Stories + Views: social mobility

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Janet Downs: Education’s role in fuelling social mobility is limited, says academic. Instead, implement social and economic policies aimed at making society more equal.

It’s received wisdom that social mobility has fallen in the UK. And education is viewed as crucial in increasing mobility. But John Goldthorpe* of Oxford University disputes this. This view stemmed from a 2001 Discussion Paper which looked at social mobility in terms of earnings. This suggested social mobility had fallen between the late 50s and 1970. The results were disseminated in ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Bruce Charteris: "Fortunately we can profit from examining two ongoing economic examples close to hand: 'Germany had begun the 21st century in bad shape. Wages had soared after unification in 1990; the budget was burdened with big transfers to the former East Germany; ......"

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Janet Downs: The Sutton Trust is right to highlight covert selection, but tackling England’s socially-segregated school system won’t be solved by opening up private or grammar schools to a few more FSM pupils.

“…the schools in this study, by and large, are not using forms of overt selection, they are exercising covert selection,” said the Sutton Trust’s report Improving social mobility through education. The report recommended random ballots or banding across all abilities to address this issue. But the press release added a further recommendation which wasn’t in the full report. “At the same time, independent ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Marco Bligh: "The OECD figures showing that between 18% and 26% of UK adults have not completed upper secondary education is here, P. 19: http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/50293148.pdf These figures are further supported by the House of commons figures that show 24% of UK pupils drop out ......"

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Melissa Benn: Selective judgements

Today, the Sutton Trust publishes a report on the issue of ‘selective comprehensives’ which is getting a lot of publicity, including a spirited, but somewhat partial, debate on the Today programme, which led to the usual suggestion of increased ballotting and random allocation in order to enable more poor children access to 'good schools.' The report looks at ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "Sorry Melissa and Helen Jarvis - It is not a minor point. I should have been more careful...."

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Stephen Smith: It’s that man again – Michael Gove on Chaotic Homes and another push for more academies

Sometime I'm flabbergasted when I read the latest pronouncements from Michael Gove in the news Try this one : Gove warns over children growing up in 'chaotic homes'. It starts off relatively promising, Michael Gove responding to a question from a Labour MP, highlighting the issues of some children coming to school in reception, already way behind their peers, due to the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Thank you Janet. Please could my post where I refer to it be removed too as it's now confusing?..."

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Janet Downs: BBC documentary on grammar schools was one-sided, say Oxbridge academics

TES reports that the BBC has received a formal complaint about its documentary, “The Grammar School: A Secret History”. The objectors, comprising Oxbridge academics, historians and educationalists said the BBC had a “statutory obligation” to present both points-of-view about selection particularly now that selective education is “back on the political agenda.” The documentary, according to the academics, painted a rosy picture of ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Patrick Hadley: "Ricky, I am sure that nobody would ever go into teaching unless they believed that good schools and good teaching made a difference - and that bad schools and bad teaching let down pupils and can have very harmful long ......"

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Janet Downs: Comments by source close to Gove become more unhinged as opposition grows to exam reform agenda

There is a “cursed focus on ‘access’ which has poisoned intelligent discussion of [the] real problem, which is too many rubbish schools,” a source close to Secretary of State, Michael Gove, told TES. The Government constantly attacks state schools for not sending enough pupils to “top” universities. But one of Gove’s sources thinks that concentrating on access is a toxic irritation ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "James - thanks for that inspirational quote. It's a pity that "good schoolmasters and mistresses" feel attacked, mistrusted and denigrated by past and present governments, the media and Ofsted. The burden of solving all society's ills have been placed on ......"

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Rebecca Hanson: RSA Debate – Is Education the Answer to Social Mobility?

I was lucky enough to be at this debate on Tuesday. The audio is now live and you can find it here: The obvious highlight was Jo Shuter talking with great ability and flexibility about how secondaries in tough areas really change lives. Her comments start at 10 minutes but she also makes some important points in her answer to the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Guest is your comment in the wrong place? It doesn't relate to anything going on in this post or discussion as far as I can tell......."

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Janet Downs: The new Sutton Trust scheme will reinforce existing segregation in schools

"Despite its unquestionable commitment to breaking down the educational barriers faced by disadvantaged children,  the Sutton Trust has got it wrong this time," says Fiona Millar in the Guardian.  Read her report here. read more and comment →

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Latest comment by andy: "Guest You are of course entitled to your opinion. Speaking of slurs you may wish to reflect on the fact that I did not drag a whole list of things across here from TES, that was done by others who joined the ......"

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Melissa Benn: Some common sense on social mobility……

It would be interesting if it were not so depressing: the more unequal our society becomes, the more desperate the situation of large numbers of citizens, the more we hear about that illusory concept: social mobility. Almost every week, a prominent mainstream journalist sings the praises of the grammar schools - Mary Ann Sieghart of the Times was the most ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Well you won't see me doing that. Having been at the consultations and discussions on this, the stats are very interesting. For example Kings Cambridge went top of the tables after lowering the bar for state school applicants ......"

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