For the purposes of this study, I will define EAZs as a form of compensatory education. As a government policy, EAZs are a strategy devised by the Labour Party to raise achievement in inner city schools.

University Degree Education and Teaching

Rationale

I am interested in differential achievement in education across Coventry and how the government is addressing the problems of socially deprived catchment areas. I have a connection through my father who works in an Education Action Zone in Coventry, which would be an effective way of examining government policy.

In my study I wish to explore the effect that these initiatives have had on the level of achievement in the schools involved. My general aims are:

To see whether EAZs compensate for home backgrounds.

To consider the social structure of the catchment area and how this affects teaching.
To investigate the intervention of government policy and how it has addressed problems in EAZ areas.
Examine the effectiveness of the Education Action Zone in terms of achievement.

Therefore, my hypothesis is “Education Action Zones improve the achievement of students from socially deprived areas.”

(180 words)

Contexts and Concepts

The theory of cultural deprivation poses problems for the ideal of equality of opportunity in education. By compensating for the deprivations of low-income groups, deprived students would have an increased chance to seize educational opportunities. For the sake of this study, I will identify the Education Action Zones as a form of “compensatory education”.

Operation Head Start in America was instituted by the Office of Economic Opportunity during President Johnson’s war on poverty in the 1960s and 1970s. This was a programme of pre-school education focused on low-income areas in America. This aimed to provide a “planned enrichment”, an environment in which to instil achievement motivation and lay the foundation for effective learning in the school system, similar to the compensatory aims of Education Action Zones. However, the results were disappointing and it was concluded that the programme produced no long-term beneficial results. Education Action Zones have been formulated to support culturally deprived children throughout the school system, ensuring they are given the same opportunities as their peers.

The Educational Priority Area experiment of the early 1970s following the Plowden Report (1967) “Children and their Primary Schools” was the first form of compensatory education in Britain, allocation extra resources for school building in low-income areas and supplementing the salaries of teachers working in these areas. The report called for the development of community schools in all areas, but especially in educational priority areas. Similarly to Operation Head Start, the Plowden Report was based on pre-school education and additional measures to raise literacy standards. Reports from Educational Priority Areas were generally disappointing. However, the Director of the projects, A.H Halsey stated that;

“Positive discrimination is about resources. The principle stands and is most urgently in need of application.”

In 1973, one-fifth of one per cent of the education budget was spent on compensatory education, a small fractionof the budget spend on similar American programmes. Although strategies such as Operation Head Start had higher levels of funding, the end results were still disappointing. This raises the question of whether the level of funding is directly related to the effectiveness of the initiative? Obviously funding provides schools with increased resources, but it is the actual achievement of students in such areas which needs to be examined. Operation Head Start and the Plowden Report are both focused on creating equality of access, whereas Education Action Zones address the problems of creating equality of results.

However, Bowles and Gintis would argue that Labour policy fails to achieve its objectives and that inequality of opportunity will not be eradicated by slightly changing the education system and providing more resources in the most deprived areas. Without radical changes to redistribute wealth and power, children from working class backgrounds will continue to bring such disadvantages with them that they are never likely to achieve anything like as much as their middle-class counterparts. EAZs tackle the disadvantages that students face by identifying barriers that exist, and also consider emerging issues as the initiative develops. The range of barriers to learning within EAZ areas is much wider than those faced in the programmes of the 1960s and 70s, and by attempting to compensate for the problems that students face, equality of achievement is created.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Cultural capital theory, developed by Pierre Bourdieu is strongly influenced by Marxism. Therefore it does not assume that the culture of the higher social classes is at all superior to that of the working class. Bourdieu refers to the dominant culture as cultural capital because it can be translated into wealth and power through the education system. He identifies that cultural capital is not distributed evenly throughout society, and this largely accounts for class differences in educational achievement. Students with upper-class backgrounds have a greater opportunity because they have been socialised into the dominant culture. He points out that education assumes prior skills and knowledge, and whereas children from the dominant classes have internalised these skills and knowledge during their pre-school years, deprived children are left at a disadvantage. He argues that in awarding grades, teachers are strongly influenced by “the intangible nuances of manners and style.” According to Bourdieu, work that deviates from the accepted style of the dominant culture is penalised. He says that teachers have a “bourgeois parlance” rather than a “common parlance”, and this is a barrier to learning in schools. If this barrier exists, it is fair to say that EAZs are attempting to break through it. Targets and incentives mean that teachers are rewarded for raising the achievement of socially deprived children. Therefore, they are actively teaching with government targets, as well as learning barriers in mind.

