Local Markets and the Polarization of Public-Sector Schools in England and Wales

Notwithstanding the recent change of government, UK educational policy continues to stress school performance tables, parental choice and competition – reflecting an acceptance by New Labour of Tory notions concerning the role that market mechanisms play in improving school performance. In view of the 1997 Education White Paper's insistence that the new government's goal was to 'overcome the spiral of disadvantage … passed from one generation to the next', this implies that the DfEE remains unimpressed by long-standing arguments concerning the socially-divisive consequences of market forces in education.
This paper seeks to add empirical weight to this debate. Arguing that recent analyses of aggregate levels of social stratification have masked polarization occurring at the local level, our analysis places schools in the context of the local markets within which they operate. This yields clear evidence that educational markets tend to exacerbate existing differences between schools in terms of both their performance and social status.     

On the urns of a dilemma: radiocarbon and the Peterborough problem

Radiocarbon dates are presented for distinctive types of British Late Neolithic pottery, identifying questions which cannot yet be resolved.     

LIBERALISM REDUX: A NEW ANTIPOVERTY POLICY?

David Ellwood. 1988. Poor Support: Povert in the American Family
Robert Haveman. 1988. Starting Even: An Equal Opportunity Program to Combat the Nation's New Poverty
Sar Levitan and Issac Shapiro. 1987. Working But Poor: America's Contradiction     

All in the Family

The authors look at how family income depends on family structure. Using data from the 1973, 1979, and 1987, Current Population Survey, the authors examine four income sources (earnings, property, child support, and government transfers) among seven family types for all families and for Latino, black, and white householder families. The authors find large income differences among families–primarily due to differences in earnings–but little change within family types over time. Increasing the work hours of adult members or relying on income support from nonresident family members is unlikely to substantially remedy the differences in income among family types, and specifically to improve the very low income of single-mother families. Other family policies are suggested.     

Tracks Across the Irwell: From the Liverpool & Manchester Railway to the Ordsall Chord

ABSTRACT

Archaeological excavations and built heritage recording has been undertaken by Salford Archaeology (based within the Centre for Applied Archaeology, University of Salford) during the construction of a new rail link across the River Irwell between Manchester and Salford, known as the ‘Ordsall Chord’. The new bridge links existing lines of historic importance, and also crosses the extant remains of the world’s first passenger steam railway, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, being carried over the Grade I designated ‘Stephenson's Bridge’ at approximately deck level. Six further Grade II designated structures were also affected by the scheme, as were the below-ground remains of a dye works that predated the opening of the railway in the 1830s, and a large livestock market that grew adjacent to the improved transport infrastructure provided by the rail network. This paper discusses the archaeological work undertaken on this important early transport hub during the construction programme in 2015–18.