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Janet Downs: Look at how schools enrich learning and develop “independence, spirit of enquiry and practical skills” as well as exam success, says new report

“…the vision for the student experience includes high expectations for examination success, but it should also acknowledge the ways in which education enriches learning and develops students’ independence, spirit of enquiry and practical skills.” So ends the introduction to a selection of essays published by the Wellcome Institute. The report, entitled “Effects from Accountabilities”, contains contributions from, among others, Andreas Schleicher ... read more and comment →

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Janet Downs: The “often negative approach” towards teachers “didn’t work”, says ex-schools minister who seemed to understand that most top-performing countries work with teacher unions

Teachers are “key players” which must be in the front of ministers’ minds when education policies are decided, said ex-schools minister, Gillian Shephard, quoted in TES. Shephard became Education Secretary at the tail end of the last Conservative Government when she replaced John Patten who refused to talk to teachers. She knew the Conservatives weren’t likely to win the 1997 election ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Terence Donovan: "The idea of Mr Hayes being referred to as a 'left wing Herbert' is priceless. Thank you...."

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Janet Downs: Collaboration is key to success, says OECD’s deputy education director, but has he been misled into believing academy programme will increase school autonomy?

Andreas Schleicher* (TES 8 March 2013) is correct - children benefit when schools collaborate and share best practice. This was the lesson of the London Challenge which, contrary to Gove's rhetoric, had little to do with sponsored academies and everything to do with support and co-operation. However, Schleicher has been misled if he thinks the academies programme is required to bring ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Thanks, Rosie, for the link to the Schleicher lecture. I've summarised the PISA findings on the factors which are shared by high-performing school systems and posted them here: http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2013/03/what-do-high-performing-school-systems-have-in-common-oecd-guru-summarises-pisa-findings/..."

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Janet Downs: Exams and assessment – what happens in the 34 OECD countries?

Examinations and assessment are hot topics at the moment. It’s perhaps time to look at what happens in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). National examinations are summative (they measure performance at the end of a stage of education). Assessment is formative (it’s used as feedback for evaluation and to inform teaching). No other OECD country places ... read more and comment →

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Janet Downs: Gove’s guru outlines risks of academies programme

Michael Gove admires Andreas Schleicher, deputy director for education at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Gove has described him as “the most important man in English Education.” But Schleicher, speaking exclusively to TES, said the academies programme carried risks: 1 Less cooperation between schools. 2 A widening achievement gap between schools. According to TES, Schleicher has a “nuanced” view of academies. He ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Thanks, Rebecca. I hadn't seen the proposal to change the admission criteria of a former, non-faith community school, now an academy, to change its admission criteria to give precedence to children of a particular faith. This is another worrying development ......"

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Janet Downs: Innovation is inhibited by league tables not by lack of freedom says Commission

It’s a central plank of the Government’s flagship academy programme: if schools want to innovate then they must free themselves from local authority "control" and become academies. But the Academies Commission found it’s not lack of freedom that’s preventing schools from innovating. It’s league tables and Ofsted. The Commission wrote that it had “heard considerable evidence that the current accountability framework inhibits change and innovation.” ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Graham Stuart, chair of the Education Select Committee, said in the EBacc debate: "...our accountability is driven and focused to an obsessive and damaging extent. It pushes schools to focus desperately on trying to get people over the line, and yet ......"

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Janet Downs: Schools already have considerable freedoms, says Academies Commission. Why, then, do schools need to convert to gain “freedom”?

The Government’s said it again and again: schools need to become academies in order to gain “autonomy” and “freedom from local authority control”. But the Academies Commission admitted that UK schools already have considerable freedoms. Among other evidence they cite the findings of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2009 before the Coalition took power*. “The reality is that ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "And there's more: converter academies "could have implemented the innovations they were considering (mostly in the area of curriculum development) as a maintained school." This rather explodes the myth about "innovation". The Department for Education is being strangely quiet about the Academies ......"

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Janet Downs: A brilliant BrightBlue idea: yet another right-wing think-tank promotes for-profit schools

A Conservative think-tank proposes for-profit schools, the Independent revealed today. It’s not the first right-wing think-tank to push this line.  Policy Exchange has done it, even getting Gove's approval before the last election. So has the Adam Smith Institute. BrightBlue is just the latest. No doubt there’ll be more before the election – softening up the voters to view private sector ... read more and comment →

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Janet Downs: Are Gove’s “bespoke” reforms turning to rags?

“Last month the Government published a schools white paper that so precisely addresses the key lessons of Pisa 2009 that it could easily be mistaken for a bespoke response to it.” So said Michael Gove, education secretary, in a TES article published shortly after the publication of the 2009 PISA* results which were hailed as proof that the UK education ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "It would be more healthy if you constructively criticised my point rather than trying to destroy my right to make it by labeling me as being insane and therefore unqualified to comment Morten. In doing so you are precisely replicating the ......"

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Janet Downs: Focus on exams at 18 and get the curriculum right first, says CBI

The question “What is education for?” should be discussed before accountability, says the CBI report First Steps: “getting curriculum reform right is vital.” It recommends a core curriculum (Maths, English, Science, Computer Science) supported by no less important “enabler” subjects. It opposes an overly-prescriptive primary curriculum and warns against a return to rote learning. The report argues that the present examination ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Ricky - thanks for the requested evidence about manufacturing output. I was pleasantly surprised that output in 2007 was so high. However, this isn't translated into employment which is the point I was attempting to make (badly): in ......"

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