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Methodology

Having considered several research methods, I propose to conduct interviews with four individuals involved with the Coventry Education Action Zone. One of the strong alternatives was Participant Observation, as this would prevent me from having any bearing on the data that I collect and give me the opportunity to directly observe teaching. However, this would not be possible as I would have no way of observing teaching standards before the implementation of compensatory education. I would also have to combine this method with another, as I would need further information concerning levels of achievement and social backgrounds. The interviews will be structured to the extent that I will prepare a number of open questions, but I may also need to probe the respondents answers so that they can be clarified if necessary. However, I must consider the possibility that the answers provided may give further information which could prompt me to ask further questions. This way, I will be able to investigate the specific areas I am interested in and also gain further information I may not have anticipated from the responses of the interviewees. Having a set of questions will also ensure that a fair assessment of each person’s view is obtained, rather than an interviewee being able to dominate conversation with one point of view, which could happen as a result of an unstructured interview. I must also consider the time restraints I will have to adhere to, and allow a certain amount of time per question, so that all are covered. I will have to be careful to be non-directive, as my own or other people’s opinions could influence my responses to the interviewee’s comments. In composing questions for the interview, I have already decided what is important, imposing my own framework and priorities. Therefore, I must consider the implications of the construction of the questions, and attempt to maintain as neutral position as possible. However, Becker argues that to gain fuller data, one must take an aggressive and sceptical stance. He claimed to have uncovered Chicago schoolteacher’s views of students in terms of their class and ethnic backgrounds. This could be useful to me, as I need to obtain views of the social construction of the catchment areas, and how this affects teaching quality. I must consider that people may avoid controversial answers and adopt a polite, but also exclusive response.

Having determined my research method, I must operationalise each question so I can clearly establish the aims of the hypothesis in the interview;

Why do you think Education Action Zones were created?

This will enable me to gain an idea of the reasons behind the introduction of compensatory education, and I may also consider any opinions of the policy.

What barriers do children and teachers face in attempting to raise educational achievement in school(s)?

This question is essential in outlining the problems that EAZs are compensating for. It will also help me to understand the social structure of the catchment areas, and how this affects teaching and learning. This question also intends to identify levels of achievement before EAZ intervention, so that comparisons can be drawn.

Would you say that the implementation of the Education Action Zone has improved levels of achievement? If so, how?

This question would prove or disprove my hypothesis and encourage an assessment of the effectiveness of EAZs in raising achievement in socially deprived areas. The “If so, how?” also provides an opportunity for the interviewee to list and describe particular projects created by the EAZ.

Have improved levels of achievement been reflected in SATs results? Examples?

I will have to assume that my interviewees will have details and examples of SATs results, and if not, that they have a good idea of how SATs results have improved in recent years.

How could Education Action Zones be improved? Funding?

Although this question is not directly related to my hypothesis, it again encourages an evaluation of the intervention of EAZs, and how the current level of action could be improved. It also raises the question of funding, which as we can see is a key issue from the Plowden Report. I considered that this question was fairly directional, but to ensure that the interviewee’s responses consider the important issue of funding, I decided to include it.

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Evidence

The evidence I obtained clearly links educational achievement to compensatory education.

Having been asked to identify barriers that face students and teachers and also why Education Action Zones were created, each interviewee commented on factors which produce a need for compensatory education.

“Schools are confronted with a whole raft of special educational needs, which is due to the delay in young people’s development.”

