considerable regional inequalities remain
academisation and free schools both ideological-no evidence they improve standards more than lea schools, free schools advantage m/c parents withdraw studdents from other local schools-suffer reduced funding-duplication resources, benefit children from higher incomes but do nothing for children from low income households-increase social inequalities
over 90% schools focused on supporting disadvantaged kids before intro of pupil premium, over 80%reported that pupil premium wasnt enough to fund support they offered to disadvantaged students
covid impact disproportionately affected disadvantaged groups- no consistency in advanced info

Question 12

what was the 1988 education act main aims

Answer 12

neoliberalism and the new right-believe that free market principles would drive up standards
schools need to compete in education marketplace to attract customers
parents given right to choose school of their choice
agreement on what should be taught in schools-national curriculum
outsourcing of services in education-privatisation
drive up standards through choice and competition, intro of more vocational courses and work placements

Question 13

describe the 1988 education act

Answer 13

marketisation and parentocracy-parents held power, parent choice, competition, selection criteria, business model
league tables-published GCSE results, measured A*-C
ofsted-judgement of effectiveness of schools, inspection findings published
national curriculum-all schools teach same subject content from the age of 7-16, core subjects maths english science at GCSE level, GCSEs and SATs intro, easier for parents to compare and choose between schools, every school assessed using same type of exam
formula funding-based on how many pupils enrolled in school, undersubscribed school would decrease in size and close while oversubscribed school could expand
new vocationalism-involves work based study in schools or colleges, practical skill courses learners acquire job specific knowledge, yts-youth training scheme aimed at unemployed, opt out-grant maintained schools opt out of lea control

Question 14

what were the evaluation points to the 1988 education act

Answer 14

selection by mortgage-houses in catchment area of best schools more expensive those with money more likely to get into best schools
transport costs-m/c parents able to get their kids to wider range of schools more likely to own two cars
cream skimming/polarisation-best schools oversubscribed and can cream skim the best pupils=better results rise up in league tables, worst schools at the bottom just end up with pupils no one wants-sink schools
m/c more choice cultural capital skilled choosers-more advantaged
league tables-focus on exam results and league table causes stress, teach to the test i order to look good in league tables, schools more emphasis on core subjects than on creative subjects
national curriculum-ethnocentric eg history

Question 15

which policies were marketisation

Answer 15

formula funding, league tables, ofsted, private schools. catchment area, academies, free schools, grammar schools, tripartite, tuition fees, progress 8, public schools

Question 16

which policies were equality of opportunity

Answer 16

pupil premium, EMA, EAZ, GIST, compensatory education, comprehensive schools, sure start, state schools, vocational education, aim higher

Question 17

which policies can be argued both equality of opportunity and marketisation

Answer 17

national curriculum, SATs, faith schools

Question 18

what do functionalists say about comprehensives

Answer 18

promote social integration by bringing children of different social classes together
ford-found little social mixing between w/c and m/c pupils largely because of streaming
more meritocratic because gives pupils longer period in which to develop and show their abilities sought to select the most able pupils at the age of 11

Question 19

what do marxists say about comprehensives

Answer 19

not meritocratic, reproduce class inequality from one generation to the next through continuation of the practice of streaming and labelling, continue to deny w/c equal opportunities, may appear to offer equal chances to all, myth of meritocracy legitimates class inequality by making unequal achievement seem fair and just because failure looks like it is the fault of the individual rather than the system

Question 20

what is marketisation

Answer 20

process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into areas run by the state
marketisation created an education market by reducing direct state control over education and increasing both competition between schools and parental choice of school

Question 21

what are the policies to promote marketisation

Answer 21

league tables, ofsted (rank each school according to exam performance and give parents info they need to choose right school-business sponsorship of schools), open enrolment (allowing successful schools to recruit more people), specialist schools (widen parental choice), formula funding, able to opt out of lea, schools having to compete to attract pupils, intro of tuition fees for higher education, allowing parents to set up free schools

Question 22

what did ball and whitty say about marketisation

Answer 22

reproduce class inequaities by creating inequalities between schools

Question 23

what did bartlett say about league tables and cream skimming

Answer 23

cream skimming-good schools can be more selective, choose own customers and recruit high achieving and these pupils gain an advantage
silt shifting-good schools can avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to get poor results and damage schools league table positions

Question 24

what did gerwitz say about parental choice

Answer 24

study of 14 london secondary schools,, found that differences in parents economic and cultural capital lead to class differences in how far they exercise choice of secondary school,
privileged skilled choosers-professional m/c parents used economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for kids, due to confident and well educated they were able to take full advantage of options open to them, possessed cultural capital, knew how school admissions systems work, time to visit schools and skills to research options available, economic capital afford to move their child around education system to get best deal
disconnected local choosers-w/c parents choices restricted by lack of economic ad cultural capital. difficult to understand school admissions procedures, less confident in their dealings with schools less aware of choices open to them and less able to manipulate the system to their advatnage, attached more importnace to safety and quality of school facilities than to league tables or long temr abitions, distance and cost of travel restricted, funds limited and a place the nearest school was often their only realistic option for their children
semi skilled choosers-w/c parents but ambitious for their children, lacked cultural capital and dound it difficult to make sense of the educaton market, rely on others opinions about schools frustrated at their ability to get their children into schools they wanted
m/c parents possess cultural and economic capital and have ore choice than w/c parents

