The government published a progress report on implementation of its 'Children's Plan' after one year. It said that there were still too many young people not fulfilling their potential, too many schools where standards were not high enough, and more action needed to protect every child from abuse, harm, and neglect. It announced a new £200 million 'co-location fund' to bring health, education, and children's services together. It also said that an additional £38 million had been allocated to improving outcomes for children with special educational needs.
Source: The Children's Plan One Year On: A progress report, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Summary | DCSF press release (1) | DCSF press release (2) | Unicef UK press release | SkillsActive press release | Voice press release | NDCS press release | NASUWT press release (1) | NASUWT press release (2) | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Dec
The government began consultation on proposals to improve how schools' performance was reported to parents, communities, and other stakeholders, by providing clear and comprehensive information in a new 'school report card'.
Source: A School Report Card: Consultation document, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | DCSF press release | ATL press release | NUT press release
Date: 2008-Dec
A fifth (and final) annual report said that academy schools were meeting their aim of raising school standards. 2007 GCSE results showed an average academy improvement rate of four times the national average – 8 percentage points compared to 2. But it said that there was 'insufficient evidence' to make a definitive judgement about the academies as a model for school improvement.
Source: PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Academies Evaluation: Fifth Annual Report, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | DCSF press release | NUT press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | BBC report
Notes: GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education
Date: 2008-Nov
The government announced that local education authorities had been asked to identify 'coasting' secondary schools, and to bid for targeted support from a new £40 million fund, as part of a strategy aimed at schools where pupils were not fulfilling their potential and should be making better progress.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 13 November 2008, columns 62-63WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Gaining Ground: Improving progress in coasting secondary schools, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Hansard | DCSF press release | Strategy | NAHT press release | NUT press release | Voice press release | ADCS press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Nov
The inspectorate for education and children's services in England published its annual report for 2007-08. It said that almost two-thirds of inspected schools were rated good or outstanding – up 5 percentage points from 2005-06; the proportion of good or outstanding childcare and early education stood at record levels, at around two-thirds; and around two-thirds of social care providers were judged as good or outstanding. But too many children and young people were still receiving services that were 'patently inadequate' – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Source: The Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills 2007/08, HC 1114, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | DCSF press release | ADCS press release | NUT press release | ATL press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | BBC report | Community Care report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Nov
A think-tank report said that the validity of school inspection judgements by Ofsted was heavily undermined by its failure to properly investigate schools; and that inspection judgements were largely determined before inspectors had even entered schools, and were based on information which even Ofsted admitted was unsound.
Source: Anastasia de Waal (ed.), Inspecting the Inspectorate, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Civitas press release | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Nov
The inspectorate for education and children's services began consultation on a proposed standard set of school-level indicators which would recognize and reward schools for their contribution to pupils' well-being. Schools could contribute to well-being by (for example) providing a safe environment in which bullying was not tolerated; by teaching children about healthy eating and the risks of drug and alcohol abuse; and by helping to develop children's self-esteem and social skills.
Source: Indicators of a School's Contribution to Well-Being, HMI 080195, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Consultation document | OFSTED press release | DCSF press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Oct
The government announced that it was ending, with immediate effect, the requirement for schools to run national tests for children at age 14. Compulsory national tests at the end of key stage 3 would be replaced by improved classroom assessment by teachers, and frequent reporting to parents in years 7, 8, and 9. The government announced plans to introduce a new school 'report card', to give parents a 'new, simpler and more comprehensive' way of understanding schools' performance and achievements.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 14 October 2008, columns 673-687, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCSF press release | QCA press release | Ofqual press release | GTC press release | NUT press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | SSAT press release | ADCS press release | Durham University press release | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report | BBC report | FT report | Telegraph report | Socialist Worker report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report identified areas where the government had failed to implement the 'right to education' in England. Children in custody and in immigration detention centres did not have a statutory right to education; many of the 135,000 children each year who were unable to attend school did not receive appropriate, suitable alternative educational provision; the 100,000 children 'missing' from school each year were not identified and provided with education; there was a lack of suitable educational provision for children with special education needs and disabilities; bullying was still widespread across schools; a large number of children continued to be excluded from school each year; and children were denied the right to participate in many decisions affecting their education.
Source: Kirsten Anderson, Joanne Claridge, Kamena Dorling, and Erica Hall, State of the Right to Education in England: Alternative report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the implementation of the right to education in England, Children's Legal Centre (01206 872 466)
Links: CLC press release
Date: 2008-Sep
Consultants developed a comparative fact-base for an analysis of the performance of England's education system and high-performing systems overseas. Many school reforms implemented in England were shown to be world-leading: but they were not yet delivering consistently world-class teaching for every student, in every classroom in every school. Performance improvements were levelling off, and performance still had a stronger link to socio-economic background than was the case in the world's best systems.
