Category: Archive
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Originally posted on Gifted Phoenix: This post considers how England’s selective schools are addressing socio-economic disadvantage. Another irrelevant Norwegian vista by Gifted Phoenix It is intended as an evidence base against which to judge various political statements about the potential value of selective education as an engine of social mobility. It does not deal with…
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. This post: Reviews progress to date on white paper policies to improve the education of higher attaining learners Considers some wider implications of the white paper’s commitment to equality of educational opportunity, regardless of background and prior attainment, and Proposes a dedicated national centre, based in a leading university, to specialise in the education…
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. This post discusses the gap between what the schools white paper said would be in the ITT core content framework and what was actually published. . Background In a previous post – Differentiation in the ITT core content framework (March 2016) – I described the origins of the framework and its intended focus on…
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. This is the third in an occasional series of introspective posts exploring whether or not I belong ‘on the spectrum’. The first explained why I consider myself a borderline case, while the second described the traits that have led one family member to out me as a bona fide Aspie. The latter painted such…
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. HMCI Sir Michael Wilshaw devoted his monthly commentary for June 2016 to the education of our most able learners. He has consistently championed the education of the most able in non-selective secondary schools, having instigated two Ofsted survey reports on this topic, published in June 2013 and March 2015 respectively. This new commentary is…
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. This is the second in a sequence of occasional short posts exploring the very personal question whether or not I am ‘on the spectrum’. An initial post set out my immediate reactions. I made it clear that, if the answer is affirmative, I must be very much a borderline case: ‘If there’s a spectrum I’m…
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. The devil squirms, the angel mocks Their cruel sniggers prise her face about While she squats athwart the thunderbox. Upon the desiccated dust heap cocks Strut the light fantastic. Black as stout The devil squirms, the angel mocks. A wrinkled, lissom postman knocks Now her bolt is shot. The rustling spout While…
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. Several of my recent educational posts have mentioned the new-found commitment to ‘educational excellence everywhere’. This was the title selected for the March 2016 white paper, but it is also the strategic goal at the heart of this government’s education policy. It should influence every part of the white paper, informing every educational decision…
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. This post compares white paper plans to strengthen fair access with the proposals set out in the green paper. It assesses each element of these plans and whether they amount to a convincing national strategy. It also considers whether the white paper is likely to bring about a much-needed improvement in the recruitment of…
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. Ofqual is attempting a double-U-turn on how to define grade 9 in the new GCSE scale. This will affect the highest attaining learners in all our schools, all staff who teach them and all those who rely on GCSE grades to select high-attaining students, including university admissions staff. It also has implications for the performance…
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. This post examines ministerial targets for improving England’s educational performance by 2020, as measured by international comparisons studies. It explores the evolution of these targets, how they might be interpreted and the prospects for achieving them given likely outcomes from the next round of reports, scheduled for publication in December 2016/2017. PISA 2015 results…
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. This is the first in a series of occasional introspective mini-posts dedicated to exploring the question posed above. If I were you I wouldn’t bother to read such self-indulgent claptrap, though I suppose if you knew me better it might help you to understand. Dissecting my own personality in public is anathema, about as…
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I’ve finally prevailed on my brother Mike to write a guest post. Because it looks so much better in full width I’ve uploaded it here, as a page in a new section of this blog called ‘Mike’s stuff’. It should appeal particularly to those with an interest in bass guitar and double bass design, as…
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. In April 2016 the Fair Education Alliance released its second annual report card. This post reviews progress against the five declared impact goals, as well as the recommendations for securing stronger progress in future. . What is the Fair Education Alliance? The Fair Education Alliance was launched by Teach First in June 2014. It…
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. . This post reviews fair access developments subsequent to publication of the HE green paper and preceding publication of the impending white paper. It asks whether some of the recommendations proffered by the Scottish Commission on Widening Access (COWA) should also be adopted in England. . Developments…
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. This short post anticipates the coverage of top-end differentiation in the imminent framework of core content for initial teacher training (ITT). . Background The Carter review of initial teacher training (ITT) (January 2015) dates from the last months of the Coalition Government. The first recommendation is that DfE should commission a sector body to…
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. This brief post offers a preliminary assessment of provision for the most able in the 2016 schools white paper. . Background There was a little-noticed commitment in the Conservative Election Manifesto: ‘We will make sure that all students are pushed to achieve their potential and create more opportunities to stretch the most able.’ The statement…
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. This post explores tensions between the ‘excellence for all’ objective now underpinning national education policy and the proposed design of the national funding formula for schools. It is framed as an exploratory discussion document. If a convincing counter-argument emerges I am ready to adjust my views. . Setting the scene ‘Doing Differentiation Differently?’ mentioned…
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. . . . . . This post compares how we do differentiation with how it’s done elsewhere. It explores the tension within education policy between autonomy and pedagogical prescription through the ‘forensic analysis’ of recent ministerial speech content. It flags up the likelihood of further…
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. This post assesses the progress of English Russell Group universities in admitting students from areas with low levels of higher education participation. It reapplies a methodology used previously by the Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission (SMCPC) to measure the success of these 20 universities in recruiting young, full-time first…
Eponymous 