Re: Low income English children fall further behind

[aburke5054@aol.com]

England is doing far more with its schools than "standards and tests" 
and has an ambitious social program as well, as the last paragraphs 
indicate.  The "Shadow Schools Secretary," Michael Gove, is a member of 
the Conservative Party, which is presently out of power.  Whatever the 
truth of his assertions that achievement gaps are growing, he has an 
agenda of sticking it to the Labor Government.  Gove is a phonics 
booster, by the way, and an advocate of choice and competition, so I 
doubt Monty will be relying on him much more, just as I doubt that the 
Milton Friedman Choir is going to entertain at the FairTest annual 
meeting.

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: Monty Neill <monty@fairtest.org>
To: ARN-state@yahoogroups.com; ndsgroup@yahoogroups.com; ARN-L 
<arn-l@interversity.org>; arn2-strategy <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 1:00 pm
Subject: [arn-l] Low income English children fall further behind


England adopted the 'standards and tests' approach, including rankings 
of
schools by test scores and using massive amounts of testing, as its 
purported
school improvement effort going back to the Maggie Thatcher era but 
continued by
Major and Blair and (thus far) Brown. The results are a growing class 
disparity
in educational outcomes according to test scores and school completion 
rates.
The US is seeing the same results. Monty

Poorest children 'falling behind'
Children from the most deprived areas of England are falling further 
behind in
school compared to more affluent pupils, say the Conservatives.
Shadow Schools Secretary Michael Gove highlighted figures showing a 
widening of
the social gap in achievement.

There is a 43 percentage point gap in the proportions of wealthy and 
deprived
pupils achieving five good GCSEs including English and maths in 2007.

In 2006, this gap in favour of the wealthiest was 28 percentage points.

This social divide in exam results shows "the education system is 
letting down
the poorest," says Mr Gove.

Wealth gap

The figures are based on comparisons of the GCSE results of pupils from 
the 10%
most affluent areas and the 10% most deprived.

The growing lead reflects an accelerating improvement in the results of 
children
from better-off families - with 68% of these pupils now reaching the 
benchmark
of five good GCSEs including English and maths, up from 57% in 2006.

Meanwhile, the results of the least well-off pupils have slipped back - 
down
from 29% to 25% reaching this GCSE benchmark.

The government figures show how the link between home background and 
achievement
stubbornly persists throughout children's years in school.

At the age of seven, there is a 20 percentage point gap between the 
proportion
of most and least affluent pupils who have reached the expected 
standard for
reading - 93% to 73%.

By the age of 11, this gap has widened to 23 percentage points for 
English.

In secondary school, these latest figures for GCSE level show that the 
gap
between richest and poorest grows even further to 43%.

When the school population is divided into 10 bands of affluence and
deprivation, the level of achievement rises in precise step with 
increased
wealth in every subject and at every level.

The figures also show that this most deprived group are a major factor 
in the
drop-out rate at the age of 16.

In primary school, those living in these 10% most deprived areas are 
the biggest
single social group. In terms of those studying beyond the age of 16, 
they are
the smallest group, with numbers shrinking by about 90%, and their 
average
A-level point score is the lowest.

These figures reflect the attainment gap using another poverty 
indicator -
free-school meals.

In 11 year olds reaching the expected literacy levels, there is a 21 
percentage
point gap between pupils who qualify for free-school meals and 
wealthier pupils
who do not qualify.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said 
that
"closing the attainment gap continues to be a top priority".

"We have invested more than £21bn in child care and the early years 
since 1997,
so that poor children get better chances in early life.

"One to one tuition and personalised support will help every single 
child
achieve the best of their ability at school and we have ensured that in 
future
all young people will stay on in education or training to 18 and 
beyond."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/education/7165855.stm

Published: 2007/12/31 12:36:10 GMT

© BBC MMVIII



Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Executive Director
FairTest
342 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224
monty@fairtest.org
http://www.fairtest.org
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