STREAMING AND THE A-C ECONOMY

Question 1

Gillborn and Youdel (2001) Study of 2 London Secondary Schools

Answer 1

a. Shows how teachers use stereotypical notions of ability to stream pupils

Question 2

What did their study find?

Answer 2

a. Teachers are less likely to see working class pupils as having ability
b. As a result, these pupils are more likely to be placed in lower streams and entered for lower-tier GCSEs

Question 3

Definition of the A-C Economy?

Answer 3

A system in which schools focus their time, effort and resources on those pupils they see as having the potential to get 5 grade C’s

Question 4

Definition of ‘Educational Triage’

Answer 4

The A-C Economy produces one due to school categorising pupils into 3 types:

1. Those who will pass anyway and can be left to get on with it
2. Those with potential, who will be helped to get a grade C or better
3. Hopeless cases, who are doomed to fail