NEW LABOUR

NEW LABOUR

1. REDUCING INEQUALITY

   • EAZ: raise motivation/achievement in low income, deprived areas - Ofsted praised things like breakfast and HW club
   • EiC: replaced EAZs, had similar aim. Special programs like gifted, city learning centres, mentors, cheap comp lease. More effective than EAZs
   • SURE START: under 4 and families in deprived areas. Improving health, education and employment. Based on early intervention.
     • (-) Difficult to evaluate - every program is different and only ST results available. Disappointing results after 3 years.
   • EMA: attempted to reduce class gap in education - weekly cash allowance payable to low income 16-19 year olds.
     • (-) Class gap widened in HE. MC: 79% WC: 16% (2001) (MC:55% WC: 6% - 1991)
     • (-) contradictory as they introduced tuition fees which reduced WC in HE. (Whitty)
   • Policies like 'Girls into Science and Technology to reduce gender inequality
   • assimilation: ethnic groups to assimilate into British culture. (-) real problem is poverty and racism.
   • MCE: valuing all cultures in school - raise minority pupils self-esteem
     • misguided; black pupils not failing due to low self-esteem
     • tokenism; fails to tackle institutional racism

2. PROMOTING DIVERSITY

   • Specialist schools; rejected osfa view. Spec in particular subject area. - increase comp and raise standards
     • (-) not clear why standards have risen - Ofsted reports found schools often do better outside spec subject
     • higher intake of MC students. Low income schools difficulty raising funds
     • schools can be selective (high in demand) choose more able students. (MC)
   • Academies: plans to turn 200 failing comprehensive schools into A's to improve standards. Mixed results - some improved, some didn't.

3. ASSESSMENT + TARGETS

   • Pupils, teachers and schools assessed with key stage tests (GCSE, AL, Ofsted)
   • assessments published and schools ranked in league tables
   • key targets set to raise standards, encourage competition and measure performance

4. SCHOOL LEAGUE TABLES

   • Only based on exam results until recently
   • value added - difference school made from 11-16
   • most improved - GCSE results over time
   • (-) fail to provide accurate measure of school performance. GCSE may say more about social bg + VA doesn't take class into account.
   • 2006- social factors included - what pupils expected to achieve. Schools whose pupils exceed this do well in LT
     • Grace: low income schools do better here than exam results/ VA measure
   • exam results remain basis for parents decision - encourages recruitment of MC over special needs/excluded as well as teacing to the test, not understanding and learning.

5. VOCATIONAL EDUC + TRAINING

   • Main role of educ to provide skills+knowledge required for work force
   • Tomlinson: education system must respond to competitive global economy by improving skills/quals
   • Labour seen all education as vocational.

6. CRITICISMS

   • Tomlinson: they narrowed education to an economic function - obsessed with raising standards so UK can compete in global market
   • preoccupation with comp, choice + standards puts schools under pressure to stay at the top soselect more able pupils.
   • knowledge+understanding not priority - exam tech and rote learning/revision more imp
   • McKnight, Glennerster and Lupton; standards appear to have risen but gap between classes remains as wide as 1989
   • Trowler; as long as social inequality exists in wider society it'll be reflected in educ
   • private/fee paying schools still exist despite labour opposing them

7. NEW DEAL

   • aim; reduce youth unemployment (18-24)
   • personal adviser to guide them through; training/full time educ, work for 6 months, subsidized job = loss of benefits if they didn't participate
   • (-) 40% failed to find lasting jobs
   • (-) critics; reduction due to economic improvement
   • Labour = great success

8. VOCATIONAL QUALS

   • Aimed to raise skill level; 2/3 employers see little value in these.
   • GNVOQs; alts to GCSE+AL. rebranded as vocational ALs so could be seen as equivilent
   • (-) cosmetic exercise = route to low paid/status jobs