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Allan Beavis: How effective can Gove’s school reforms be if the government fails to tackle child poverty?

There has been much fighting talk from Education Secretary Michael Gove in recent weeks, perhaps to quash increasing criticism of his education policies and to give some much needed spin to the ideologies that he is convinced will raise standards in our schools. According to him, anyone who opposes his reforms are happy with failure and this attitude is typical ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Even minor differences between children’s home lives can have a significant impact on pre-school development, says a report from the Resolution Foundation which featured in TES (13 Jan 2012). The analysts rated households by their before-tax household income* as follows: low ......"

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Janet Downs: School intake governs academic achievement, says IFS report

League table information based on the percentage of Year 11 pupils who gained five or more A* to C GCSE is “frequently misinterpreted as a measure of the quality or educational effectiveness of schools. Such an interpretation is invalid as no recognition is made for intake differences between schools in pupils’ academic abilities: the highest-scoring schools are largely those that ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "This is really important as it invalidates the whole basis of the 1988 Baker Education Act, league tables and the rationale for competion between schools. The fact is that bright children tend to get high grades in exams, as they ......"

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