Leadership

Grammar Schools In England: A New Analysis Of Social Segregation And Academic Outcomes

This study by Durham University suggests that Grammar schools perform no better than non-selective state schools, once their pupils' higher ability and wealth is taken into account.

Once the pupil intake of grammar schools is taken into account based on factors such as chronic poverty, ethnicity, home language, special educational needs, and age in the year group, the Durham University analysis shows that grammar schools are no more or less effective than other schools.

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      string(394) "... Who cares, and where is there any compassion in education policy?The fragmentation of education philosophy and practice has been exacerbated by the explosion of new ‘free’ schools and academies alongside the polarised debate about grammar schools. Yet there is little evidence that this plethora improves outcomes.Sadly, so much ..."
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      string(5292) "post-code lottery for most families where the political mantra of ‘choice’ doesn’t exist, this being the prerogative of those who can afford independent schooling or the purchase of a house in the catchment of an outstanding state school. The narrow test-orientated curriculum and SATs league tables has created not only untold stress for pupils and staff but perverse incentives to ‘off-roll’ poorly performing pupils whilst the disastrous outcomes from Pupil Referral Units for excluded children are shameful. Even worse is the scandal of provision for children with physical and especially those with learning disabilities. Any family in the country can experience the birth of a child with disability, the plight of those with a hitherto normal child then developing acquired brain damage being especially searing. Who cares, and where is there any compassion in education policy?The fragmentation of education philosophy and practice has been exacerbated by the explosion of new ‘free’ schools and academies alongside the polarised debate about grammar schools. Yet there is little evidence that this plethora improves outcomes.Sadly, so much education controversy is mired in which metrics to use to show success. SATs, attainment targets and league tables are beloved metrics for school improvement. What really matters in my opinion and what is simply not being addressed is the quality of the lives of the children and young people when they become adults. Are they healthy, educated, creative and resilient, happy people with the life skills to thrive, to be successful parents and workers on whom our future depends? And are those with disability being helped to achieve their full potential? I argue we have been indoctrinated to measure what is easily measurable and not what actually matters.Over 1,000 headteachers took part recently in an unprecedented march through Whitehall to protest against the reality of schools today. What does this say when so many admired professional senior staff go public in this way? The disconnect between those making policy and those delivering it is shown by the dismissive comment from a senior minister that more is being spent on education than ever before. Yes, that’s true, but as the teachers point out, class sizes have exploded, and the real budget is shrinking by over eight per cent. So, let’s step back and ask what is it that babies and children need to thrive? In my view they need ‘nurture’, and this should be everybody’s business, as best encapsulated in the African proverb ‘It takes a whole village to raise a child’.Thus, parents are fundamentally important, but do we invest enough in preparing people for the most important job in the world? My answer is no, we don’t. It’s not just parents – local communities are vital for play, managed risk, connection with nature alongside sport, music and the arts. Faiths promote spirituality and purpose of life, while local politics provide resources for statutory children’s services in health, education and social care supported by the voluntary sector. In my view, building local community responsibility for children must be a key way forward to improve the outcomes for our children. How do we do this?I went to Vancouver in Canada to see what can be done by the imaginative use of routinely collected data. The Human Early Learning Partnership has, for more than 20 years, been systematically analysing routinely collected data to ‘map’ the lives of children – identifying inputs, outputs and outcomes by post-code locality and then making them operationally useful in identifying vulnerabilities and making interventions that matter. Thus, I saw a computer print-out of the ‘nurturative’ assets for children by its school locality – where there were crêches for babies, after school clubs for children, sports facilities for teenagers. These data show how local communities are nurturing their children focused around the school. Sadly, it has proved impossible to engage with government or public health officials in England to understand the power of this approach. I argue that it is time to change public and political attitudes to the importance of children, get a long-term cross-political party, evidence-based agenda for children based on a clear definition of what we are trying to achieve for them, especially in education. Developing effective advocacy for the best interests of children is urgently needed alongside getting out of the bunkers and silos here to see best practice elsewhere. ‘It doesn’t have to be like this’ should be the mantra.So, what do you think? If you agree that children are our nation’s most precious resource, then what are you going to do to shout from the roof tops and kick the doors down to improve the outcomes for our children? If you don’t who else will?Professor Sir Albert Aynsley Green Kt is a consultant on childhood and child health. After a career in medicine he became the first Children’s Commissioner for England. His book ‘The British Betrayal of Childhood’ is published by Routledge. "
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Editorial/Opinion

