@Goodman2012

(2012) - Ruth Goodman, Diana Burton

Journal: Education 3-13
Link:: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03004279.2010.550586
DOI:: 10.1080/03004279.2010.550586
Links::
Tags:: #paper #SocialClass #Gender #Ethnicity #Attainmnet #Education
Cite Key:: [@Goodman2012]

Abstract

The ‘achievement gap’ – the term typically used to refer to differences in pupil attainment associated with social class, ethnicity and gender – remains an enduring obstacle to government goals of creating a socially just society. This article explores the nature of the achievement gap and some of the mechanisms that serve to perpetuate disadvantage in education systems providing a context in which to consider the appropriateness of government policies aimed at addressing the gap. Accessing predominantly English research but also consulting studies conducted in other education systems including the US and elsewhere in the UK, we argue that in contrast to its noble rhetoric, government approaches to addressing the achievement gap are preoccupied with standardised assessment and accountability (such as the latest attempt at raising pupil standards in England, the introduction of Academies) while paying little more than lip service to the persistent, underlying roots of inequality.

Notes

“government approaches to addressing the achievement gap are preoccupied with standardised assessment and accountability (such as the latest attempt at raising pupil standards in England, the introduction of Academies) while paying little more than lip service to the persistent, underlying roots of inequality” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 500)

“‘Schools should be engines of social mobility. They should enable children to overcome disadvantage and deprivation so they can fulfil their innate talents and take control of their own destiny’ (Gove 2009).” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 500)

“Situational factors such as poverty or poor schooling and dispositional factors such as cultural differences, language and gender have all been associated with inequality in assessment contexts (Gardner, Holmes, and Leitch 2009). Achievement gaps corresponding to class, ethnicity and gender persist (e.g. Fredrickson and Petrides 2008; Richards 2008) and assessment outcomes are often used to form decisions on setting or streaming pupils based on ability.” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 502)

“Consistently, Reay (2006) reports, bottom sets in England comprise exclusively working-class children while upper sets are dominated by the middle classes. According to Cullingford (2006), primary school pupils have an understanding of the value placed on performing well on standardised tests as they are aware of political trends with regard to the importance of accountability in league tables” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 502)

“Referred to by Thrupp (2007) as an ‘inconvenient truth’, it has long been argued that inequality arises from an education system which is tailored to White, middleclass values (e.g. Bourdieu and Passeron 1977).” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 503)

“Whitehead (2006) has spoken of the differences in the skills encouraged in children by parents, such as communication skills and intellectual skills (e.g. reading) in girls and sports and physical activities in boys, lead girls to be more ‘prepared’ for school than boys.” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 504)

“parental involvement and parental aspirations have been documented as having a positive effect on pupil educational achievement (Desforges and Abouchaar 2003)” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 504)

“Howieson and Iannelli (2008) examined the effects of poor school attainment on young people’s outcomes at age 22–23 in Scotland. They found that low achievers had weaker labour market outcomes with a smaller proportion in full-time employment and a higher proportion unemployed or in part-time employment when compared to young people with higher prior achievement. They also found that when categorised by main activity, low achievers were more likely to be in the ‘other’ category which included activities such as looking after the home and/or caring for a child.” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 505) important reference

“Many job opportunities have been lost with the eradication of the mining industry and it is estimated that by 2020 there will be just half a million unskilled jobs remaining in the British labour market (Brown Education 3–13 50” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 505)

“2007). A corollary of the changing economy, then, is that children from low SES backgrounds may be even less motivated to achieve when the type of jobs they consider to be within their reach no longer exist, leaving them feeling apathetic and helpless.” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 506) Very important point for PhD

“According to Deputy Prime minister Nick Clegg, ‘every child should have the chance to get ahead’ and there needs to be greater emphasis on ‘fairness in terms of social mobility and life chances’ (Clegg 2010)” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 509)

“As Berliner (2009) argues, out-of-school factors are likely to have greater influence on pupil achievement than within school factors” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 510)

“Noden and West (2009), for example, demonstrate that attending a ‘deprived’ school in England can impair pupil performance. Making comparisons between performance at the most deprived 10% and least deprived 10% of schools, they report that high achieving pupils performed better at GCSE if attending an advantaged school than a disadvantaged school, achieving on average half a grade less if attending a ‘deprived’ school.” (Goodman and Burton, 2012, p. 510)