educational policy

what was the first educational policy and when

the forster act 1870

outline the forster act

nationalised education and made it free for children aged 5-10

when was the fisher act

1918

outline the fisher act

introduced state funded secondary education which raised the leaving age to 14

what was the issue with raising the leaving age to 14 in the fisher act

there was a financial burden on families as they were unable to cope with less work and therefore less income

what act was passed in 1944

the butler act

what was the main focus of the butler act, who introduced it

introducing the tripartite system, conservatives

outline the butler act

introduction of the tripartite system, allowed for all students to take the 11+ and be sorted into three schools: grammar, secondary modern and technical, added higher education at 15+

what was the aim of the butler act, did it work?

aimed to reduce inequalities and find talent wherever it was as everyone took the 11+, yet still polarised classes as upper class had more resources in order to succeed

evaluate the butler act

stopped the education of people at a young age of they failed, added barriers to higher education, placed students in disadvantages, didn’t account for late bloomers, still made class differences

what act was passed in 1965, by who

comprehensivisation, labour

outline the 1965 comprehensives action act

merging of tripartite system into one school, aimed to reduce inequalities, gave LEA the power of sorting out schools in local area rather than governments sorting all, introduced setting and streaming, emphasis on 3rs (reading writing and arithmetic), added GCE (general certificate in education)

what were the issues of the 1965 comprehensivisation act

still polarised classes as they were aligned with sets and streams, lowered educational standards

what was the most influential educational policy, who introduced it and when

1988 education reform act, new right conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher

outline the 1988 ERA

introduced competition and marketisation, made schools more business like through League tables, ofsted, standardised assessments e.g SATS, financial freedom to schools, formula funding, assessment of teacher performance, national curriculum

what was the ovveriding aim of the ERA

marketisation, make schools more business like

what was the financial issue with the 1988 era

formula funding meant that resources were not divided equally and other schools in areas suffered, lack of money means lack of resources and collapsing schools, money was also spent on marketing which deflected from school materials and children who needed it e.g SEN

formula funding

money given to schools based on the amount of pupils attending

what did the era have to do with parents

aimed to increase parentocracy which is power to parents, more choice of schools and more information offered to alter their decisions

explain the myth of parentocracy

parents actually have no choice as local councils assign places in schools to students

what are some class issues with apparent parentocracy

parents still suffer with cultural and economic deprivation so don’t always have access to educate themselves about schools, schools do cream skimming and silt shifting where they use language and trips to filter out lower class students

who spoke about the educational triage

Gilborn and Youdell

outline the educational traige

secondary schools focus on students that are to achieve t grades c minimum and leave the students who they believe will not reach this level, allows them to climb higher on league tables, form of labelling which encourages more students to be disadvantaged

outline curriculum changes from the era

standardised curriculum means everyone is taught the same, still marginalises students as they do not have choice in what they are earning, ethnocentric as taught from colonisers perspective, more testing puts more pressure on students which causes stress

what recent changes have there been to League table rankings

schools are ranked by progress rather than by performance, progress 8

who came into power in 1997 and what did they introduce

tony Blair, new labour, curriculum 2000 act

outline the curriculum 2000

huge aims to demolish inequality, a levels became AS and A2, more vocational qualifications introduced (GNVQ, NVQ, BTEC), compensatory educational policies to close gaps (EMA, EAZ, leaving age and aim higher), aimed for higher university attainment rate, specialist schooling

describe the compensatory educational policies

policies designed to compensate for material and cultural deprivation, EMA is educational maintenance allowance where working class students given money (£30 a week) upon attendance to school, EAZ were education action zones which were highlighted areas of disadvantage that were given more funding for education, aim higher was a programme that provided more representation and pathways for students, leaving age raised to 18 by 2015

describe specialist status

schools encouraged to apply for status of specialism in certain fields and then receive more funding into these areas, added more choice for pupils and what better education in the interests of the school, better pathways

national literacy strategy

aim by labour government in curriculum 2000, raise the standard of reading and writing from 63% to 80% by 2015, more reading classes in schools

what were some issues with the 1997 educational acts

argued that the spending was huge in proportion to the results, money often not put into the right places

what policies have been introduced since 2010

more responsibility to parents based on attendance and child development, headteachers to gain more independence on curriculum, pupil premium where money given to schools with students with needs, more academies

outline progress 8

new measure of League table performance introduced in 2015, took students top 8 GCSE scores and gauged a level of progress from these, English and maths double weighted, aimed to make schools focus on the progress of students rather than the overall attainment, reduced the educational triage