Education Policies (Marketisation)

Define ‘marketisation’

The process where services like education are pushed towards operating like a business based on supply and demand. Students are considered consumers rather than pupils

What is privatisation IN education?

Changing the internal processes of a school to be more like a business eg treating parents and students as consumers, target setting, performance related pay and league tables

What is privatisation OF education?

Opening up aspects of education to private businesses such as staff training, school finances, school management (academy chains) and exams

What is parentocracy?

When a child’s educational achievement has more to do with parental wealth and wishes than student ability. Parents are able to have more choice over where to send their children

What are the 3 features of marketisation?

• Independence

• Competition

• Choice

Feature of marketisation → Independence

Allowing schools to run themselves how they see fit

Feature of marketisation → Competition

Making schools compete with each other for students

Feature of marketisation → Choice

Giving customers (parents and students) more choice in where they go to school

What are the 3 elements of quality control?

• Ofsted inspections

• Publication of performance tables such as examination results

• National curriculum (baseline for what is taught)

What are the positives of the privatisation of education?

• More efficient (as schools have to continuously drive up standards, to make the school appeal as they are competing)

• More choice for parents

• Profit making might induce companies to support failing schools

What are the negatives of the privatisation of education?

• Takes money from the education system (schools can spend money on marketisation and management fees rather than teaching as the focus shifts from student needs to image and results)

• Businesses go out of business which means schools can be left stranded

• Less equality (favours m/c families who can choose better schools, increasing selection and allowing private companies to profit - leading to unequal funding as better performing schools get more funding which widens the gap between rich and poor students)

What Conservative government (1979 to 1997) policies promote marketisation?

• League table

• Local management schools

• Funding formula

• Open enrolment

What Labour government (1997 to 2010) policies promote marketisation?

• Business sponsored academies

• Specialist schools

What Coalition government (2010 to 2015) policies promote marketisation?

• New style academies

• Free schools

What Conservative government (1979 to 1997) policies promote raising standards?

• Ofsted

• National curriculum

• National testing

What Labour government (1997 to 2010) policies promote raising standards?

• Maximum class sizes for 5 to 7 year olds

• Building schools for the future program

• Education action zones

• Business sponsored academies

What Coalition government (2010 to 2015) policies promote raising standards?

• Pupil premium

• English baccalaureate

• Reform of the national curriculum

• Reform of the exams system

• Tougher performance targets for schools

Marketisation policy → League tables

What: Published rankings of schools based on exam performance and other data

How: Encourage competition by allowing parents to compare schools, pushing schools to improve results to attract students

Marketisation policy → Local management schools

What: Schools manage their own budgets rather than being controlled by local authorities

How: Gives schools more autonomy to make decisions in line with local needs and be more responsive to competition

Marketisation policy → Funding formula

What: Money allocated to schools based on the number of pupils they enrol

How: Creates competition, as popular schools attract more pupils and thus more funding

Marketisation policy → Open enrolment

What: Parents can apply to any school, not just the nearest one

How: Increases competition between schools to attract pupils by offering better results and facilities

Marketisation policy → Business sponsored academies

What: Schools funded partly by businesses and operate independently of local authorities

How: Introduces private sector efficiency and innovation into education

Marketisation policy → Specialist schools

What: Schools with a special focus (eg arts, technology, science) in addition to the national curriculum

How: Encourage diversity and competition by allowing schools to build reputations in specific subject areas

Marketisation policy → New style academies

What: Introduced from 2010, these schools are state funded but operate independently of local authority control

How: Increase autonomy and encourage innovation through competition and freedom in curriculum and staffing

Marketisation policy → Free schools

What: New schools set up by groups of parents, teachers, charities or businesses and funded by the state

How: Promote choice and competition by allowing communities to establish schools tailored to local demand

Raising standards policy → Ofsted

What: The official body for inspecting schools in England

How: Holds schools accountable by publishing inspection reports and giving performance grades that can affect reputation and leadership (eg outstanding or needs improvement)

Raising standards policy → National curriculum

What: A set curriculum that all state schools must follow

How: Ensures consistency in what is taught across schools, raising minimum standards nationwide

Raising standards policy → National testing

What: Standardised tests at various key stages (eg SATs)

How: Tracks pupils progress and school performance, encouraging schools to ensure students meet national benchmarks

Raising standards policy → Maximum class sizes for 5 to 7 year olds

What: Legal cap on class sizes to 30 pupils in key stage 1

How: Smaller class sizes are believed to improve learning and teacher attention to each student

Raising standards policy → Building schools for the future programme

What: Major investment in rebuilding and refurbishing secondary schools

How: Aimed to improve learning environments and school facilities to support better educational outcomes

Raising standards policy → Education action zones

What: Areas given additional funding and support to improve failing schools

How: Targeted support where its needed most to reduce inequality and raise achievement

Raising standards policy → Business sponsored academies

What: Intended to transform struggling schools with new management and funding

How: Improve leadership and performance, especially in disadvantaged areas

Raising standards policy → Pupil premium

What: Extra funding for schools based on the number of disadvantaged pupils they have

How: Aims to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged and more affluent students

Raising standards policy → English baccalaureate (EBacc)

What: A performance measure based on students achieving good GCSEs in core academic subjects

How: Encourages schools to focus on traditional academic subjects believed to enhance future prospects

Raising standards policy → Reform of the national curriculum

What: Changes to curriculum content to raise expectations (eg tougher maths and literacy standards)

How: Aims to boost academic rigour and international competitiveness

Raising standards policy → Reform of the exams system

What: Changes such as moving from modular to linear GCSEs/A levels, reducing coursework

How: Designed to improve reliability, fairness and challenge in assessment

(Michael Gove - Eg in sociology, you used to be assessed at Christmas for Education, June for family etc and you could retake if you wanted to. But Gove said this wasn’t rigorous enough and all exams should be done at the end of the 2 years

Raising standards policy → Tougher performance targets for schools

What: Schools judged against stricter achievement and progress benchmarks

How: Puts pressure on schools to consistently improve and support all learners

Eval - Myth of meritocracy

Parents do not have equal freedom to choose the schools which their child attends due to covert selection process (eg postcode lotteries in catchment areas). Middle class parents have much more freedom in choice due to their cultural capital, higher education and income

Eval - Educational triage

Teachers tend to allocate more resources to the students who are on the C/D boarder line in order to achieve the 5 A* to C needed for the league tables thus ignoring those who are unlikely to achieve this

Eval - Dumbing down

Due to the funding formula, schools need to retain and attract students in order to receive funding. Schools will therefore lead to the dumbing down of teaching and standards in order to retain students who might leave if they are pushed too hard or if the courses are too difficult

Eval - Reduced quality control

Ofsted is not as independent as it appears with government and politicians interfering with the process by changing the standards and goal posts