conservative policies Flashcards
what new types of schools were introduced? what is there purpose?
city technology colleges situated in inner cities which are partly funded by private sector
purpose - provide more choice & variety
what tests did they introduce? what is there purpose?
sats - at 7 11 14 16
purpose - to provide info at all levels of schools - key targets
criticisms - excessive testing = stressful
what else did they introduce to monitor schools?
ofsted - government funded system of measuring the success of schools & other educational settings - includes publishing the standard of education achieved by the school
what is the purpose of ofsted?
provide info so parents could make rational decisions about choice of school - drive up standards
criticism of ofsted
puts pressure on schools
what curriculum did they introduce?
national curriculum- a standard curriculum that all students have to follow decided by central gov, standardising what parents were choosing between in terms of areas to be studied
what is the purpose of the national curriculum?
to ensure basic skills are taught consistently - common basis for measuring progress & evaluating school performance
criticisms of the national curriculum
cultural bias, restricted choice of subjects designed to meet local needs
what did they introduce to rank schools?
league tables - judge the performance of schools making exam results visible - competition drives up standards
what is the purpose of league tables?
to provide info for parents
criticism of league tables
they measure a limited range of outcome - middle class students who are likely to do well anyway - schools with poorer results become less successful & less likely to attract students who are likely to do well, widening the gap
what did they encourage schools to do? why?
‘opt out’ of local educational authority control
purpose - schools manage their own finances spending resources where they felt necessary to attract customers
what funding did they introduce? why?
formula funding - schools could enrol as many pupils as they could physically fit into the buildings
purpose - competition would drive up standards, popular schools could expand so more pupils got a good education, poorer schools had to improve or teachers jobs were at risk
