comprehensive school

comprehensive school
(also infml comprehensive) n
(in Britain) a large state secondary school for boys and girls of all abilities aged 11 or over. Comprehensive schools were introduced in the 1960s to replace the system of dividing children between more academic grammar schools and less academic secondary modern schools.

* * *

      in England, secondary school offering the curricula of a grammar school, a technical school, and a secondary modern school, with no division into separate compartments. Pupils are placed in A, B, or C “streams” according to their aptitudes and abilities. Comprehensives are similar to the large, multipurpose American high school, in which the ability grouping system is known as “tracking.”

      The purpose of the comprehensive school is to democratize education, do away with early selection procedures, and provide equal opportunity for all children. In 1975 legislation was passed in the United Kingdom to hasten the transition to this system, reflecting the long-term policy of the Labour government to organize all secondary education on a comprehensive basis. Although some comprehensive schools have been quite successful, the transition has been slow, and the issue is complicated by mixed attitudes toward the long-revered public schools and strong residual devotion to the traditional grammar school system. Compare grammar school; public school.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Comprehensive school —   [kɔmprɪ hensɪf skuːl; englisch »umfassende Schule«], Gesamtschultyp in Großbritannien, im Allgemeinen für alle Schüler ab dem 8./9. Lebensjahr gedacht. Für die Eingangsstufe wird häufig eine Zweiteilung vorgenommen: Die eine Gruppe wird gleich… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Comprehensive school — A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The …   Wikipedia

  • comprehensive school — noun a large British or Canadian secondary school for children of all abilities • Syn: ↑composite school • Hypernyms: ↑secondary school, ↑lyceum, ↑lycee, ↑Gymnasium, ↑middle school * * * comprehensive school …   Useful english dictionary

  • comprehensive school — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms comprehensive school : singular comprehensive school plural comprehensive schools a UK school for students of different levels of ability between the ages of 11 and 18. A comprehensive school is often simply… …   English dictionary

  • comprehensive school — compre hensive ,school noun count a U.K. school for students of different levels of ability between the ages of 11 and 18. A comprehensive school is often simply called a comprehensive. ─ compare GRAMMAR SCHOOL …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • comprehensive school — bendrojo lavinimo mokykla statusas T sritis švietimas apibrėžtis Mokykla, vykdanti priešmokyklinio, pradinio, pagrindinio, vidurinio ar atitinkamo specialiojo ugdymo programas. atitikmenys: angl. comprehensive school vok. allgemeinbildende Schule …   Enciklopedinis edukologijos žodynas

  • Comprehensive School Mathematics Program — (CSMP) stands for both the name of a curriculum and the name of the project that was responsible for developing curriculum materials. Two major curricula were developed under CSMP project, Comprehensive School Mathematics Program(CSMP), a K 6… …   Wikipedia

  • comprehensive school — school in which students study both commercial industrial and professional subjects …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Comprehensive School Reform — The Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program is administered by the U.S. Department of Education s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. As established in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the purpose of the program is to provide… …   Wikipedia

  • comprehensive school — compre hensive .school also comprehensive n a state school in Britain for children over the age of 11 of different abilities ▪ Kylie goes to the local comprehensive. ▪ Nine out of ten secondary school children are in comprehensive schools …   Dictionary of contemporary English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”