Tag: grammar schools
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. This is a revised and updated version of How should England close its excellence gaps? (January 2018) . . This is a significant turning point in the evolution of national education policy. Former Secretary of State Greening published her social mobility plan Unlocking Talent: Fulfilling Potential (December 2017), immediately following the wholesale resignation of…
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. First edition: January 2018 . This is an important turning point in the evolution of national education policy. Departing Secretary of State Greening has only just published her social mobility plan Unlocking Talent: Fulfilling Potential (December 2017) It was preceded by the wholesale resignation of the Social Mobility Commission’s Board, protesting at lack of political…
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. Summary This post explores the emerging definition of learners from ‘ordinary working families’ and the evidence published to date about their educational performance and how well they are served in the education system. It examines how learners from ordinary working families (hereafter referred to as ‘OWF learners’) fit within the broader visions for social…
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. …Or ‘An exercise in policy design’. . This post considers proposals emerging for new selective schools that would select on the basis of ability or attainment and socio-economic disadvantage. It covers the following ground: The context provided by the selection green paper and the Opportunity Areas policy. Recent Advocacy for ‘pupil premium grammar schools’…
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. This post probes the ‘centres of excellence’ proposal in the selection green paper. ‘Schools that work for everyone’ (September 2016) includes within its chapter on selection three proposals for ‘existing selective schools to do more to support children at non-selective schools’ This context is critical for understanding much of the confusion over centres of…
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. This experimental post revisits the question whether all grammar schools are effective in closing attainment gaps between disadvantaged students and their peers. Ministers have asserted as much in recent speeches, but they are relying on a single piece of research, now more than a decade old. The Education Policy Institute has countered with qualified…
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. I included in my last post, on the selection green paper, a set of seven draft principles to inform national policy on educating high-attaining learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. I wanted to lay out a framework that would challenge the thinking of proponents and opponents of selective education alike, to show how it might be possible…
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. This extended post is about the selection green paper and the prime ministerial speech preceding it. I come at this issue from a different position to most. It is of course essential to ensure that the government’s proposals do not unduly disadvantage the majority of learners. But it is equally important to consider their…
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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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. I wanted to find out how many of our 163 grammar schools give priority to disadvantaged pupils in their admissions arrangements for academic year 2016/17, and by what means. This analysis was prompted by a comment made by Secretary of State Nicky Morgan during the Commons debate on her statement of 19 October 2015. The…
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. This week’s media debate about the value of grammar schools as instruments of social mobility has been profoundly depressing. For the record, all the research evidence shows that the historical impact of selective education on social mobility has been negligible. The proportion of disadvantaged learners currently admitted to grammar schools remains desperately low: As…
Eponymous 