OVERVIEW OF 1419 QUALIFICATIONS AND CURRICULUM STRATEGY

1
OVERVIEW OF 14-19 QUALIFICATIONS AND CURRICULUM
STRATEGY

• Geoff Stanton
• UCU 14-19 SEMINAR
•  
• 2nd December 2008

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Overview

• Section 1 some background the
  controversial bit
• Section 2 a summary of the updated strategy
• Section 3 a critique of the strategy
• Section 4 further reading (homework?)

3
My thesis about the situation in England(or
putting my cards on the table)

• There is a qualifications strategy, but it is not
  comprehensive
• There is not a curriculum strategy
• The curriculum should not be seen just as the
  means of delivering qualifications some of the
  qualifications development should be
  curriculum-led.
• This means focussing on how best to promote
  learning rather than how best to assess its
  results
• Compare the resources that have been put into
• The assessment of learning, as opposed to
  assessment for learning.
• Identifying employer and HE requirements, as
  opposed to identifying learner needs, motivations
  and characteristics.
• We continue to neglect the needs of that half of
  the population who do not achieve five good
  GCSEs by the arbitrary age of 16, regarding this
  as an aberration.
• We have not learned from the problems and
  successes of past initiatives, and continue to
  use flawed approaches to curriculum and
  qualifications development.
• So learning matters, for participants and
  policy-makers.

4
Some uncomfortable facts for practitioners

• Lower achievers are less likely to stay on
  (anywhere) if their school has a sixth form.
• The average sixth form is less socially inclusive
  than the average university.
• Small sixth forms usually under-perform.
• 14-19 year olds often think that vocational
  programmes are more educational than we do.
• We have failed to provide a level 2 general
  education programme designed for 16-18 year
  olds.
• In colleges those with the greater learning needs
  are taught for fewer hours than more successful
  students an example of the inverse care law.

5
Social class composition of institutions

• WP resident in a postcode targeted for
  widening participation
• National average in WP postcodes 25
• in SFCs 25
• in GFEs 29
• in school sixth forms 19
• in Universities 20
• So sixth forms are less inclusive than
  universities
• (Source the Foster Review of FE)

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Schools with and without sixth forms
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Some uncomfortable facts for policy makers

• The overall participation rates for 16-18 year
  olds did not go up between 1994 and 2006.
• Though there has been a shift from work-based
  learning to full-time provision.
• This is despite a range of initiatives, many of
  them attempts at qualifications reform.
• Almost all recent government-led initiatives
  relating to qualifications and testing have gone
  wrong in similar ways, and required urgent and
  unplanned revision within a few years.

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The figures on participation
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Charting the historyevery government initiated
assessment-led reform has required urgent, early
and unplanned revision.
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The updated 14-19 strategy

• An entitlement to the right learning
  opportunities and support for all young people
  aged 14-19
• Key stage Four
• Four learning routes
• Information advice and guidance

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Key stage Four

• All young people will study as part of the new
  secondary curriculum
• - Key Stage 4 core curriculum English, maths,
  science
• - Key Stage 4 foundation subjects ICT, PE,
  Citizenship
• Work-related learning and enterprise
• Religious education
• Sex, drug, alcohol and tobacco education and
  careers education
• - A course in at least one of the arts design
  and technology the humanities modern foreign
  languages and all four if they wish to

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The four routes

• Learning for young people will lead to
  qualifications from one of four routes
• Apprenticeships with an entitlement to a place
  by 2013 for all 16 year olds suitably qualified
• Diplomas with an entitlement by 2013 for all
  14-16 year olds to the first 14 Diplomas and for
  16-18 year olds to all 17 Diplomas
• Foundation Learning Tier with an entitlement by
  2010 to study one of the progression
• Pathways
• General Qualifications, e.g. GCSEs and A levels
• Young people will be able to study qualifications
  that do not fall under these four routes where
  there is a clear rationale to maintain them in
  learners interests and some young people will
  study informal unaccredited provision to
  re-engage them.
• Throughout the curriculum and qualifications
  routes there will be
• Functional skills in English, maths and ICT and
  personal, learning and thinking skills

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The right support

• There will be the right support, including
• - Excellent Information, Advice and Guidance
  (IAG) and support to make the right choices at 14
  and 16
• - A 14-19 Prospectus in every area setting out
  the courses and support available
• - A Common Application Process linked to the
  14-19 Prospectus that makes it easier to apply
  for education and training
• - The September Guarantee to ensure all 16 and
  17 year olds have an offer of a suitable place in
  learning and targeted supported to those who need
  it most

