Monday, May 9, 2011

UK EDUCATION POLICIES

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

 Education has had a relationship with the economy and with the government for at least the last 200 years

 Over the last 100 years, teachers’ pay was based ENTIRELY on the success or otherwise of their pupils

- The payment by results system.
BUTLER’S 1944 EDUCATION ACT
 Introduced the Tripartite System of Schooling (1944-1976)
- grammar, technical high and secondary modern schools
 Revised the school leaving age of 15
 Introduced Transfer Test or 11-plus examination- to determine which type of schools students would attend after primary school education
 Technical schools did not appear to be favourable


…Tripartite System


 Resulted in fierce competition for places at grammar schools
 Examination became very important in which no longer served the purpose of allocating the students according to the need or ability but instead it became seen as a question of passing or falling
 Generally there were problems with the 11-plus examination
 A review on testing methods in the tripartite system was needed



TAYLOR COMMITTEE INQUIRY 1977

 Inquiry into the way schools are governed
 Altered the make up and charter of Boards of Governors and the Boards of Managers.
 The 1988 Education Act revised their power and responsibilities.
 The 1996 Education Act further refine the revision


PROBLEMS IN THE UK EDUCATION SYSTEM (1)

 The low staying rate AT age 16- low by international standard
 Widespread concerns about poor and failing standards in schools- exam achievement at the age 16 had stagnated
 Relatively poor basic skills of the UK population
 Persistent inequalities in Higher Education


PROBLEMS IN THE UK EDUCATION SYSTEM (2)

 Successive Conservative governments in the 1980s and 1990s introduced “market mechanisms” into the UK education system in an attempt to force schools to raise standards.
 The 1988 Education Reform Act introduced the market reforms - a move towards a “ quasi-market” as well as the National Curriculum


PROBLEMS IN THE UK EDUCATION SYSTEM (3)

 The relatively small number of pupils staying on in education PAST the age of 16 ie post compulsory education
 A low proportion achieving level 2 or 3 compared to other countries



1988 EDUCATION REFORM ACT
Background to the Act
 Concerns about standards of literacy and numeracy
 Scandals concerning badly run schools
 Unwelcome ideological influences on education
 Worries about equity, balance and progression in learning
 A cross-party concensus


…/background to the Act“.. To the teachers I would say that you must satisfy the parents and industry that what you are doing meets their requirements and the needs of the children.”


James Callaghan 1976
Labour Prime Minister
 The teacher’s pay
 The crisis in local government
 National politics vs local politics


1988 Education Reform Act

Widely regarded as the MOST important single piece of education legislations in England
Provisions for
 Setting up a National Curriculum- a highly centralised education policy.
Core subjects imposed by Whitehall
 Introducing testing and league tables
Testings imposed for students at ages 7, 11, 14 and 16

…/1988 Education Reform Act

Provisions for
 Setting up a National Curriculum- a highly centralised education policy
 Introducing a process of assessment and league tables
 Offering local management of schools- devolution of power
 Increasing accountability through a regular inspection regime and from changing the nature of school governing bodies

THE SHIFT IN POWER
 Centralised control
 Unprecedented powers for the Secretary of State
 The machinery of consensus: National Curriculum Council & School Examinations and Assessment Council
 National Curriculum and Assessment
 Local management of schools (LMS)
 Local management of schools (LMS)
 HE colleges and polytechnics removed from LEA control
 Creating an education’market’
 From professional/bureaucratic to market/ managerial


MARKET MECHANISMS INTRODUCED (1980s-1990s)

To increase parental choice to select schools to send their children to
Choice gives the opportunity to avoid bad schools
Good schools are encouraged by parental support, bad schools are left to wither away
School funding became more closely linked to students enrolment numbers
Parents have representation on school governing bodies


Published test results

Making publicly available test score information aka ‘ academic league-tables’
Later a more sophisticated league-table, focusing on a range of outcomes rather than just education success rate at age 16 (refer CVA ). Nonetheless even today, newspapers still focus most on the overall exam pass rate in different schools as being the issue of primary interest to parents

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