Michael Gove

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Roger Titcombe: The dangers of common sense

It is ‘common sense’ that grouping children of similar ability will result in better teaching and learning. Similarly, that boys will learn better without the distraction of girls, and that girls will also benefit from single sex groups because this will free them from competition for the esteem of boys and allow them to learn without the disruption caused by ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Thanks for this excellent post Roger. I share your fears. I've found in practice that mixed ability teaching brings many advantages. However it is not necessary to do it all the time to achieve those advantages...."

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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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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Marigold - your'e right to point out that distinction. It was as a community school NOT an academy that Cuckoo Hall was judged outstanding. The 2001 inspection, when Mr R Allen was the head, said: "This is a very ......"

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Janet Downs: Is this the revenge of the Mr Men?

“Before he rushes to judgment about young people, Michael Gove should make sure he has researched the evidence thoroughly. Otherwise he risks coming across as Mr Sloppy," said Tristram Hunt, Labour education spokesman and historian. Hunt was commented on the news, which first appeared here, that all but one of Gove’s surveys which supposedly proved teenagers’ ignorance of history were unreliable. But ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "A Cooper - the same names keep recurring in Gove's speeches. Academy A is praised because the principal's opened a free school or two; Academy Chain B is praised because it's hoovering up "failing" schools; Academy C is praised ......"

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Fiona Millar: Michael Gove praises LSN and Blue Labour’s Maurice Glasman hints at a return to “stakeholder governance”

Last night I went to an interesting debate at the London School of Economics. The Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove and Labour peer Lord Glasman , author of Blue Labour and involved in the party’s policy review, were discussing who “owns” the concept of One Nation, originated by Benjamin Disraeli and appropriated by Labour leader Ed Miliband in ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Peter Prince: "The FAQ 'What risks did the NAO describe in its report about delivering public services through markets?' exemplifies why the FAQ section here, as currently structured, may not be as useful as it could be. The NAO report describes both the ......"

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Janet Downs: Middlemarch – should it be read just to impress or for enjoyment?

When Middlemarch was filmed in Stamford, the local book shop filled its window with copies of the book. Many people bought it. A local dentist (whose surgery was turned into a Middlemarch dress shop) told me he hadn't found any of his patients* who'd actually finished it. Shortly afterwards I read that a well-known journalist (sorry, can't remember the name) ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by agov: "You should Janet. It's wonderful. It's on my list of thing to re-read soon-ish...."

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Henry Stewart: The Remarkable Research of Janet Downs

The FOI debate between Janet Downs and the Department for Education, over Michael Gove's mis-use of surveys to claim modern teenagers were ignorant, hit the headlines today. So far it has been covered in the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Huffington Post. Regular readers of Local Schools Network will know Janet's work well. She is renowned for digging out obscure facts ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Peter Prince: "It might aid the readership here if genuine FAQs were separated out from what appears to be a series of highly selective P.R. rebuttal briefing guides on various Education orientated reports. For example, the answer to the FAQ ‘What problems do ......"

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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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Keith Turvey: Another Free School Anyone?

Oh yes here we go again. Some may have seen the spread in the Independent yesterday, as Hove goes head-to-head with Gove. See the story here Hove vs Gove: There are plans to locate the new school on a much-used green field site in a densely populated area that is already very well used by several local schools and the community. What ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Keith Turvey: "Also having said all of that I still believe LA-level organisation of admissions is the best way to move towards greater fairness in admissions. LA level admissions procedures are also I believe more democratic and open to scrutiny...."

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Janet Downs: Do English pupils work shorter hours? Channel 4 FactCheck and FullFact sift through the evidence.

Channel 4 FactCheck and FullFact came to the same conclusion as this site: English pupils spend more hours in the classroom than the OECD average. Channel 4 found data about East Asian top performers was “frustratingly incomplete, with information about hours spent at school in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Japan missing. The partial data we have suggests that Japanese pupils ... read more and comment →

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Melissa Benn: Unnerving Thought For The Day: wealth secures educational advantage!

Surreal discussion on the Today programme this morning on the sharp rise in private tutoring, particularly in London. The item was based on an Evening Standard article, which reported complaints from Ben Thomas, head of prep school Thomas’s Battersea, that there is now far too much tutoring in the capital — and that pupils’ childhoods are being “swallowed up” because ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Ernest Blackledge: "Buying expensive houses close to state schools and spending swingeing sums on private tuition for those same state pupils is by far and away the most pernicious example of wealth buying educational advantage. It is also the most selfish and parasitical ......"

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