It Doesn’t Have to Be Like This

13 Nov 2018

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      string(5810) "Vol 2.3 n www.teachingtimes.comEducationEvery Child Journal20Policies that have put schoolsin the frontline of tackling socialinequality have been dogged byshort-termism, inconsistencyand top-down managerialism.So have any of them beensuccessful? Tim Linehanlooks at a new publicationwhich has the answers.What roles can schools play in tackling socialinequality? So often, schools have been inthe front line of government policies to givechildren a fair and equal start in life. It’s anobvious place to start, but the question is how exactly canschools contribute? What role can schools play in unravellingthe complex contributory factors to social inequality? AsPamela Munn, the former President of the British EducationalResearch Association says: “Children enter the school systemfrom different backgrounds have different experiences ofeducation and leave with very different results. Children fromthe poorest and most disadvantaged homes are most likelyto attend the lowest performing schools and to achieve thepoorest academic outcomes.”In recent years a host of initiatives has been developedfrom early years strategies, Every Child Matters to thedevelopment of academies. Some policies have been macropolicies, targeted at the education system as a whole.Other initiatives have been integrated with other socialcare policies, while a third group have been directed atindividual schools.The British Educational Research Association (BERA) hascarried out research into the effectiveness of interventionsin tackling social inequality. 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These children have a far less positive viewof learning, of school and of themselves.By sixteen, eleven per cent of the poorest socio-economic group are not in education, employment ortraining (NEET) compared with seven per cent overall.For other groups it’s even higher: thirteen per cent ofdisabled young people, 22 per cent of those excludedfrom school, 32 per cent of persistent truants and 74 percent of teenage mothers are NEET. Those most likely tobe excluded from school are young people from Afro-Caribbean heritage, care leavers and those with specialeducational needs.Yet some studies suggest that the type of school,the mix of students, the location of the school and thequality of teaching are as important as the young people’sbackground. Ofsted’s annual reports have consistentlyhighlighted the fact that schools in deprived areas aremore likely to be judged inadequate than those in moreaffluent areas. So the factors, and the measures throughwhich we understand social inequality require somecareful analysis. Poverty and income are linked with lowattainment, but they are not the only factors.Narrowing what gap?In addition to these challenges, there’s a question aboutwhat we want to achieve when we want to talk about‘narrowing the gap’. Should policy be aiming to achievethe same for everyone or fairness? For example, childrenfrom traveller communities who consistently score badlyin exams may find that formal education will not enhancetheir life chances. It means that if we want to achievefairness, then a broader set of measures is needed toreflect the diversity of ambitions and notions of success.The second question we need to ask is why dosome groups do better than others and what canbe done to change this? In fact there is a dearth ofresearch in this field, so although we know that thesegroups have different family environments, come fromdifferent cultural backgrounds and live in differentneighbourhoods, we don’t know much about how andnnnwhy these factors matter or how they impact on children.There is a fundamental question for the governmentwhich is that if they want to tackle social inequality theyneed to be clear about whether they want more equal (iesimilar) outcomes or greater diversity.How policies have tried to reduce socialinequalityThe 2006 OECD study, Social Disadvantage andEducational Experience reported that the impact of socio-economic circumstances on young people’s attainmentwas more marked the UK than in any of the other 52countries surveyed. 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Special Needs

ecj_20-24_Education-Mind the equality Gap

7 Jun 2011

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      string(5739) "In July 2017, sat in my home office reflecting on the end of another full and mainly productive academic year, there was a realisation that, as a working class Professor, I might have something to contribute to the social mobility debate. A view that would be immersed in my experience, contributing to the class consciousness that has been subject to media activity and political debate over the last year.  My aim in sharing thoughts on social mobility is to question the injustice of the current prevailing view of social mobility, that the working class have somehow failed and they should become more like the middle class. That is, pass the required exams to go to university, get a degree or two, buy their own house and live a healthy life, contributing to society and the economy. Not too dissimilar to my own story in some ways, but lacking the notion of family and the tribal effect of the working class. What is needed is an alternative way of thinking about social mobility – a way of thinking that crucially listens to, engages and involves the working class in determining what their future should be.  An alternative way that values partnership, mutuality and collaboration and which, by doing what is right, creates opportunities for all. 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I have long known that that, if you change….of adults, you improve the attitudes and behaviours of the child. Why do working class families not participate fully in early years provision?Sure Start Children’s Centres were the main vehicles for ensuring good quality family services and provision were located in accessible places and welcoming to all. The aim for every Sure Start Centre was to improve outcomes for children and families.1 There are some fine nursery settings that take that approach today. If we want working class families to fully participate in early years we need to see more of the same – to share the benefits of early years education by building a respectful relationship with families, and sustain that to help ensure growth and school readiness.Why is there not the will to stop the growth of disadvantage among the working class?Part of the problem is that the context of UK poverty has changed. Poverty is no longer just an issue for people out of work or living in social housing. It impacts on people with disabilities, people who’ve become ill and had to give up work, people in work, young people (including some just out of university), people renting from private landlords. The drive for welfare reform has been seen as an answer to the problems of disadvantage, but it’s failed to understand this changing context and, hence, the better ways (better housing, investment in communities – or reinvestment where cuts have decimated good work – and a continued drive to grow employment and provide good jobs that provide an income on or above a living wage) to address this.Why is school considered not relevant by the working class?A curriculum that is not socially and culturally relevant, that presents more barriers than opportunities will not engage children in learning.  The national curriculum in England has been developed on knowledge and learning experienced by the middle class. There are solutions to this dilemma that, if implemented, would address the needs of all children.  The first is to break down the barriers to learning by providing opportunities for all children to participate in social and cultural activities, sport, the arts, debating, volunteering, wider community based provision, museums, trips and much more. The second requires us to relate the curriculum to the social context of the child and their future.  All communities have a rich heritage, which can provide significant resources. In terms of their future, learning about the workplace can begin in primary school, increasing ambitions, breaking down barriers and providing relevance to learning. Increasing access to learning for all children should be the benchmark of a successful school.Why is working class success only measured by exam results?The annual media frenzy that follows primary phase national curriculum assessments (SATs) and secondary phase GCSE exam results only serves to remind the majority of the working class families that their children are disadvantaged, with private and grammar schools forming the majority at the top of published league tables. For the minority of working class students who do achieve, this is a demonstration that passing exams is a possibility at primary and secondary. However, recent primary SATs serve to prove the difficulties for those without the related social and cultural capital to respond to questions in the English paper.   EPI Closing the Gap research2 reminds us that it will take"
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Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