Source: McKinsey & Company, Excellence and Equity: Making England's schools system world class, Research Brief RBX-12-08, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Brief
Date: 2008-Aug
The inspectorate for education and children's services reviewed the different types of school performance data available to people working with schools. These data, if used intelligently, could inform judgements about the strengths and weaknesses of schools, and help to secure the improvements needed for the children attending them. The challenge was to investigate the clues that data gave about effectiveness, and so reveal the underlying story behind the figures. League tables of schools were 'meaningless'. Contextual value added (CVA) scores – taking into account external factors such as poverty – were the best measure of education quality.
Source: Using Data, Improving Schools, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Aug
Reports were published of a tracking study designed to monitor perceptions of the overall quality of state education provision (from primary to higher); and attitudes towards various issues such as children's safety and well-being at school and in the community, and children and young people's role in the community. The majority of all audiences (public, parents, and young people) agreed that it was more difficult for students from lower-income backgrounds to go to university; and that England was a good country to grow up in.
Source: BMG Research, Customer Perception Tracking Research: General Public Survey, Research Report RW058, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260) | BMG Research, Customer Perception Tracking Research: Parents Survey, Research Report RW057, Department for Children, Schools and Families | BMG Research, Customer Perception Tracking Research: Young People Survey, Research Report RW056, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report RW058 | Brief | Report RW057 | Brief | Report RW056 | Brief
Date: 2008-Aug
A report examined the effects of the school environment on young people's attitudes to education and learning. A 'before and after' survey of students at a new academy school suggested a strong association between the move to new surroundings and students' outlooks regarding their experience of school and their expectations for the future.
Source: Peter Rudd, Frances Reed and Paula Smith, The Effects of the School Environment on Young People's Attitudes Towards Education and Learning, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Date: 2008-Jul
The government began consultation on proposed changes to the legislation on schools causing concern. Local education authorities would be required to consider formal warning notices when these were 'clearly justified' by a school's performance.
Source: Proposals for Revisions to Legislation for Schools Causing Concern, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | DCSF press release | Community Care report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jul
The inspectorate for education and children's services identified the most important actions that had led to sustained improvement in schools in 'special measures'. It highlighted 'strong leadership, self-knowledge and a strong school identity'.
Source: Sustaining Improvement: The journey from special measures, HMI 070221, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jun
Researchers examined whether the recent increase in school expenditure had made any difference to the attainment of pupils leaving primary school (key stage 2). They found that an increase of £1,000 in average school expenditure per pupil would raise the number of pupils attaining the expected standard at age 11 (level 4) by 2.2, 2.0, and 0.7 percentage points respectively in English, maths, and science.
Source: Helena Holmlund, Sandra McNally and Martina Viarengo, Impact of School Resources on Attainment at Key Stage 2, Research Report 43, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2008-Jun
An article said that school league tables were not fit for purpose, and that it was time that their publication should cease.
Source: Harvey Goldstein and George Leckie, 'School league tables: what can they really tell us?', Significance, Volume 5 Issue 2
Links: Abstract | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
The government launched a 'National Challenge' initiative, designed to ensure that every secondary school in England met the target of having at least 30 per cent of its pupils achieving 5 'good' (grade A*-C) GCSEs (including English and maths) by 2011. It asked local authorities to set out, by the end of the 2008 school summer term, individual action plans for the 638 schools where the target was not being met. It said that it would double the £200 million previously announced in the Budget to £400 million to help local authorities and schools achieve the target. Schools that failed to meet the target would be closed and re-opened under new management. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Promoting Excellence for All: School Improvement Strategy – Raising standards, supporting schools, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Strategy | National Challenge toolkit | Hansard | DCSF press release | LGA press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
The inspectorate for education and children's services published its annual report for 2007-08.
Source: Departmental Report 2007-08, Cm 7407, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-May
An article compared the official value-added scores in 2005 for all primary schools in three adjacent local educational authorities in England with the raw-score key stage 2 results for the same schools. The relationship between the two scores was so strong as to cast doubt on the usefulness and reliability of the value-added measure.
Source: Stephen Gorard, 'The value-added of primary schools: what is it really measuring?', Educational Review, Volume 60 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that a 'certain amount' of national testing at key points in a child's school career was necessary in order to provide a standardized means of measuring educational attainment: but recently the government had emphasized central control of the education system through testing and associated targets and performance tables, placing test results in a 'new and more complex context' with wide-ranging consequences. The use of national test results for the purpose of school accountability had resulted in some schools emphasizing the maximization of test results at the expense of a more rounded education for their pupils.
Source: Testing and Assessment, Third Report (Session 2007-08), HC 169, House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | GTCE press release | NUT press release | NASUWT press release | PAT press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-May
The inspectorate for education and children's services began consultation on proposals for more frequent inspections for schools that were inadequate or satisfactory, but not improving; and a longer interval for those judged good or outstanding.