Schools have to compensate for the “delay in young people’s development” identified by Mr. Walmsley, Director of Coventry EAZ. Whereas children in other schools arrive with fairly advanced level of skills such as communication, teachers are faced with the challenge of offsetting this to provide students with the same educational opportunities as their peers. This underdevelopment has a number of sources; “range of languages arriving in school from asylum seekers”, “high levels of unauthorised absence”, “young people in the care of the local authority”. This wide range of problems manifests itself in poor educational achievement. Such barriers to achievement have parallels to those identified in the Plowden Educational Priority Area experiment of the early 1970s. This focused on Piaget's theory of developmental sequence, that is “events which are fixed in their order but varying in the age at which the sequence begins.” It suggests a “developmental age” which applies physically and to motor development “and it is highly probable they also apply to emotional and intellectual development.” However, the problems that children face today, such as English as an additional language, would be different to those faced in the 1970s Plowden report. However, it is not clear whether government has applied initiatives to confront such problems, or whether these are issues which have emerged as a result of the implementation of the EAZ. To compensate for home backgrounds, teachers must address the issue of the child’s level of development.

The “special educational needs” that Mr. Walmsley described covers such a wide range of barriers that it seems impossible for one initiative to compensate for all of these. Teachers not only face problems originating from home backgrounds, but also disabilities which may inhibit youngsters’ educational development. There are many strategies in place to raise achievement. We must consider that the EAZ is only one of these, they may all have an impact on levels of achievement.

Having identified these problems, I asked whether the implementation of the EAZ had helped to raise educational achievement. The general consensus was that it had helped, but the quality of answer deteriorated as I moved down the hierarchy of involvement with the EAZ. It seemed that the director might have had vested interests, as his career depends on raising achievement levels. Mr. Walmsley commented that “Overall, along with other initiatives schools are showing year on year improvement.” However, Mrs Brodie, Headteacher of a local primary school said that the impact of the EAZ was “difficult to measure”. This is interesting, as the head teacher and year 6 teacher that I questioned were both directly involved with the deprived children that the EAZ is attempting to help, but they did not praise the initiative as much as the Director. This may be a signal that the EAZ needs to concentrate on greater involvement with teachers at the level of transmission of knowledge and learning, rather than focusing on exam result targets. If teachers are aware of the objectives of the EAZ such as increasing opportunities for achievement for young people, then they may also have a greater interest in raising achievement.

Key stage 2 figures quoted by Mr Walmsley showed a difference of two percent between the improvement of EAZ schools and other schools in Coventry between 1999 and 2002. However, EAZ schools seemed to generally follow very similar trends of improvement in English, Maths and Science as the other city primary schools. The final proof of the effectiveness of the EAZ would be to examine Key Stage 4 figures, as this would be the stage at which students would move onto higher education with the required grades. Without these figures, a completely assured conclusion into the effectiveness of EAZs as a form of compensatory education cannot be made. To ensure opportunity of achievement for students, EAZs need to attempt to compensate for home background throughout primary, secondary and higher stages of education. Mrs. Brodie and Miss Ward, head teacher and year 5 teacher at a Coventry primary school, did not respond with actual figures for SATs results and instead made a general assessment of their own experiences. Could this indicate that teachers are less concerned with achievement targets than the executives of the EAZ?

In addressing the matter of funding, interviewees gave cagey answers. Headteacher Mrs Brodie criticised the practical intervention of projects; “Expectations of the school were raised to receive help with speech and language, but we only received a little assistance.” Miss Ward said, “extra funding would always be welcome.” It seemed that teachers did not directly relate the level of funding in terms of raising achievement, but saw it as an added incentive. Mr Walmsley highlighted that “schools in challenging circumstances will always need some additional resources”. However, he emphasised greater need for consistency in the implementation of government initiatives. The Department of Education states that; “Action to raise achievement in education, at every stage of life, is a key aspect of the Government's strategy to promote self-sustaining economic growth.” The emphasis is placed on raising achievement “at every stage of life”, so that economic growth is assured. This has parallels with Bowles and Gintis’ theory of legitimation on inequality. By making society appear fair and just, class consciousness does not develop and a subservient workforce is created. However, this view is criticised by Reynolds who argues that the “capitalist state” does not exercise control over British schools. Teachers are not subject to close supervision once they “shut the classroom door”. This is evident in my study, as teachers seem concerned with the guidance of youngsters rather than adhering to government targets and policies.