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Some key quotes from Delivering 14-19 Reform
Next Steps, DCSF, October 2008

• In future, all publicly funded qualifications
  will fall within one of four routes
  Apprenticeships, Diplomas, the Foundation
  Learning Tier, or General Qualifications (GCSEs
  and A levels)
• But there is a caveat....
• unless there is clear evidence of a need to
  maintain specific qualifications outside these
  routes in the interests of learners.
• The body that will determine this is to be called
  JACQA
• we have asked QCA and the Learning and Skills
  Council (LSC)
• to establish a Joint Advisory Committee of
  Qualifications Approvals (JACQA) to provide
  advice to the Secretary of State on public
  funding of qualifications
• There will also be exceptions for hard cases
• Some young people will participate in informal
  non-accredited learning, to get them back on the
  path to success through one of these routes.

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But the feasibility of all this depends on the
validity of the following assertion....

• These four routes will be broad programmes of
  learning which give young people the opportunity
  to combine qualifications and tailor their
  learning programmes to meet their specific
  demands. At the same time, there will be
  flexibility and progression within and between
  routes to respond to individual needs.

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A lot depends on the new Diplomas(remember that
the FLT does not apply at level 2 and above)

• The Gateway process was a good idea though
  were all the criteria?
• Some new flexibilities have been introduced
• The additional and specialist learning does not
  have to be at the same level as the rest
• Partial achievement will be recorded
• Retakes of units may be possible
• But even so, are Diplomas as flexible as A/AS
  programmes?
• Perm any 3 or 5 from 40
• Credit for AS level achievement
• Two particular concerns
• Do Diplomas provide for all legitimate needs that
  exist in the gap between GCSEs/A level and
  apprenticeships?
• Has the design focussed on level 3 at the expense
  of level 2?

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A gap between Diplomas and Apprenticeships?

• There will be post-16 learners who want a
  learning programme that is as strongly vocational
  as apprenticeships but who
• are not yet ready for the workplace,
• need to taste before they can decide on an
  occupation
• cannot get access to an apprenticeship
• In their locality
• In their preferred sector
• At the right level (especially level 3)
• In a recession.
• There are already increasingly popular and
  successful programmes that meet these needs.
• The additional and specialist learning slot
  within the Diplomas does not meet these needs
  because
• It is a minnow compared to the mandatory
  Principal Learning whale
• It is not mandatory on providers to make ASL
  strongly vocational

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The issue of level 2

• Almost all the public debate has focussed on
  level 3 Diplomas, though all 14-16 year olds and
  most 16-18 year olds will be studying below this
  level.
• Is the same structure and approach appropriate
  for level 2 for 14-16 year olds, as opposed to
  level 2 for 16-18 year olds?
• Is the content of all diplomas appropriate for
  those learners who have found GCSE programmes
  uncongenial?
• Is it right to make the Advanced Diplomas
  equivalent to 7 GCSEs at grades A C ?

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Assessment regimes

• Must not be too time consuming
• Must not be too expensive
• Must balance validity and reliability
• Must take account of the availability of
  expertise
• Must serve participants as well as end-users
• Must not be asked to do too much
• not all that is important can be measured, not
  all that can be measured is important.
• Other means should be used to ensure
  institutional acountability
• Need time to settle in.

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The development process in diagrammatic form
actual and effective
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Lay a broad base before specialising?

• The academic approach?

• The vocational approach?

•  
•  

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The importance of teacher involvement in
curriculum and qualifications development

• Experience of the characteristics of the learner
  and what motivates them.
• Aware of the compound effect of several
  initiatives on the learner experience.
• The first to be aware of problems.
• Therefore, there needs to be a fast response
  feedback mechanism to protect learner interests.

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We will learn lessons from early delivery

• We will continue to work with the Universities
  and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and other
  stakeholders in the HE sector, to ensure that the
  Diploma meets the needs of both students and HE
  institutions. Good engagement is already
  happening across the country. For example, the
  DDP for Society, Health and Development (SHD) is
  working in a structured way with Higher Education
  providers such as the Higher York Consortium to
  map progression routes for students taking the
  SHD Diploma.
• We have also commissioned an independent
  evaluation of the implementation of the Diploma
  that has now started and will run to 2013. The
  evaluation will provide valuable feedback from
  young people, teachers, tutors, parents,
  employers and HE on the effectiveness and value
  for money of different delivery approaches.

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Learning Matters

• Making the 14-19 reforms work for learners
• by emphasising learning programmes,
• as well as qualifications
• By learning from previous initiatives.
• Geoff Stanton
• http//www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/Default.a
  spx?page393