Stories + Views: Media Coverage

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Janet Downs: Times article reads like a parody, but leaves unpleasant taste

I thought the article (Times, 20/5/2013) was a parody. It contained all the usual Gove tropes: describing opponents negatively; showering supporters with fulsome praise; telling teachers to man up and stuff about accelerating “reform”. But the by-line said it was written by Education Secretary, Michael Gove. He began by showing his football-supporting credentials: “I’m used to disappointing Saturday afternoons. A season ticket at Loftus ... read more and comment →

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Janet Downs: DfE abandons surveys and rolls out Ofsted evidence. But does Ofsted agree that teenagers are clueless about history?

Now that the majority of the surveys about young people’s knowledge of history used by Michael Gove have been debunked, the DfE has tried to deflect criticism by citing Ofsted: "… A 2011 report by Ofsted found that many primary school pupils ended up with 'an episodic knowledge of history and their sense of time was unclear'," a spokeswoman for the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Leonard James: ""Roger has claimed quite succinctly why if the DfE quotes a source (in this case Ofsted) and that source doesn’t quite uphold what the DfE says it does then it’s quite legitimate to point this out." But you've gone beyond pointing ......"

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Janet Downs: DfE digs up more “survey’s” – but do they support Gove’s statement that teenagers have “disturbing historical ignorance”?

Today’s young people are uninformed about history – that’s what Education Secretary, Michael Gove, says. In a Mail article, he cited “survey after survey” which displayed “disturbing historical ignorance” among teenagers. But the Department of Education (DfE) could only find one survey when asked*. That survey, by TV Gold, turned out to be targeting all ages not just teenagers. And ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by When A Government Minister’s Data Laundry is Hung Out to Dry… | School of Data - Evidence is Power: "[...] well targeted Freedom of Information request to the UK Department for Education and its consequent report hit the news here recently. It turns out that a claim by Minister for Education, Michael Gove, that [...]..."

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Janet Downs: Could we judge how well you were taught history by your performance in the LSN History Test?

Here are 6 questions about the period 1939 -1969. Answer from memory: 1 Who said, “Ich bin ein Berliner”? (a) Adolf Hitler (b) John F Kennedy (c) A character in the musical “Cabaret” 2 What was the date of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour? 3 Who said, “We are more popular than Jesus”? (a) The Manson family (b) The Tory party after its 1959 ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Adrian Elliott: "The most authoritative recent review of school history appeared in "The Right Kind of History" by David Cannadine, Jenny Keating and Nicola Sheldon (Palgrave MacMillan, 2011) This was a major undertaking, led by one of our foremost historians, which examined ......"

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Janet Downs: Gove distorts history to “prove” teenagers are ignorant of history

“Survey after survey has revealed disturbing historical ignorance, with one teenager in five believing Winston Churchill was a fictional character while 58 per cent think Sherlock Holmes was real,” wrote Education Secretary Michael Gove. But when asked*, the Department for Education (DfE) was unable to say what these surveys were. The DfE could find only one: a survey done by UKTV ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "What amuses me, Trevor, is that people seem to think if teenagers can't answer, say, five random historical questions then that "proves" that history teaching is poor and that "reform" or the curriculum is absolutely necessary to turn round this ......"

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Janet Downs: Free schools “oversubscribed” – again

It’s obviously going to be an annual ritual – an announcement by the DfE that free schools are massively oversubscribed. “Up to 10 children are competing for each place at the Coalition’s flagship free schools amid intense competition for the most sought-after institutions, according to research,” trumpeted the Telegraph. Its headline was, however, rather misleading: the “up to 10” fell to “2.97 ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Dawn Robinson-Walsh: "You may be interested in this petition against the creation of free schools in areas which have surplus school places. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/48854..."

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Janet Downs: School leavers who don’t get 5 GCSEs grade C are still eligible for elementary level jobs, says ONS. So they can’t be “functionally illiterate” then, can they?

In 2012, 97.8% of Year 11 pupils in state-maintained mainstream schools* in England took GCSEs (about 539,000 candidates). 97.1% of these gained 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) graded A*-G. 95.1% passed 5 GCSEs A*-G (or equivalent) including Maths and English. The lower grade GCSEs (D-G) and their vocational equivalents are Level One qualifications. This level will gain entry to what the Office ... read more and comment →

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Janet Downs: Bellicose Gove incites Mail readers to join battle against “Enemies of Promise”

“I refuse to surrender to the Marxist teachers hell bent on destroying schools” thundered Michael Gove in the Mail on Sunday. Gove uses provocative language in his confrontational article to smear those he describes as “Enemies of Promise”. He raises the spectre of Reds under the Beds to attack the 100 academics who savaged the proposed National Curriculum. He described them ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Education in brief: Michael Gove harks back to the past | Education Today: "[...] eagle-eyed retired teacher Janet Downs, writing on the Local Schools Network website, spotted that the anecdote had a familiar ring to it, [...]..."

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Janet Downs: What about the free schools judged to be good? And why is the DfE updating press releases published some time ago?

For the sake of balance I tried to track down the six free schools judged to be "good". I found five of them - if anyone knows the name of the sixth please let me know. Brief details of the five are: Aldborough E-Act. Good. Has surplus places. Ofsted said pupils will be allocated to the school when their local schools ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by agov: "All familiar and very true concerns. Most parents who say verbally that they have no complaints/are happy with a school don't bother to express that on Parent View even when specifically invited when Ofsted are in town...."

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Roger Titcombe: Basic maths

This post tries make to one simple point. It refers to a statement made by David Cameron on 7 March as part of his major speech on the economy. The statement was also made by Schools Minister David Laws on Channel 4 News earlier in the week. The error on which it is based has been repeated by every Education ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Patrick - according to the Government website Gov UK, Level 4 is still the average attainment at the end of Key Stage 2. The page was updated on 14 February 2013 so it can't be dismissed as out-of-date information. https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum/overview As ......"

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