Government policies Flashcards
(30 cards)
What was the aim of the 1988 Education Reform Act?
Raising Standards in education
What was one of the earlier policies aimed to tackle inequality in education? (1944)
Tripartite system- 11+ exams ( aptitude test)
Students who passed= Grammar School ( Academic) or Technical Schools
Students who failed = secondary modern ( vocational)
What was the tripartite system supposed to do in theory
Offer all pupils the chance to attend a grammar school and those with an aptitude for technical schools could be placed in a technical college- though very few were built.
What did Critics of the Tripartite system suggest
The 11+ was ‘culturally biased’ and inequality of outcome existed as those from grammar schools were prepared for academia- those in secondary moderns were pushed towards vocational routes
1960s Comprehensive education- what was banned and what was the approach
- replaced tripartite system in most of the country, were based on equality of opportunity, and equality of access.
- Banned selection of ability and schools took on pupils from local area
- although there were internal selection policies (setting/streaming/banding)
Comprehensive internal selections lead to
Setting, streaming and banding and not always an equality of outcome.
what did critics suggest about comprehensive schools? Do they still remain
Schools in middle class areas- intake of m/c pupils and therefore had better results than schools from working class areas
Comp school model still remain- despite many state comps reverting into academies- they are in essence comps as no overt selection policies remain.
What was arguably the main focuses of the conservatives from 1979-1997
Marketisation of the education system from the 1988 education Act
What was introduced during the conservatives 1979-1997. What do critics suggest about inequality
- OFSTED
-League Tables
That the conservatives main focus was to increase opportunity for the middle classes
What happened in 1992?
4 Polytechniques gained university status- which gave a greater opportunity for students from lower class backgrounds- and with increased achievement following reforms to education- this broadened the higher education marketplace
What would critics suggest of the 1992 poly reform
- this was not to address inequality, but rather an expansion of marketisation policies.
New Labour 1997-2010 created what?
Tackling educational inequality became synonymous with NL
Created Sure Start centers- based upon similar policies in the UK.
Elaborate on sure start what was the research on working class pupils
- gave parents access to early learning for their children
-parent/child groups gave children skills they needed to start school
-intermediate support to parents in need - w/c children started school several years behind peers in speech and language development
New Labor educational maintenance allowance- what did it aim to prevent and prove?
£30 a week to students in low income households to stay on in education after 16- counteract students who sought the immediate gratification of work or welfare benefits to demonstrate that ‘education pays’
New Labor- City Academies, what were they
merge of failing schools in inner cities that attracted additional funding, building, resources and were independent from the local educational authorities.
New Labour- How successful were City acadamies
Initially successful, reduced inequality whilst increasing the marketisation of education.
New Labour- reduced class sizes
Reduce sizes in primary schools-many oversubscribed schools could not have over 30 pupils at primary level.
New Labour- Building New Schools
programme of building new schools- many privately funded to tackle oversubscribed schools and a decline of existing properties
New Labour- School lever raising age and why
leaving age to 18- mostly to tackle 16-24 year old NEETS (not in education,employment or training)
Who overturned many of the NL initiatives and what in particular
Conservative/lib dem coalition 2010-2015
-closure of many sure start centers.
- removal of EMA
- New Schools programme was shut down with many left unfinished
Why did Many NL initiatives get shut down
-Economy worsened after 2008 economic recession
-austerity policies
What were liberal democrats able to introduce during the 2010-2015 period?
-Pupil Premium- an additional payment made to schools for pupils from areas of deprivation
-Universal free school meals for students up to the age of 7- tackling some material deprivation
Impact of Tripartite system- how effective
Was criticized as Grammar schools were dominated by the middle class- while some w/c students did succeed in grammar schools and gained social capital. Many were deemed no hopers at 11 and were shipped off to secondary modern
How effective were the comprehensive schools
Theoretically reduced inequality of outcomes- in reality there was a great difference between the higher and the lower sets regarding equality of outcomes.
