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Janet Downs: Today’s pupils are aspirational and an exam system should motivate not demoralise them, academics concluded

The Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment (OUCEA) has summarised research evidence which relates to proposed reforms of GCSE. OUCEA found: 1 International test data shows no decline in the performance of English students 2 International test data can’t simply be taken at face value and need to be interpreted carefully. 3 Grade inflation at GCSE hasn’t been established. (a) Rises in grades might ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Gratton Mulcrow: "A very useful summary. Many thanks Janet...."

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Fiona Millar: Labour and schools

The Observer newspaper carried a couple of  articles at the weekend about an alleged mid-term wobble  for Labour. This seemed to be largely based on a slight drop in the opinion polls, a few attacks from  ageing Blairites and George Osborne's intervention in the welfare debate using the horrific story of the Derby benefit claimant who set fire to his ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Tubby Isaacs: "Indeed. Some of us might think the £300k Liddington paid himself was a bit like profit making...."

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Henry Stewart: Public Accounts Committee Produces Damning Report on Academies Programme

(Local Schools Network press release in response to Public Accounts Committee report, April 23rd) The Public Accounts Committee today reports that a £1 billion overspend at the Department of Education “has been caused by the excessively complex and inefficient academy funding system”. Despite having a majority of Conservative MPs, the Committee has delivered a report that is highly critical of the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Ivan - I suspect that supporters of the Government are going to pick up and run with the item in the 2011 OECD Economic Survey of the UK which said that Local Authorities (LAs) only distributed £3,000 of every £4,000 ......"

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LocalSchoolsNetwork: PAC Press Notice: Managing the Expansion of the Academies Programme

This is the press release issued by the Public Accounts Committee, after its report on the £1 billion overspend identified by the National Audit Office in the government's academies programme:   The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, today said: “Academy schools lie outside local authority control and are directly accountable to central government. It is therefore ... read more and comment →

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Janet Downs: Concern over curriculum proposals inspires petition asking Gove to address these issues instead of saying, “Yada, Yada”.

A petition calling on Education Secretary Michael Gove to address concerns about the proposed curriculum made headlines in the Independent last week. The petition raised several issues: 1 Three of the four experts on the advisory panel for the National Curriculum had resigned because Gove both ignored and misrepresented their concerns. 2 Gove ignores the comprehensive and independent Cambridge Review of the Primary ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Sally: "Research this conversion and you will see why I have shared this petition. If you choose not to agree then simply dont sign it. Thanks for your time...."

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Roger Titcombe: Grade Inflation

In addressing the astonishing grade inflation that has been a feature of the English education system since 1988 it is informative to consider the proportion of the normal cognitive ability distribution (percentile) that historically each grade was meant to reflect. Henry should be very familiar with these data as the school of which he is Chair of Governors is part ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Grade inflation at GCSE hasn’t been established. That's the conclusion of a recent OUCEA report which I've summarised here: http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2013/04/todays-pupils-are-aspirational-and-an-exam-system-should-motivate-not-demoralise-them-academics-concluded/..."

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Francis Gilbert: Our children must learn to be independent; too much school can harm that…

My pupils were quite upset today because they were very worried that they would lose their school holidays and have to stay in school until midnight. They’d watched the news items on the BBC saying that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, is planning to shorten the school holidays and lengthen the school day. None of my students were keen on ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "Guest (no button) - As far as I am aware all schools provide sport, music and drama now. If they don't then they could and should. I think the outcome you seek is best achieved by enabling schools to be ......"

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Janet Downs: Trouble at two academy chains: AET banned from expanding and E-Act gets a warning

“I believe that chains such as the Harris group, Ark or the United Learning Trust are doing an amazing job on the ground, working with local authorities and turning round schools in the worst condition. As far as I am concerned, they should grow at the fastest sustainable rate,” said Education Secretary Michael Gove in July 2011 shortly after ULT, ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "It seems that E-Act isn't too hot at comprehension either. E-Act’s Director General, Sir Bruce Leddington, wrote on E-Act's website: ‘The [Academies Commission] report is right to acknowledge “the overwhelming success” of the academies programme to date.’ http://www.e-act.org.uk/academies-commission-report/ But it ......"

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Francis Gilbert: Will the EBacc lead to a narrowing of the curriculum? Ex school minister wants to bring back 1908 exams…

I debated the issue of the English Baccalaureate at the Spectator's schools conference this week with the ex-schools minister Nick Gibb, an Oxford classicist, and Anthony Seldon. The debate was perhaps most notable for the argument I had with Nick Gibb, which I've already blogged about here. The substance of it is worth considering in depth because I believe it ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Francis Gilbert: "Thanks for informing us about this, I'll look into this, and yes, I would be interested in knowing more, I'll email you!..."

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Henry Stewart: The Myth of Grade Inflation: Why English GCSE A-Cs Should be Higher

This week's TES has a comprehensive article by William Stewart on GCSE grading, asking if exam results will ever rise again. This explains the introduction of "comparable outcomes", that grades are not just based upon actual student performance in the exam but on benchmarking to that cohort's previous Key Stage 2 results. Does this mean that there is no possibility of ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Henry Stewart: "The view that GCSE exams have not been dumbed down has been backed up by research fom Oxford University: http://bit.ly/12PBC5N "Evidence does not point to a general pattern of decline in cognitive demand of examination questions."..."

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