Starter Key words/definitions test

1. Meritocracy
2. Functionalism
3. Marxism
4. Social mobility- the ability to move up and down the social classes
in a society
5. Independent school
6. Secondary Socialisation- the process by which we are taught
societies norms and values, bigger than the family and carries on
throughout our life
Q4 & 6- 1 mark for correct spelling, 1 mark for a definition close to
that on the board
Marks out of 8
What you must know at the end of this lesson

• How educational success is measured in Britain

• How league tables changed how society viewed educational
success
• What changes have occurred with SAT exams

Educational Success
How do we measure educational success in Britain?
Pair work

How would you measure

educational success?
2 mins
 Educational success in Britain

 You are said to have succeeded within the education

system if you achieve 5A*-C grades or equivalent at
GCSE
 Schools then publish the amount of students they have
achieving 5A*-C’s in national papers so that they can be
ranked in order of how good they are
 The conservative government brought this in in 1988 as
they suggested it would improve schools

Extension- start to create a list looking at all of the positives and

negatives of producing these league tables- especially around Kings
Lynn
 Which one is Springwood?

5A*-C at GCSE Including English and Maths

2007 2008 2009 2010

Springwood 50% 44% 44% 50%
KES 50% 45% 48% 52%
Park 23% 25% 18% 20%
Alternatives
There is also other ways like looking at a schools value
added score; this can sometimes be a more meaningful
indication of how good a school is.

Copy what's in pick add the blue if you finish

For example it may be easier to get a B grade student to

pass exams, but much harder to get an E grade student a
D- however, it won’t be seen as a big achievement by most
as that student won’t get their magic 5A*-C but that might
be a bigger achievement than the student getting a B who
didn’t work as hard.
Are we being tested too much?

 Until 2008 all children in the UK sat SAT’s (standard

assessment tests) at 7, 11 & 14, and GCSE at 16.
However, the labour government removed SAT’s in 208
at 14 and introduced diplomas for 14-19 year olds.

Was this a good idea?

Discussion-what would you do?

 Does publishing ledge tables lead to better education for

all?
 Does publishing league tables lead to worse education
for all?

 What would Marxists say about league tables

 What would functionalists say about league tables
Homework

 Find a news article- either positive or negative about the

league tables top highlight the debate we have had in
class.

 Due 4th May