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Janet Downs: Many schools have failed to publish their 2014/15 admissions criteria by the deadline. Can Schools Adjudicator do anything about it?

Schools have a statutory duty to publish their determined admissions criteria for 2014/15 by 15 April 2103. Many have not done so. This makes it impossible for people to read the criteria, which includes a school’s oversubscription policy, and complain to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) by the deadline of 30 June. OSA has no remit to check on ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "Perhaps the most important prospectus information requirement, the standard subject by subject table of numbers of entries and number of passes at each level, was removed in 2005, just as our TES sponsored research into the 100 most improved schools ......"

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Janet Downs: Closing the gap between disadvantaged and advantaged pupils – how far has the Government implemented OECD’s 2011 recommendations? Part 1

The difference in educational performance between disadvantaged and advantaged pupils in the UK is wide. In 2011, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made recommendations (in bold) about how England might close the gap. According to the OECD, how has the Government responded? And how far does this response mesh with reality (author’s words in brackets)? Focus pre-schooling resources ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Regarding value added indicators, Substantial progress could have been made had this government focused on harnessing the capacity of Web2.0 technology to overcome previously insurmountable problems. More here: http://mathseducationandallthat.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/assessing-students-up-to-age-14-much.html..."

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Henry Stewart: The Academies Illusion: What the data reveals

It has become the conventional wisdom, in politics and the press, that academies are an unqualified success and the only route to transform an underperforming school. Analysis of the data does not back up this view. After a reminder of the relative increases in GCSE results in 2012, I look at how different schools use equivalents and likelihood of taking ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Ed Banks: "In a spirit of helpfulness: http://www.education.gov.uk/popularquestions..."

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Janet Downs: Gove needs to carry school leaders with him, says CBI chief

“Whitehall may think it’s playing the right music, [but] too few people are hitting the dance floor,” wrote CBI chief, John Cridland, in the Guardian. Cridland said the education system should not be a barrier to great teaching but must support it. He acknowledges that the system being proposed from Government is not playing well with schools leaders. Those who heckled ... read more and comment →

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John Bolt: Picking up the Pieces after 2015

With less than two years before the next General Election, there is understandably a lot of attention being given to what a different government might do. The one thing we do need to learn from Michael Gove and the Tories is the need to be ready for government, ready to hit the ground running to make the changes that will ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "John - Just saw Balls on TV tonight. His only thought on education post 2015 was not to build quite so many Free Schools. Hopeless - utterly hopeless from the pre-2010 academymeister. Twigg is no better. You have a very long way ......"

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Janet Downs: Schools are supposed to provide independent careers advice by law – but will this be sufficient to stop schools acting in their own interests rather than in their pupils’?

Schools now have a statutory duty to provide independent careers advice and must “act impartially”. They must recognise when it is the “best interests of some pupils to pursue their education in a further education (FE) college or a university technical college (UTC),” says guidance from the Department for Education (DfE). But there’s a conflict of interest here. The Commons Education ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Schools are supposed to provide independent careers advice by law | higheredulinks.com: "[...] Read this article: Schools are supposed to provide independent careers advice by law [...]..."

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Janet Downs: Ofsted Chief Inspector hints at recommendations before publication of report. Is this any way to conduct proper debate?

“Secondary schools face being told to stream pupils by ability after a major inquiry by Ofsted found that state comprehensives were failing large numbers of the brightest children,” said the Telegraph. So where is this major inquiry? You’d expect it to be mentioned on Ofsted’s news page but not a syllable. It appears Sir Michael Wilshaw, Ofsted Chief Inspector, decided to reveal ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Ed Banks: "100! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hEEBVlJ8pA..."

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Francis Gilbert: Where are the dangerous ideas in education? Go to the Dangerous Ideas Festival to find out…

The topics and speakers at the Dangerous Ideas for Dangerous Times festival, taking place this coming Friday and Saturday in London, set me wondering about where the dangerous ideas are in education. The festival's main focus seems to be political issues. Leading political commentators like Tony Benn, Tariq Ali, Owen Jones, Danielle Obono, and Laura Penny are talking about a whole host ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Robin Alexander argues that knowledge of the arts, maths, science and humanities are as relevant today as they were during the last century. BUT this knowledge should not be appropriated by politicians who advocate “a pedagogy from which dialogue ......"

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Roger Titcombe: More on common sense. ‘Thinking fast and slow’

This is the title of the 2011 book by the Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman is a cognitive psychologist at Princeton University and Emeritus Professor of Public Affairs at Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002. He appears to have no background in learning theory or pedagogy and his ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "Thank you John and for John White's blog. You cut to the core of the problem brilliantly. How can educationalists' consensus be transformed into bringing about the necessary permanent changes in our education system? Why is there so little of ......"

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Ivan Godfrey: A petition everyone can sign

I've been completely out of the educational circuit for over a month and am only just working my way through all the recent LSN postings. Hidden deep within one of the older topics in which I had a particular interest, however, was this link to a petition regarding the setting up of free schools. The key line of the petition is that ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Thanks, Adrian, nice to know that Gove's "surveys" aren't being forgotten. Professor Evans was one of those attacked by named by Gove. Professor Evans effectively skewered Gove's list of historians allegedly supporting Gove's position: Gove named "12 distinguished historians ......"

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