A report examined the relationship between primary and secondary school governing and school performance in England, and the way this relationship was influenced by the socio-economic setting. School governing was complicated, demanding, hidden from view, and undertaken for no tangible reward. School governors made a significant contribution to their schools and to the education system as a whole.
Source: Chris James et al., The 'Hidden Givers': A study of school governing bodies in England, CfBT Education Trust
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Nov
A think-tank report said that a rapid expansion of the 'free' school programme would raise teaching standards. The best teaching took place in schools that developed their own ways to assess and monitor teaching performance instead of 'sticking rigidly' to government guidance.
Source: Dale Bassett, Andrew Haldenby, Will Tanner and Kimberley Trewhitt, Every Teacher Matters, Reform
Links: Report | Reform press release | ASCL press release | Guardian report | Public Finance report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Nov
Researchers examined the hypothesis that the publication of school performance tables raised school effectiveness, by comparing outcomes in England and Wales before and after the abolition of the tables in Wales. There was 'significant and robust' evidence that the reform markedly reduced school effectiveness in Wales. There was no systematic significant impact on either sorting by ability or by socio-economic status.
Source: Simon Burgess, Deborah Wilson and Jack Worth, A Natural Experiment in School Accountability: The Impact of School Performance Information on Pupil Progress and Sorting, Working Paper10/246, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol
Links: Working paper | Bristol University press release | ASCL press release | NASUWT press release | BBC report
Date: 2010-Nov
A report (by high-achieving graduate teachers working in deprived areas) said that schools often lacked a clear set of values for all staff and pupils to share. A clear set of rules would help combat bad behaviour and boost grades through creating a better environment to learn: but three-quarters of the teachers believed that head teachers were not even interested in promoting a positive culture.
Source: Ethos and Culture in Schools in Challenging Circumstances, Policy First
Links: Report | TeachFirst press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Nov
The inspectorate for education and children's services published its annual report for 2009-10. It said that most children in England got a good start in life. Over two-thirds of providers in the early years and childcare sector were judged to be good or outstanding. There was strong provision, too, in the education and skills sectors. Children and young people were generally well supported by local services when they needed them. However, the quality of teaching in schools and colleges was still too variable.
Source: The Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills 2009/10, HC 559, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills/TSO
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | ASCL press release | ATL press release | LGA press release | NASUWT press release | NCMA press release | NIACE press release | NUT press release | REC press release | SSAT press release | BBC report | Nursery World report | Children & Young People Now report | Community Care report (1) | Community Care report (2) | Guardian report | Public Finance report
Date: 2010-Nov
An article examined how the efforts exerted by children, parents, and schools affected the outcomes of the education process, using data from the National Child Development Study. Parents' efforts towards their child's educational achievement was crucial – playing a more significant role than that of the school or child, and reinforcing educational inequalities.
Source: Gianni De Fraja, Tania Oliveira and Luisa Zanchi, 'Must try harder: evaluating the role of effort in educational attainment', Review of Economics and Statistics, Volume 92 Number 3
Links: Abstract | Leeds University press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2010-Oct
An audit report said that many academy schools were performing 'impressively' in delivering the programme's intended improvements. Most academies were achieving greater rates of improvement in academic attainment than their predecessor schools. It could not be assumed, however, that academies' performance to date was an accurate predictor of how the model would perform when generalized more widely.
Source: The Academies Programme, HC 288 (Session 2010-11), National Audit Office/TSO
Links: Report | NAO press release | ATL press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Sep
A report sought to define the key features of a successful 'self-improving' school system. A higher calibre of school leadership and an increase in the number of partnerships between schools presented an opportunity for a new vision of school improvement.
Source: David Hargreaves, Creating a Self-Improving School System, National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services
Links: Report | NCSL press release
Date: 2010-Sep
An article said that the previous Labour government's emphasis on results statistics threatened to undermine state education in the long run.
Source: Warwick Mansell, 'Has New Labour's numbers drive done lasting damage to state education?', FORUM: for promoting 3-19 comprehensive education, Volume 52 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Aug
An article reported a case study of an English secondary school in the three years following its release from 'special measures'. Although in many respects the school was maintaining its improvement, some middle and senior managers were suspicious about the long-term effects of becoming an institution seemingly built around passing inspection.
Source: Jane Perryman, 'Improvement after inspection', Improving Schools, Volume 13 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Aug
An audit report reviewed the data systems used to support delivery of the Labour government's public service agreement 10 – to 'raise the educational achievement of all children and young people' – over the period from 2008.
Source: Review of the Data Systems for Public Service Agreement 10, National Audit Office
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jun
An audit report reviewed the data systems used to support delivery of the Labour government's public service agreement 10 – to 'raise the educational achievement of all children and young people' – over the period from 2008.