One of the reasons for the disappointing results of the Plowden Report was poor funding, although it seems that monetary support is well organised in the Coventry EAZ. The cagey answers reflect a different economic reality to the 1960s, as any failures of the EAZ are not blamed on funding, but other matters to do with barriers to learning. Mr Walmsley commented that “we have made our funding go an awful long way”, which indicates that all monies are invested well. Perhaps over-investment in this initiative would encourage complacency rather than being used effectively?

Taking each interviewee’s responses into consideration, it seems that exclusively identifying the effect of EAZs is difficult as there are currently many initiatives in operation. The National Literacy Strategy, The National Numeracy Strategy, Excellence in Cities, School Diversity Programmes and many other strategies are implemented in schools, and disentangling the effects of these projects is extremely difficult. Perhaps the improvement of SATs results is due to other factors, rather than the EAZ? However, it seems that the EAZ is most effective through primary schools, other initiatives have similar aims to raise achievement, and can also be defined as compensatory education.

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Evaluation

The responses I received in my interviews were constructive and proved my hypothesis. I felt that some aspects of the interview limited the responses I received, as I could not question the interviewee further to clarify and probe their responses. I did have to add further questions to elucidate the figures for SATs results, but I felt that this did not bias the interview in any way. However, at several points I felt compelled to create further questions, so that I could gain an idea of the interviewees opinion of the effectiveness of the EAZ, as I felt that they were selective in what they included in their answers. It felt that as I went down the hierarchy of involvement with the EAZ, the interviewees found the questions harder to answer, and gave shorter responses. These were the only ethical problems I encountered, as the varying quality of response hindered my research as I was not able to gain as wide of a perspective as I would have been able to if each interviewee were well prepared.

The fact that some details and concepts would not be covered in the answers was a risk of conducting structured interviews, and I maintain that an unstructured interview would have diverted attention from prominent issues and aims. If I was to conduct such interviews again I would perhaps research each individual’s involvement with the EAZ, and choose only those whom I was sure had familiarity with the initiative and it’s intervention. However, this may bias the interview further as it is clear that the teachers who are the ones attempting to raise actual achievement, are unsure of how results may be effected by government policy. A solution to this may be to interview several individuals at varying levels of involvement with the EAZ, and perhaps students themselves to help gain an informed answer of the effectiveness of the strategy.

My question design was not as detailed as it could have been, as this could have resolved the problems that I had with the limited responses I received. However, there could also be a drawback to this as the questions would be more directional, rather than offering the impartiality of my actual interview questions. I felt that I was able to achieve discussion of the aims of my hypothesis, yet the depth of answer was variable and could have been developed. Another consideration was that in listening to and recording the answers of my interviewees, I could have been selective as to the responses I noted down. I could have unconsciously been “listening out” for comments which related to proved my hypothesis. Such errors could be avoided by having a third party with no vested interests in the study to record the answers.

My research indicated that compensatory education compensates for home background. Methods such as the creation of study groups and subject co-ordinators helped to improve student’s attitude to learning, and also gave teachers more time to focus on individual pupils. In attempting to compensate for problems at home, teachers aimed to raise student achievement. However, I did not investigate issues such as class, gender and ethnicity in my study. To fully understand the relationship between compensatory education and raising levels of achievement, these issues must be considered. Wright conducted an ethnographic study of four multi-racial inner-city primary schools, similar to those included in my study. She found that there was considerable discrimination in the classroom. Asian children were largely excluded from group discussions because teachers assumed they had poor command of English. Generally, Wright observed that Asian children were isolated from the rest of the class which obviously affected their opportunity for learning. She found that teachers had “expectations of bad behaviour” of Afro-Caribbean children. Afro-Caribbean boys received a “disproportionate amount of teachers’ negative attentions.” This differential treatment of ethnic minority students indicates that the equality of opportunity that the Government is attempting to achieve through compensatory education is hindered by the treatment of ethnic minority groups within schools. Wright argues that “some black children are relatively disadvantaged” in primary schools, and this damages the rest of their experience of education. Therefore, to tackle the problem of underachievement in socially deprived areas, initiatives must also attempt to compensate for problems created by ethnicity and gender.

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