Source: A Focus on Improvement: Proposals for maintained school inspections from September 2009, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Consultation document | NUT press release | NASUWT press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-May
The education inspectorate in Wales said that local authorities and schools were not all making the best use of data available to them in order to identify and challenge poor performance and share good practice.
Source: The Use of Performance Data in Local Authorities and Schools, HM Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (029 2044 6446)
Links: Report | HMCIETW press release
Date: 2008-Mar
Researchers found that both teachers' classroom practice and overall school-level factors made a significant difference to children's academic and social/behavioural progress during primary school (after controlling for the influence of child, family, and home factors, and prior attainment).
Source: Pam Sammons et al., The Influence of School and Teaching Quality on Children's Progress in Primary School, Research Report 028, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2008-Mar
The government announced (in the Budget) that extra money would be given to help under-performing schools in England. £200 million would be allocated to a programme designed to ensure all schools had 30 per cent or more of their pupils reaching the standard of 5 'good' GCSEs including maths and English. The deadline for this target to be achieved would be brought forward a year, to 2011. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Budget 2008: Stability and opportunity – building a strong, sustainable future, HC 388, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Budget Report | Hansard | HMT press release | LGA press release | TUC press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report said that schools rebuilt under the private finance initiative produced better GCSE results more quickly than those rebuilt conventionally. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Investment in School Facilities and PFI: Do they play a role in educational outcomes?, KPMG (020 7311 1000)
Date: 2008-Feb
The education inspectorate in Wales published its annual report for 2006-07. The gap between the best and worst performing schools in Wales had widened.
Source: The Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales: 2006-2007, HM Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (029 2044 6446)
Links: Report | HMCIETW press release | WLGA press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Feb
A study examined the relationships between secondary school, primary school, neighbourhood, and educational achievement. The results showed a negative relationship between pupil mobility and achievement, the strength of which depended greatly on the nature and timing of these moves. Accounting for pupil mobility also revealed that schools and neighbourhoods were more important than shown by previous analysis. A strong primary school effect appeared to last long after a child had left that phase of schooling. The additional impact of neighbourhoods, on the other hand, was small.
Source: George Leckie, Modelling the Effects of Pupil Mobility and Neighbourhood on School Differences in Educational Achievement, Working Paper 08/189, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol (0117 954 6943)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2008-Feb
Four linked reports examined the governance, funding, and reform of primary education in England. The United Kingdom came 18th out of 29 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in terms of expenditure on primary education. Central control in key areas of education had been strengthened through a 'state theory of learning' based on the idea that the repeated testing of pupils, a national curriculum, and mandatory teaching of numeracy and literacy would raise standards. Improvements in standards had been achieved by many pupils over two decades of reform: but there had been a decrease in the overall quality of primary education, because of the narrowing of the curriculum and the intensity of test preparation. There was a tendency for 'narrowly-focused inspection' to distort the curriculum.
Source: Dominic Wyse, Elaine McCreery and Harry Torrance, The Trajectory and Impact of National Reform: Curriculum and assessment in English primary schools, Research Survey 3/2, The Primary Review/Faculty of Education/University of Cambridge (01223 767523) | Peter Cunningham and Philip Raymont, Quality Assurance in English Primary Education, Research Survey 4/3, The Primary Review | Philip Noden and Anne West, The Funding of English Primary Education, Research Survey 10/1, The Primary Review | Maria Balarin and Hugh Lauder, The Governance and Administration of English Primary Education, Research Survey 10/2, The Primary Review
Links: Report 3/2 | Report 4/3 | Report 10/1 | Report 10/2 | Review press release | LSE press release | NUT press release | GTC press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2008-Feb
The Northern Ireland Executive began consultation on its strategy for raising school standards. It highlighted a need to reward significant improvement – at the same time as dealing more effectively with those schools at risk of failing their pupils and parents, and the communities they served.
Source: Every School A Good School: A policy for school improvement, Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Consultation document | NIE press release
Date: 2008-Jan
Researchers examined pupil and school effects on children's well-being during primary school. Most children experienced positive well-being in primary school. It was children's individual experiences – such as bullying, victimization, and friendships, and their beliefs about themselves and their environment – which mainly affected their well-being, rather than school-level factors such as type of school.
Source: Leslie Gutman and Leon Feinstein, Children's Well-Being in Primary School: Pupil and School Effects, Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning/Institute of Education (020 7612 6291)
Links: Report | Brief | CRWBL press release
Date: 2008-Jan
League tables were published showing a big drop in 2007 in the number of schools in England below the government's 'floor target' of getting at least 30 per cent of their pupils to attain 5 higher level (A*-C) GCSEs or equivalent (including English and maths). The proportion was down from over half of all schools in 1997 to around 1 in 5. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Press release 10 January 2008, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0870 000 2288)
Links: DCSF press release | Tables | ISC press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jan