The Comprehensive System Study Guide With Complete Answers,

What does comprehensive refer to? - correct answer Comprehensive refers to a non selective system where all children in the area attend the same type of secondary school From when onwards was the compressive system introduced in many areas? - correct answer From 1965 onwards What did the comprehensive system aim to do? - correct answer It aimed to overcome the class divide of the tripartite system and make education more meritocratic The policy was also aimed at reducing class inequalities as all children were meant to get equal opportunities at their local schools (no middle class advantage). What did the comprehensive system abolish? - correct answer No selection by ability at age 11 It abolished the 11+ exam along with grammars and secondary moderns (3 types of secondary school), to be replaced by comprehensive schools that all pupils within the area would attend How did the policy aim at reducing class inequalities? - correct answer The policy was also aimed at reducing class inequalities as all children were meant to get equal opportunities at their local schools (no middle class advantage). How do some argue that it did not reduce class inequalities? - correct answer There is still some evidence of hidden or covert selection and streaming reproducing inequality Who decided whether to turn schools into comprehensive schools? What did this result in? - correct answer It was left to local education authorities to decide whether to go comprehensive after 1965. Not all did so, particularly where they were Conservative controlled. As a result, the grammar-secondary modern divide still exists in many areas, and there are still 164 grammar schools remaining in England. What are LEAs? - correct answer Local education authorities What is the functionalist view of comprehensive schools? - correct answer Promotes social integration by bringing all social classes together The system is meritocratic with no selection at age 11 What is the marxist view of comprehensive schools? - correct answer Not meritocratic- reproduces inequality through streaming Legitimates inequality by making unequal success appear fair What compromises the compressive principle? - correct answer The continued existence of a relatively small number of state grammar schools and private secondary schools still compromise the comprehensive principle (as perhaps do some aspects of recent governments 'education policies). How were comprehensive schools meant to have equality via streaming? - correct answer More uncertainties arose as some educationalists emphasised that comprehensives should and would rely more heavily on mixed ability teaching rather than relying on rigid streaming, banding or setting and that, as well as providing a more effective academic education, they could also foster social cohesion and reduce class antagonisms via the greater interaction of children from different social backgrounds. Which parents were less likely to support the transition to comphrensive schools? - correct answer The parents of children who had achieve grammar school places What still happened despite the abolishment of selection by examination? - correct answer Even within a local authority area which has abandoned selection by examination, there may be considerable variation in the pupil intakes of different formally comprehensive schools. What was the problem with the transition to comprehensive schools in terms of reputation? - correct answer It may be that former grammar schools turned comprehensive may have better academic reputations than former secondary moderns which turned comprehensive and are therefore able to attract more pupils with higher measured ability. What grammar and secondary modern schools were more like to become comprehensive schools? - correct answer It may be that the said grammar and secondary modern schools were more likely to have been located in middle and working class areas respectively and hence more likely to attract middle and working class pupils so they become comprehensive Which pupils were more likely to give a comprehensive school a better reputation? - correct answer For a variety of reasons, middle class pupils are more likely than working class pupils to achieve good examination results which is likely to solidify the respective reputations of different comprehensive schools . How are comprehensive schools criticised in terms of ability of facilities? - correct answer The ability ranges of many schools which are defined as Comprehensive may approximate more to Secondary Modern schools or in some cases to Grammar schools rather than to Comprehensive schools. How are comprehensive schools criticised in terms of selection according to parental income? - correct answer It has been argued that, especially in the current era of greater parental choice, middle class parents have greater knowledge than working class parents as to the relative examination success rates of comprehensive schools and have used various strategies not available to working class parents [such as purchasing houses in the catchment areas of successful comprehensives] to gain access for their children to the more successful comprehensives. Consequently, it is claimed the replacement of Tripartite Education by Comprehensivisation has resulted in the replacement of selection by ability by selection according to parental income. Nevertheless Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians have argued that the development of a quasi-market in education has led to greater competition, which has improved educational efficiency and overall levels of educational achievement although this is a view which has also been widely criticised. How is the view of supporters of triparitism that there was only a "limited pool of talent" containing the minority of pupils with the abilities to benefit from an academic grammar school education criticised? - correct answer 1. Supporters of Tripartism had claimed that there was only a "limited pool of talent" containing the minority of pupils with the abilities to benefit from an academic Grammar school education. However, it came increasingly to be argued that many Secondary Modern pupils, some of whom were just as able as Grammar school pupils, were being denied an education suitable to their talents, which undermined their quality of life and economic efficiency as adults. What do supporters of comprehensive schools argue? - correct answer That pupils' academic talents were not heavily pre-determined at an early age and the talents of the vast majority of students who were failing the 11+ could be decreased if they were given greater encouragement and better educational opportunities as this was far more likely to occur in Comprehensive schools than in the Secondary Modern schools. What do supporters of tripartism argue about the 11+ exam? - correct answer 1. The 11+ examination had been presented by the supporters of Tripartism as an objective, accurate and fair method for the allocation of pupils to the three types of secondary school. What do supporters of the comprehensive system argue about the 11+ exam? - correct answer but critics argued that it was neither objective nor accurate nor fair. In practice, it discriminated in favour of middle class pupils who were more likely to be in the highest stream of "11+ oriented" primary school and whose parents could, if necessary, also afford additional private coaching; although the 11+ IQ test aimed to measure abstract reasoning ability it also contained some cultural biases which favoured middle class children, and its existence inhibited the flexibility of primary schools to design curriculum more relevant to the needs of their young pupils. Comprehensive schools were to be all-ability schools which at a stroke would remove any need for an examination to determine school allocation. What do supporters of the comprehensive system argue in terms of parity of esteem? - correct answer 1. Despite government claims that Grammar, Secondary Modern and Technical schools would receive parity of esteem in terms of the financial resources to be spent on the different types of school it became apparent that some Local Education Authorities were allocating disproportionate resources to Grammar schools and that in some, but not all, Secondary Modern schools, teaching quality, resources and overall school atmosphere left much to be desired. Also, the higher social status of Grammar schools and the better career prospects open to Grammar school pupils ensured that there would be no parity of esteem in society as a whole. What do supporters of comprehensive schools argue about secondary modern school pupils? - correct answer Pupils allocated to Secondary Modern schools were likely to feel that even at such an early age they had been classified as failures with adverse consequences for their future educational prospects as labelling theorists increasingly argued from the 1960s onwards How did supporters of the comprehensive system argue that these schools would have parity of esteem? - correct answer However, since all comprehensives were in principle to educate pupils of all abilities who were not to be selected on the basis of a competitive examination, it was claimed that all comprehensives