Science education in England
For the ages of 16, 17 and 18 (and older for those that remain in education below university-level), students in England do what is sometimes loosely called ‘key stage 5’ or KS5; it has no legal meaning (unlike the other key stages). And unlike KS1–4 in which the levels of complexity of topics learnt at each stage are prescribed within relatively narrow limits, at KS5, the levels of complexity of topics cover a wide range, although the highest level of complexity at KS5 is RQF level 3. Whether or not a student actually studies at this level of complexity in KS5 depends on his/her GCSE results—crucially on what subjects the student obtained passes at RQF level 2 standard (including mathematics and English) as well as the actual grades themselves. In other words, unlike KS1–4, where a specific student studies at one RQF level, at KS5, a specific student may be studying at several RQF levels depending on what s/he obtained at GCSEs. Regardless of the RQF-level mix, a KS5 student can do his/her post-16 study in one of the following:
Berkeley High School (California)
The small schools that began the 2005-06 school with 240 students wereIn addition to the smaller schools, there are two Comprehensive Learning Communities which compose nearly two-thirds of the student body, between 1000-1300 students. Academic Choice (AC) and Berkeley International High School (BIHS) - part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program - make up this Comprehensive Learning Community.Prior to the Fall 2018 school year, upon enrolling at Berkeley High School incoming freshmen immediately chose to join one of the five learning communities that vary in size, academic emphasis and offerings. Taking into account these preferences as well as a student's zip code, a lottery system determined the student's placement in one of the small schools. However, after several years, it was clear that the learning communities model had made little progress in closing the academic achievement gap between students at BHS. A demographic breakdown of small schools from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Report from 2011-2012 reported that within AC was 12% Latino students, 19% African American students, and 41% white, and within IB was 11% Latino, 29% African American and 47% white; while within AMPS was 24% Latino, 51% African American and 9% white. Moreover, Green Academy (now discontinued) and AMPS were the learning communities with the most students who scored not proficient in Math and English California Standards Test (CST) scores.