In the past, different ethnic groups in particular schools have been said to have a big impact on their class and effect of secondary educational achievement. It was believed that children from ethnic minority groups did tend to be allocated to lower level course, however it did not appear to influence their exam entry. On average, the children of the ethnic minority groups had much lower test results in school and these were the children who were said to have come from lower social classes.
Some sociology researchers may ague that it is not possible to produce a fair culture-free test for intelligence. It is not right to compare the intelligence of children from different social groups. If this was possible, we would probably find that individuals would differ in intelligence but large social groups including their class status not. The same range of intelligence would be present in the group.
Another point strongly argued point by sociologists is that the costs of education today, can drastically have an effect on a child’s success in the world of schooling. The social class of a child’s parents makes a definite impression. It was a common known fact that working class children left school at the minimum requirement age whereas the middle or upper class children continued their education and therefore had a better chance of getting a higher and more qualified job which paid more money to live in as a higher class of living. It was, and still is a never ending cycle that continuously repeats itself. It was a very big expense for parents to support a child in education of the ages between 16 and 18, so even if a working class child wanted to continue their education or study a higher level course, they may unable to do so because of the financial status of their parents.
Most secondary schools have some system for placing pupils in teaching groups in terms of their perceived ability. In the past years, the effects of ability grouping in secondary schools has been studied. There was a tendency for middle class pupils to be placed in higher groups that the working class pupils. Most teachers prefer to teach higher class children. The conduct of pupils in higher groups in higher groups is likely to be better than those in lower groups. Teachers were said to have been very biased in favour of the higher class groups. They didn’t want to give the lower class pupils a fair chance. They tended to deny them access to higher level knowledge and skills and place them in lower examination tiers. The net of setting and streaming was to the advantage of those in the higher groups and was to disadvantage those in the lower groups.
Working class children were also put to the disadvantage of teachers using a specific speech code. These children were restricted with a particular speech code, however, the middle class and upper class children were fluent in both the basic and elaborate speech codes and the teachers tended to use the elaborate codes. The working class children were less likely to understand what the teachers say and they were then more likely to be misunderstood and criticised for what they themselves say.
Extreme versions of cultural deprivation theory see the speech patterns of those at the bottom of the social class system as inferior and inadequate. They are seen as a major cause of educational failure.
