This book completes the series of readers for the Open University's undergraduate course EU208 Exploring Educational Issues. A major theme of the book is the controversy around early years education and it looks at inequality issues.

This book completes the series of readers for the Open University's undergraduate course EU208 Exploring Educational Issues. It brings together informed writings from a variety of research paradigms. One of the major themes of the book is the current controversy over early years education. It explores the nursery voucher scheme, the relationship between school and parents, the goals of education, and how quality can be controlled. The book also examines issues of inequality in terms of class, race and gender, and offers readers a chance to re-evaluate themselves and their children within new frameworks of thought, practice and policy.

This book completes the series of readers for the Open University's undergraduate course EU208 Exploring Educational Issues. A major theme of the book is the controversy around early years education and it looks at inequality issues.

This book offers an up-to-the-moment assessment of the condition of the American family in an era of growing inequality.

Publisher Description

"Inequality at the Starting Gate is a new EPI study of the learning gap between rich and poor children when they enter kindergarten. This study, by two education experts from the University of Michigan, analyzes U.S. Education Department data on 16,000 kindergartners nationwide, showing the direct link between student achievement gaps and socioeconomic status. The report finds that impoverished children lag behind their peers in reading and math skills even before they start school. It shows how a lack of resources and opportunities can cause lasting academic damage to some children, underscoring the need for earlier and more comprehensive efforts to prepare children to succeed in school."--Http://www.lights.com/cgi-bin/epi/shop/shop.cgi.

Why it is that success, deprivation or disadvantage are so often passed down intergenerationally? What part does education play? The educational achievement of parents is often reflected in that of their children and there are many underlying causes for such a relationship. Education and the Family argues that government policy has an important role to play in addressing this inequality even though many of the causes lie within the home. Although each child should be supported to achieve his or her objectives, differences in the willingness or capabilities of families to take advantage of educational opportunities exacerbate social class differences and limit actual equality of opportunity for many. Understanding the causes of this transmission is key to tackling both social class inequality and to expanding the skill base of the economy. By providing an overview of academic and policy thinking in relation to the role of the family, this book explores the educational success of children. It focuses on the education of the parents but also considers how the family - compared to wider, external influences such as schools - is a driver of differences in educational outcomes. It concludes with a consideration of what policy-makers are attempting to do about this key issue and why, and how this will impact on schools and teachers. This book will interest researchers and academics in education and social policy, as well as teachers and other education and social policy practitioners.