Posts Tagged schools
Short-selling our most precious assets
Posted by Anastasia de Waal in Education on 16/03/2009
Over the last decade the government has made a number of attempts to revolutionise the teaching profession, some less successful than others. The most recent proposition is particularly questionable. The plan is to implement a ‘fast track’ teacher training course, in which candidates are fully trained and working in the classroom within six months. As if this was not controversial enough, it is said to be geared towards ex-City workers. Read the rest of this entry »
Why are so many heads rolling?
Posted by Anastasia de Waal in Education on 09/03/2009
On Friday the Times Educational Supplement brought to our attention the numbers of secondary school head teachers removed from their posts last year: a staggering 150. The article claims that it is generally heads of challenging schools not ‘turning their schools around fast enough’ who have suffered. Surely with this kind of ‘pro-active’ behaviour the British state school system should be safely on its way to excellence. However, some might say this sudden proliferation of head teachers losing their jobs is deeply alarming.
The end of the B.Ed: one step forward or two steps back?
Posted by Anastasia de Waal in Education on 02/03/2009
Rumour has it that the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) is facing the axe. According to the Times Educational Supplement, university education departments are claiming that the government is planning to ‘kill off’ undergraduate teacher training. Whilst the claim has yet to be confirmed, it has brought a pressing matter to the fore. Since the inceptions of the graduate training routes – the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, Teach First and the Graduate Teacher Programme – the B.Ed has been in decline. Criticisms of the three-four year-long B.Ed revolve around three perceived weaknesses, the first arguably more valid than the others. Firstly, that their current failure to attract the most able students; secondly the perception that they are not cost effective; and thirdly, that the B.Ed ‘only qualifies you to teach’. Given that it is a teaching qualification, this latter criticism in particular, seems somewhat misguided, writes Emily Dew.
Critical Mass: Government’s ‘Small’ Infant Classes Too Big
Posted by Claire Daley in Education on 09/09/2008
Infant classes of 20 or under needed to close the achievement gap
OECD figures out today show how poorly the UK continues to compare internationally on class size. Primary class sizes rank 4th largest at 25.8 (compared to the OECD average of 21.5). Additional government figures reveal that in England’s primary schools in 2007/08 the average class size was even higher, at 26.2 pupils per class. According to the evidence, this matters most in infant classes (for 4-7 year-olds, Reception to Year 2), which rose from 25.6 in 2006/07 to an average of 25.7 pupils per class.
GCSEs – or the poor-man’s equivalent
Posted by Claire Daley in Education on 21/08/2008
Poor quality ‘vocational’ or ‘vocationally related’ qualifications at GCSE are locking both low-income pupils and vocational education into second-class status.
-
Pseudo ‘vocational’ qualifications being used to artificially reach A*-C GCSE targets
-
Poorer pupils more likely to be pushed into vocational qualifications
Out of the thousands of pupils getting their GCSE results today, many will have been sold short with sub-standard vocational qualifications.
A new report from independent think-tank Civitas, School Improvement – or the ‘Equivalent’, shows how a blind focus on the A*-C benchmark, together with a failure to truly improve schools, has led to a scenario in which pupils are being encouraged to opt out of academic courses and into irrelevant so-called ‘vocational’ qualifications to boost national GCSE results.
Survey reveals that 90% of secondary schools find Key Stage 2 Sats results do not reflect pupils’ true abilities
Posted by Nick Cowen in Education on 05/08/2008
On the day the Key Stage 2 Sats results are released, a new report from independent think-tank Civitas, Fast Track to Slow Progress, based on a nationwide survey of 107 secondary schools, reveals that 9 out of 10 secondary school teachers cannot rely on them:
-
90% of secondary school teachers surveyed have found the Key Stage 2 Sats results to be inconsistent with pupils’ true abilities, this last school year
-
79% of secondary school teachers have found that up to a third of their Year 7 year-group’s abilities have been lower than their Key Stage 2 Sats results, this last school year