Frank Coffield, Does Ofsted do more harm than good? I have examined the evidence which shows that, despite some clear benefits of inspection, Ofsted’s methods are invalid, unreliable and unjust. A report from the Education Policy Institute, for example, concluded…
Blog Archives
Schools causing concern: proposals should focus on capacity to improve
Melanie Ehren. The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a consultation on ways to intervene in failing, underperforming and coasting schools. The document puts forward a new set of interventions specifically for ‘coasting’ schools, which are defined as those where…
Tagged with: Coasting schools, Melanie Ehren, school improvement
Posted in Education policy, Leadership and management, Schools
Posted in Education policy, Leadership and management, Schools
Free school effects: an impartial review
Francis Green Do free schools raise the performance of nearby schools, as Policy Exchange have claimed, or is this a statistical mirage? There is a plausible argument that the opening of a free school in an area might spur other…
Tagged with: educational research, free schools, school improvement
Posted in Education policy, Evidence-based policy, Schools
Posted in Education policy, Evidence-based policy, Schools
A National Teaching Service Mr Mainwaring?
Chris Husbands The news of a proposed re-make of Dad’s Army preceded by only a few days David Cameron’s announcement of a National Teaching Service: a ‘corps’ of ‘elite teachers’ to be deployed into ‘failing schools’ at short notice. Both…
Tagged with: OECD, regional commissioners, school improvement
Posted in Education policy, Schools, Teachers and teaching assistants
Posted in Education policy, Schools, Teachers and teaching assistants
You say you want a cultural revolution? Policy borrowing from the East
Yun You When I first arrived in England in 2010, I was shocked by the then Education Secretary Michael Gove’s statement: “I’d like us to implement a cultural revolution just like the one they’ve had in China.” As a Chinese…
Tagged with: Michael Gove, PISA, school improvement
Posted in Education policy, International comparisons, Schools
Posted in Education policy, International comparisons, Schools
