Using the information from the items and elsewhere, asses the view that it is schools themselves that are the cause of differences in achievement amongst ethnic groups

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Elizabeth Knights                  Ethnicity essay                                6th December 2007

Using the information from the items and elsewhere, asses the view that it is schools themselves that are the cause of differences in achievement amongst ethnic groups

Both factors in school and outside school affect ethnic achievement such as, the curriculum, material and cultural factors, labelling and racism in school; all of these affect ethnic minorities’ achievement within school.  

                           These allegations that schools themselves are the cause of differences in achievement amongst ethnic groups are supported by all 3 items; item A suggests that the teachers expectations of ethnic minorities can have a huge effect in issues such as placement in streamed classes, this point is supported by the report made by Ofsted in 1999, they concluded that in schools emphasize tight setting, some groups learning English, as an additional language are likely to be placed disproportionately in low sets, especially in English. Item A also suggests that the introduction of tiered GCSE papers has added an additional disadvantage to ethnic minorities as in Gillborn and Youdell (1999) study has shown that black children are markedly less likely to be entered for higher tier examinations, which is preventing them to reach the higher grades they may achieve.

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                           Item B shows that the exclusion rates are much higher within black Caribbean and black other than any of the others; it shows that per every 10,000 pupils excluded in 2001/2, just over 40 would have been black Caribbean, shortly followed by other black that were around 37 compared to around 14 whites being excluded. These statistics show that more ethnic minorities have been excluded which is stopping them from learning and succeeding their potential, which supports the view that it is the schools to blame.

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