Scotland — Being Different

Abstract

If you really want to annoy a Scot, refer to Scot land as part of England. Though now part of the United Kingdom, Scot land was a separate country for much of its history, leading to sharply different values and practices. Scotland has a more egalitarian ethos than England and is less divided by social class. Like Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland has its own parliament and government with a significant amount of power in the domestic policy arena. Education is one area in which Scotland differs most from what's happening in England. Scotland has rejected many of the central features of education policy south of its border, notably the emphasis on choice and competition. While parents in Scotland have the right to choose a school for their children, fewer of them do so than in England--perhaps, in part, because families living in large rural areas have few local schools from which to choose, but also because Scots have a different sensibility around such issues. I was in Glasglow earlier this fall to participate in the annual Scottish Learning Festival (www.ltscotland.org.uk/slf/index.asp). The festival brings together exhibits and programs from schools across Scotland and, in a very Scottish way, recognizes and celebrates a wide variety of interesting programs and practices across the country. Several thousand people come from all over the country to take part, including students of all ages who come to show off their schools' accomplishments. Scotland has about 5 million people and nearly 700,000 students in its 2,700 schools--similar in size and population to Minnesota. However Minnesota has fewer than 2,000 schools, so schools in Scotland are smaller on average. Also, while Minnesota has more than 300 school districts, Scotland has only 32 local authorities that manage schools. Scottish students take high school exams similar to those in England, but the country doesn't have a national testing program nor school-by-school achievement data below secondary level. Nonetheless, data that includes Scotland's participation in international assessments and a 2007 OECD review of the country's system provide a picture of Scotland's educational strengths and weaknesses. Overall, achievement levels appear to be reasonably good, although Scotland's PISA (Program of International Student Assessment) results declined significantly between 2000 and 2006, bringing it from a high to an average level of performance. The analyses also indicate that socioeconomic status plays an important role in shaping results in Scotland, especially in secondary schools. In other words, a substantial number of Scottish students don't have good secondary school results or qualifications, and--as in most countries--poverty remains a powerful influence on student outcomes, especially in the cities. Reducing disparities in secondary schools is an ambitious challenge. In school systems around the world, the goal of having students participate in secondary education is being supplanted by the goal of having all students complete a secondary program that gives them the skills and opportunities for further education and participation in the economy and society. The problem is how to do this in systems dominated by university entry requirements and shaped by an ethic of sorting kids based on talent and effort. Yet, around the world, more students are successfully completing programs that a few decades ago were thought to be the preserve of a few. The movement has been in the right direction; it now needs to be broadened and accelerated. …