Sutton trust

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Janet Downs: Two new reports confirm that state school pupils outperform independent ones at university

State school pupils outperform privately-educated pupils with the same A levels at university - that was the conclusion of two university internal reports discovered by the Guardian  using the Freedom of Information Act. According to the Guardian, one study from Cardiff University said: "All other factors being held constant, students from independent schools tend to do less well than students from comprehensive ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "My reference to recreational drugs was an attempt at a joke. I was not implying any difference between state schools and independent schools in respect of use of recreational drugs. If the moderator wishes to delete that reference I would ......"

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Henry Stewart: Time to Allow True “Fair Banding”

In response to this morning's Sutton Trust report this post calls for two key changes in school admissions: 1) Banding should be encouraged and be truly fair, in that it should be able to be based on the distribution of ability in the local area (which is not allowed at the moment) 2) Whatever the nature of the school, admissions should be ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Milos Jankovic: "The first key finding of the reference is: 'Schools were choosing to belong to a range of middle tier bod(ies) which between them provide strategic and operational functions, and a local and national perspective.' So middle tier bodies selected by schools, de ......"

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Melissa Benn: Selective judgements

Today, the Sutton Trust publishes a report on the issue of ‘selective comprehensives’ which is getting a lot of publicity, including a spirited, but somewhat partial, debate on the Today programme, which led to the usual suggestion of increased ballotting and random allocation in order to enable more poor children access to 'good schools.' The report looks at ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "Sorry Melissa and Helen Jarvis - It is not a minor point. I should have been more careful...."

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Janet Downs: Bellicose Gove incites Mail readers to join battle against “Enemies of Promise”

“I refuse to surrender to the Marxist teachers hell bent on destroying schools” thundered Michael Gove in the Mail on Sunday. Gove uses provocative language in his confrontational article to smear those he describes as “Enemies of Promise”. He raises the spectre of Reds under the Beds to attack the 100 academics who savaged the proposed National Curriculum. He described them ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by The Evening Post - Education in brief: Michael Gove harks back to the past: "[...] eagle-eyed retired teacher Janet Downs, writing on the Local Schools Network website, spotted that the anecdote had a familiar ring to it, [...]..."

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Janet Downs: What do high-performing school systems have in common? OECD guru summarises PISA findings.

The three-yearly Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) doesn’t just test pupils’ ability to use the knowledge they have in novel situations. The programme provides a wealth of data which can inform education policy, said Andreas Schleicher* during a recent lecture. PISA found that the most successful school systems tend to be those which are most equitable. These systems don’t just ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "The marking guide is below: http://pisa-sq.acer.edu.au/showQuestion.php?testId=2297&questionId=2 I don't think I'd have scored very highly because I was amused by the blatant attempt by Jago to play on my conscience (all those leading rhetorical questions). Jago was obviously trying to induce guilt ......"

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Janet Downs: Reform will make exams system “on a par with the world’s best”. That’s the rhetoric, but what’s the reality?

Education Secretary, Michael Gove, says his planned GCSE reforms will ensure “the exams system is rigorous, respected and on a par with the world's best.” But is this true? No other high-performing jurisdiction*, apart from little Singapore, has high-stakes tests at 16+. Those countries that use assessment at 16, usually to decide upper-secondary routes, restrict the tests to a small number ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Christopher Newman: "14-18 "A New Vision for Secondary Education " I intend to study again after following this thread. The arbitrary grade C ....why should grade D signify failure! So Michael Gove is going to task a teacher , either university ......"

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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: Don’t leap to conclusions based on league tables and don’t focus so much on structures, says Sutton Trust. Address England’s socially-segregated education system instead.

International education league table rankings can be misleading, says Confusion in the Ranks, the latest Sutton Trust report. This is because: 1 Different countries are included in the different tables. “Put simply, a lot of the difference in ranking is down to which countries are included – or choose to take part – in different surveys.” 2 Such tables exaggerate the importance ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "Quite so. It is teaching methods that matter. Behaviourist cramming in response to high stakes testing - bad. Developmental approaches that nurture and stimulate cognitive growth - good. Social segregation is indeed very bad but not directly. The damage ......"

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Janet Downs: Sutton Trust Toolkit – evidence-based guidance contradicts much Government advice

Education Secretary, Michael Gove, is fond of the word “evidence-based”. But so often his policies have little grounding in actual evidence. The Sutton Trust’s Education Endowment Fund toolkit is designed to help teachers decide which teaching strategies are backed by research. So, what did the Sutton Trust find about five of the Government’s preferred strategies? Ability grouping As long ago as 2006, David Cameron ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Neil - you're correct. Politicians tend to ignore any evidence that doesn't fit with their pre-conceived ideas. In this they are supported by the media when the editors endorse these same ideas. Worse, they are supported by ......"

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Michael Dix: Accountability: raising or restricting standards?

If you work in schools you will be aware of the recent outbreak of Ofsteditus. Sweeping across the country, causing mayhem and panic, this viral phenomenum occurs every time that the Office for Standards in Education changes it's inspection schedule. In the last seven days I have experienced a concerned chair of governors who'd had a briefing at the school ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Rebecca and Michael - see faqs above for results of OECD research into schools and autonomy, "Is it true that schools with more autonomy tend to achieve better results?", for details about UK being among only four countries which allowed ......"

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