Education Policy

GV280Week 24

12 March 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg5NvKpJfKE

1988-2001: Education reform in the UK and the US

UK: Education Reform Act 1988US: No Child Left Behind 2001

• How did these measures pass?• What were the constraints on education

reform in each country?

Education issues

• What is it for?• Who should provide it?• Who should control it?• What limits should be placed on it?• Should different types of people receive

different types of education?

Why educate?(I) Training for the workforce

• No moral imperative for providing education ...

• ... but a compelling economic case for doing so

• Implies education to differing levels• State’s role in education less important ... • ... so private education has a clear role to play

Why educate?(II) Delivery of a basic human right

• Concept of natural rights• If education is a natural right, everyone is

entitled to receive it• Implies that everyone should be educated to

the same level– Equality of opportunity

• State must provide education• Private education an anomaly

How much education?

• Training vs natural right:– Too much education?

• How much is enough?– Primary?– Secondary?– Tertiary?• Tuition fees – ‘education is a right, not a privilege’

Different types of education?

• Technical vs academic– Technical colleges vs secondary modern (and

grammar schools)• Vocational qualifications– Popular in times of economic downturn– Types:

• Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) (1980s)• General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) (1990s)• Diplomas (2000s)

Local vs national responsibility (I)

UK:• ‘A national system, locally administered’• 1944 Education Act – main role in provision of

education devolved to local authorities• In practice, schools mainly autonomous• Thatcher government takes control in 1980s

Local vs national responsibility (II)

US:• Very limited role for federal government until

1950s• Department of Education not established until

1979• Gradual expansion of federal influence over

subsequent years

The UK: milestones in educationsince the war

• 1944 Education Act– Creates new primary/secondary structure– Local authorities made responsible for education– Tripartite education system• Grammar• Technical• Secondary modern

• 1960s: Transition to comprehensive education• 1988 Education Reform Act

Education Reform Act 1988• Introduction of market principles to education• Parental choice• Local authorities marginalized• ‘Opt-out’ (grant maintained) schools & City Technology

Colleges [later superseded by Labour’s Academies]• Local Management of Schools (LMS)

– Per capita distribution of funds– Step on the road to privatization

• National curriculum– Centralized control; Secretary of State’s augmented power– But not wanted by original drafters of the Act

The US: milestones in educationsince the war

• 1954: Brown vs Board of Education– Introduces the concept of civil rights to schools!– More broadly encourages concept of education as a general right

• 1965: Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)– Establishes framework for US education– Promotes equality of educational provision– Prohibits centralization of curriculum ...– ... and role of federal government still highly circumscribed

• 1994: Clinton’s ‘Goals 2000’– Establishes a set of objectives to be achieved by year 2000, e.g.

90 per cent high school completion rate • 2001: No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind Act, 2001

• George W. Bush’s ‘compassionate conservatism’– Distancing Bush from congressional Republicans’

‘small state’ principles– Competing with Democrats for moral high ground

• Represents frustration at the pace of reform under ‘Goals 2000’

• Bi-partisan bill– Compromise with Democrats on key points

NCLB: the trade-offs• Voucher scheme

– In schools that failed to make adequate progress, parents could take the funds allocated to a student and use them to gain entry to a public or private school

– A holy grail for the Republican right– Achievable, given Republican control of Congress and the presidency?– Nevertheless, voucher element in NCLB was voted down in Congress –

with 68 House Republicans voting against it

• Greater federal influence over education moderated by additional autonomy for states– Central demands balanced by greater freedom in the use of federal funds

NCLB provisions

• Imposed testing system based on new academic standards criteria– Annual testing for grades 3-8– English proficiency tests for non-native English speakers

• ‘Highly qualified teacher’ for core subjects• Accountability and support system for schools that

fail– Addresses the shortcomings of Goals 2000

• Extended support for charter schools

Charter schools• Originated in Minnesota, 1992• Free from local authority control• Often operate in poorer communities• Open to private funding• Use innovative teaching and learning methods to drive up

standards ... • ... but subject to a number of criticisms:

– Frequently raise standards by excluding underperforming students

– Permit profit-seeking investors to enter education market– Reject special needs/non-native English speaking students– Ignore unions/teachers’ employment rights

Michael Gove’s free schools• Extends existing ‘academy’

status set up by Labour• Enables parents, businesses

and charities to establish schools outside control of local authorities

• Funded directly by central government

• Academy status now available to every secondary school

Education as a political issue:how do you achieve reform?

• Questions over quality & standards

• ‘Reasonableness’ of proposals– But ... Keith Joseph & voucher

scheme• Interests vs politicians• Public opinion & the climb

up the agenda

Most important problem – educationProportion describing education as the most important

problem facing the US, 1970-2001Source: Gallup

Most important issue – educationProportion describing education as the most important issue

facing the UK, 1974-2011Source: Ipsos-Mori

Why radical education policies were possible in the US - NCLB

• Greater saliency of issue• Cross-party congressional agreement

– Significant compromises• Incremental expansion of federal role• Presidential mandate• Republican president could go further than Democrat president?

– Vic Klatt: ‘The only way that a bill like NCLB could have passed was if a Republican president supported it.’

• Interest groups emasculated (politicians more interested in listening to voters than to interest groups)– Series of attempted reforms failed until issue saliency rose

Why radical education policies were possible in the UK – 1988 Act

• Elective dictatorship– No need for consensus building– Government can ride roughshod over

unions/interest groups– Issue saliency apparently irrelevant

US vs UK

• US – change incremental, moderate, requires consensus

• UK – change simply requires the government’s will to implement it

Education policy – success or failure?

• Some success in US in attaining NCLB targets• Charter schools – some better, some worse than normal

public schools• Academies & free schools – overall improvement in

standards– But emphasis on vocational qualifications may account for

much of improvement• Selection element

– Plus may impact on other local schools– And most schools are more concerned about financial

benefits than academic ones http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12712079

Accountability and marketization – the downside

• ‘Unfunded mandates’– Not enough central funds to allow schools in poorer areas to

meet requirements• ‘Failing’ status tends to lead to downward spiral

– Hard to recruit good teachers to a failing school• ‘Teaching to the test’• Moving the goalposts

– Lack of national control (in the US) leave states free to manipulate testing criteria

• Success – or else!– Evidence of increasing numbers of expulsions accompanying

improved test results