Source: Review of the Data Systems for Public Service Agreement 10, National Audit Office
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jun
A study examined the usefulness of performance tables to parents choosing a school for their children. Using performance tables was found to be strongly better than choosing at random: a child who attended the highest-performing school within their choice set would do better than the average outcome in their choice set twice as often as they would do worse.
Source: Rebecca Allen and Simon Burgess, Evaluating the Provision of School Performance Information for School Choice, Working Paper 241, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol
Links: Working paper
Date: 2010-Jun
The inspectorate for education and children's services released official data showing outcomes for the first two terms of the new school inspection framework, which was introduced in September 2009. Over one-quarter of schools (28 per cent) had improved their grade; nearly half (48 per cent) maintained the same grade as their previous inspection; and nearly one-quarter (24 per cent) went down.
Source: Inspection Judgements 2009/10 for Maintained Schools: Autumn and Spring Term, HMI 20100005, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | NUT press release | NASUWT press release | Children & Young People Now report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Jun
An article examined the characteristics of effective schools serving socially disadvantaged communities in England. It highlighted the importance of high expectations, and the development of classroom and school-wide systems to translate these into practice.
Source: John Holford, Laura Engel and Helena Pimlott-Wilson, 'Effectiveness, inequality and ethos in three English schools', International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 30 Issue 3/4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
A paper said that educational expenditure had increased enormously under the Labour government – but that it was still only just above the average for industrialized countries. There was 'robust evidence' that the increase in school expenditure between 2002 and 2007 had led to a modest increase in educational attainment.
Source: Sandra McNally, Evaluating Education Policies: The evidence from economic research, Centre for Economic Performance/London School of Economics
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Apr
The inspectorate for education and children's services in England published official data showing inspection outcomes for the first four months of its new inspection framework – reflecting a sharper focus on weaker schools. It said that by emphasizing the overall achievement of all pupils, in particular their progress as well as the quality of classroom teaching and learning, it was providing the 'additional challenge' to schools that the new inspections were intended to provide.
Source: Press release 10 March 2010, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: OFSTED press release | NUT press release | ATL press release | NAHT press release | ASCL press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Mar
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the accountability of schools in England. It rejected criticism that its schools agenda was too confusing for schools to implement.
Source: School Accountability: Responses from the Government and Ofsted to the First Report of the Committee, Third Special Report (Session 2009-10), HC 486, House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee/TSO
Links: Response | MPs report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Mar
The inspectorate for education and children's services examined the effectiveness of the 'National Strategies' programmes (professional programmes designed to deliver government learning priorities in schools). Almost all the schools visited considered that the National Strategies had contributed to improving the quality of teaching and learning and the use of assessment, and valued their materials. However, the frequent introduction of new initiatives had led to overload and diminished their potential effectiveness. Evaluation of the impact of the programmes was also a weakness at national and local level.
Source: The National Strategies: A Review of Impact, HMI 080270, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Local Government Chronicle report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Feb
A report used individual-level longitudinal data to analyze the impact of the New Deal for Communities programme on educational attainment for children living in NDC areas between 2002 and 2007. Although there was little evidence of programme-wide change, significant changes in attainment could be seen in some sub-groups and in some NDC partnerships.
Source: Kate Wilkinson and David McLennan, Narrowing the Gap? Analysing the impact of the New Deal for Communities programme on educational attainment, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Oxford University press release | Telegraph report | Times Education Supplement report
Date: 2010-Feb
An article examined 'high stakes' testing in England, where system-wide market-oriented reforms had been introduced into the school-based education system. It focused on the consequences of such testing in terms of accountability, teaching, learning, and resourcing. Serious consequences were associated with the testing regime – but also doubts about the validity of the test results, and concerns about whether a focus on high stakes test results was meeting the needs of society more generally.
Source: Anne West, 'High stakes testing, accountability, incentives and consequences in English schools', Policy & Politics, Volume 38 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Feb
Researchers examined the provision of supplementary schools (offering out-of-school-hours educational opportunities, mainly to children from minority-ethnic communities), and their contribution to the education sector. Pupils attending supplementary schools derived immense support from them, due to more concentrated teacher-pupil time, and the different ethos created by the schools.
Source: Uvanney Maylor et al., The Impact of Supplementary Schools on Pupils' Attainment: An investigation into what factors contribute to educational improvements, Research Report RR210, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Date: 2010-Feb
Tables were published giving school-level information on the achievement of students in secondary schools in England in 2009. The number of 'National Challenge' schools – where fewer than 30 per cent of pupils got five 'good' GCSEs including English and maths – had fallen to 247 from 439 in the previous year and around 1,600 in 1997. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: 2009 Secondary School (GCSE and Equivalent) Achievement and Attainment Tables, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Tables | DCSF press release | NUT press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | ISC press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government had subjected schools in England to a 'bewildering' array of new initiatives, and this had in many ways negated efforts to simplify the school accountability system.
Source: School Accountability, First Report (Session 2009-10), HC 88, House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee/TSO
Links: Report | GTC press release | NUT press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | Voice press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Jan