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Henry Stewart: Singapore and South Korea look to the future, while Michael Gove looks to the past

How should education systems prepare students for an uncertain future? This question is addressed in the Learning Curve, last week's report from Pearson. It got widespread coverage for its conclusion that  the UK is 6th in the world for educational achievement. However it also found that some of the world's most successful educational systems, especially in Asia, are moving away from ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "Ben - There are many ways of measuring the effectiveness of schools, but I agree that some hard data on attainment and progression of pupils is essential. In Hackney, all pupils take the GL Assessment Cognitive Ability Test (CAT) in ......"

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Janet Downs: Moving backwards to the East – but the East is moving on

Once again Mr Gove shows he is moving away from the high-performing countries he admires. He extolled their curricula but was out-of-step with their proposals. He said he had researched international exam systems so that England could have a system which equals the world’s best but his ideas disregard what these countries are doing (see FAQs above). He has praised ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Funnily enought that's exactly the same point I was making to Nick Gibb today at ACME. I asked him how it was that the government had analysed maths curriculums of the best countries in the world - Finland where maths ......"

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Janet Downs: How much more misleading data will Gove and the DfE publish?

Time and again the Local Schools Network has exposed misrepresentation by Secretary of State, Michael Gove, and the Department for Education. Here are ten examples: 1 Academies perform better than other schools – not true. 2 Converter academies drive up standards – evidence doesn’t exist. 3 Maths standards have fallen over 30 years – Gove misled Commons. 4 Standard of food in academies is ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "I wonder if the West London Free School will link to the Spectator article on their website. There are usually links to Young's articles, blogs and so on and the website's doing a splendid job in promoting his book ......"

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Janet Downs: The Doublethink of standards: zero-tolerance to failure but more pupils are expected to fail

The PM told the House of Commons Liaison Committee that Mr Gove was bringing in "a standards revolution" which would "raise the bar on failure. You have to be very tough on failure. You have to have great rigour in what we teach and the exams that we have. There should be no dumbing-down of standards, and we have to ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Sirkku Nikamaa-Berg: "Instead of increasing time for teaching, testing students more frequently and insisting on more homework, Finland has done the opposite. In primary and lower secondary teachers use various methods of formative assessment (evaluation for learning) in order to support student's ......"

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Janet Downs: “Yes, Minister 2011” Episode 2 – the global search for evidence

Scene: the Christmas recess. Sir Humphrey Appleby sits in an armchair next to a side table with decanter and glass. Background SFX: Carols from King’s. Sir Humphrey is reading an e-mail on his smartphone. It is from the Minister. It reads: “Have you seen TES articles re NC review? Not favourable. Concerned about possible teacher supply crisis. Primary heads fear ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Leonard - it is heartening to read that you "actually agree with some of the LSN's message". It would be useful, therefore, if you could highlight areas of agreement as well as disagreement. It would also be helpful ......"

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Janet Downs: Mr Gove is out-of-step with the countries he admires

Mr Gove said in Parliament that “countries such as Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Hong Kong, Alberta and South Korea all recognise the need to reform their education systems” to justify reforming UK education. However, the reforms that five of these countries propose run counter to Mr Gove’s proposals. Sweden: in 2009 introduced an Education Act which would ensure that municipal and ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by David: "Jargon should always be challenged, in my experience. Jargon is often a hiding place for those who cannot do the job. I have found that the best and most effective teachers use little jargon because they are too busy teaching ......"

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