Born to Fail? Social Mobility, A Working Class View

17 Apr 2018

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      string(4626) "ResourcePrivate Tuition in EnglandOriginal DocumentPrivate Tuition in England. This study by the National Centre for Social Research and London’s Institute of Education, commissioned by the government into the tuition market has shown that more than one in ten pupils in upper middle class families are being sent to private tutors with parents paying as much as £60 an hour to get the children the support they need to get into grammar schools.KeywordsPrivate tuition, agencies, qualified teachers, Key Stages, support, grammar schoolsSummaryThe purpose of this research was to provide a national profile of private tuition providers for children aged 5-16 in England.Key Findings:Agency characteristics· Five forms of agency business practice were identified, as follows: · Traditional agencies: maintained a selected bank of registered tutors and allocated work in response to requests from prospective clients. · Notice board: agency maintained a website notice board for individual tutor advertisements with contact details allowing clients to negotiate directly with the tutors. · Mediated notice board: agency maintained a list of registered tutors, from which clients selected but no individual tutor contact details were provided, so contact with the tutor occurred solely through the agency.  · Individual / small agencies: individual tutors or informal professional networks of tutors that allowed work to be shared out or passed along.  · Educational centre: tuition took place at a designated location, often solely dedicated to providing tuition.· Web searches identified 504 private tuition agencies in England, of which 223 had a working website, and 130 participated in the telephone survey.· The majority of private tuition agencies surveyed operated regionally (86%), with 14% operating nationally. Regional agencies covered most regions of the country but were concentrated in London (32%) and the South East (25%), and in cities such as Manchester and Birmingham.· The size of agencies varied hugely but most agencies were small – 41% of those surveyed had 10 or fewer tutors active during the last academic year.Tutor characteristics· Around four in 10 agencies (43%) reported that all their tutors were qualified teachers and a further 40% of agencies required tutors to hold a degree. On average, smaller regional agencies reported higher levels of qualifications among tutors than larger or nationwide agencies. · Security checks were considered important by agencies and tutors themselves. Most agencies (79%) reported that all their tutors had Criminal Records Bureau checks. Most agencies also required all tutors to submit references (75%) and to be interviewed (73%).  · Almost all agencies surveyed offered tuition in maths (97%) and English (93%).Arrangements for private tuition and delivery of sessions· One-to-one tuition was more common among agencies than paired or group tuition and was felt, by individual tutors, to offer the best environment for private tuition.  · Tutorials mostly took place at the home of the student (68%) and typically lasted one hour (66%).  · The extent of agency provision for tutoring was highest at Key Stages 2 and 4, suggesting that much private tutoring is in preparation for secondary school entrance and examinations.Costs· Surveyed agencies reported that the average (median) cost of a one hour tutorial was £24 but the hourly costs ranged from £1 to £60. Also the information gathered from the website analysis showed that typical tutorial costs were between £22.90 and £24.50 depending on subject and level.  · Average costs were highest in agencies located in London and the South East. Small agencies charged slightly higher median prices than large agencies. Costs were also related to the qualification requirements of tutors within agencies.· Three key factors influenced the price of tutorials set by individual tutors: local demand and market tuition rates; the Key Stage of the student; and associated travel costs. Tutors offered discounted rates formultiple sessions, group sessions, and for friends and family. · Tutors felt the following factors underpinned · Successful outcomes from tuition: sufficient time; the tuition environment; the one-to-one dynamic; the qualities of the tutor; student commitment and engagement; and, parent support.   ActionNotesAuthorRaspal Chima, Imaginative MindsDate CreatedMarch 2009Enquiries to:raspal.chima@yahoo.co.uk (Authoring Unit)Month / YearPage 1 of 1©Birmingham City Council"
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Leadership

Private Tuition in England

5 Mar 2009