Question 25

what did ball say about the myth of parentocracy

Answer 25

marketisation gives the appearance of parentocracyeducation system see,s as if it based on parents having free choice of school
parentocracy is a myth and not reality, makes it appear than all parents have the same freedom to choose which school to send their children to

Question 26

what did gerwitz say about the myth of parentocracy

Answer 26

shows m/c able to take advantage of choices available eg afford to move into catchment areas
myth of parentocracy makes inequality in education appear fair and inevitable

Question 27

what did allen say about free schools

Answer 27

research from sweden where 20% of schools are free schools- only benefit children from highly educated families

Question 28

what do other critics say about free schools

Answer 28

theyre socially divisive anf they lower standards- swedens international educational ranking has fallen since their intro
charter schools in USA have also been criticised for appearing to raise standards but only doing so by strict pupil selection and exclusion policies
2011- 6.4% of pupils at Bristol Free School were eligible for free school meals compared with 22.5% of pupils across the city as a whole

Question 29

what was the EBacc

Answer 29

core curriculum for secondary schools- english baccalaurette, recommended students take GCSEs in five subejects english maths a science history or geog and modern language, providing rigorous academic education and a broad balanced curriculum equip all students for progression to further study and work, worry over decline of GCSE entries in science modern languages and history but since the intro rose from 22% to 39% in 2015, performance measure for schools assessed on the proportion of students entered for EBacc subjects at GCSE and the grades they achieve

Question 30

what is the evaluation for the EBacc

Answer 30

would leave less room for vocational subjects such as design and tech
allen and thompson-assessed effects cmparing students in 2012/13 with students who took their GCSEs three years earlier and they benefitted from the changes with improved english and maths- those who gained the most were from low income backgrounds
headteachers-EBacc werent suitable for every student, felt that the specialist teacher shortages meant that providing EBacc for 90% of students by 2020 wouldnt be possible

Question 31

what did ball say about fragmented centralisation

Answer 31

promoting academies and free schools has lead to both increased fragmentation and increased centralisation of control over educational provision in england

Question 32

what is fragmentation

Answer 32

comprehensive system being replaced by patchwork of diverse provision much of it involving pruvate providers that leads to greater inequality in opportunities

Question 33

what is centralisation of control

Answer 33

central gov has power to allow or require schools to become academies or allow free schools to be set up, schools funded directly by central gov, their rapid growth has greatly reduced the role of elected local authorities in education

Question 34

what is progress 8

Answer 34

measure of secondary school performance which was intro in 2016, measure progress they have made from end of primary to end of secondary, predicts students GCSE results on basis of key stage 2 results, every increase student achieves over predicted grade will add aditional points to schools performance table

Question 35

what is the evaluation to progress 8

Answer 35

is ti reasonable to judge schools on schools nationally which have larger proportion of students from higher income families

Question 36

what were selective schools

Answer 36

one of the main ways to create meritocratic society and promote upward social mobility , grammar schools by selection on ability, largely populated by m/c,

Question 37

what were the critics of selective schools

Answer 37

selection on basis of ability will maintain and widen class inequality, m/c will use their money and know how of education system to keep kids in grammar schools, kids from poor backgrounds who fail to get into grammar schools will be dumped into sink schools

Question 38

what were the policies on gender

Answer 38

triparitite-largely excluded and had to have a higher mark in the 11+ to obtain place in grammar school
GIST redice gender differences in subcject choice

Question 39

what were the asimilation policies about ethnicity

Answer 39

focused on need for pupils from minority ethnic groups to assimilate into mainstram brisih culture as way of raising their achievement- some argue that some minority ethnic groups already speak english and this isnt the issue

Question 40

what was the multicultural education policies

Answer 40

aimed to promote achievements of children from minority ethnic groups by valuing all cultures in school curriculum raising minority groups self esteem and achievements
store-black pupils dont fail due to lack of self esteem-misguided
mere tokenism-picks out stereotypical features of the cultures for inclusion but fails to tackle institutional racism
perpetuating cultural divisons

Question 41

what were some other social inclusion policies

Answer 41

detailed monitoring of exam results by ethnicity
amending the race relations act to place legal duty on schools to promote racial equality
help for voluntary saturday schools in black community
english as additional language programmes

Question 42

what did mirza say about social inclusion policies

Answer 42

instead of tackling the structural causes of ethnic inequality still takes soft approach that focuses on culture behaviour and the home