Goave’s White Paper “The Importance of Teaching” is based on England’s falling position in the PISA league tables. Note that the problem is not falling performance, that has remained basically the same, but other countries have improved. PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is an OECD programme to measure performance of 15 year old’s. PISA is not a value-free test of knowledge in the English sense. It is designed to support and embed the OECD culture and values. (The hidden curriculum of PISA – the promotion of neo-liberal policy by educational assessment by Michael Uljens 12.7 2007). So the English performance may just be bloody-mindedness! Certainly in tests like TIMMS, which take as a starting point the national curricula of countries, and which do use value-free tests, England has been performing well.
One of the features of the PISA league tables is the outstanding performance of Finland who are at the top of the table. This surprised even the Finns who in 2000 when PISA held its first round of tests were dissatisfied with their educational system outcomes and were contemplating major changes. Since then Finland has done well despite the fact that research has shown a 25% drop in cognitive (thinking) ability of its students over that time. So PISA clearly does not measure thinking ability.
Apart from basing his White paper on Finland Goave is also enamored with Free Schools along the lines of those in Sweden and the USA.
But Per Thulberg, director general of the Swedish National Agency for Education, said “This competition between schools that was one of the reasons for introducing the new schools has not led to better results. The lesson is that it’s not easy to find a way to continue school improvement. The students in the new schools have, in general, better standards, but it has to do with their parents and backgrounds. They come from well-educated families.” - Reported in guardian.co.uk, 9th February 2010.
So Goave’s White Paper is looking more and more like a big girl’s blouse. What is he to do?
The answer is to do what Westminster politicians have turned into a fine art – Fiddle the Figures!. In another blog The English Bac I showed that Goave’s new measure had little educational value and was designed simply to show in four years time that his policies had worked – even though they had not.
However this left him with a big problem. Currently schools are measured on their CVA (contextual value added). This measures the improvement over earlier achievement levels adjusted for things like deprivation, students in care, first language and so on. This is instead of just measuring schools on their raw GCSE results where schools in leafy suburbs will always do better than, for example, inner city schools with high immigration levels.
Why is it necessary to get rid of CVA? Ministers will give all sorts of reasons, all of them rubbish. The real reason is the one Per Thulberg gave. Free schools attract middle-class parents whose children will do well, even with poor teaching. Those left behind in the old school will not do as well no matter how good the teaching. The CVA measure would show the free school is not adding much in educational terms and that the old school is adding a lot, so proving what an expensive scam the Free Schools are.
The key point here is that the new measures are guaranteed to show that Goave’s policy is a success – even if it is not.
Is this sort of scummy behaviour from a government minister acceptable? No!
Is this sort of scummy behaviour from a government minister fit for purpose? No!
Is this sort of scummy behaviour from a government minister decent and honest? No!
So who will end up crying. In a just world it should be Goave. That might just happen. Research, based on 500,000 pupils, published in the journal ‘Significance’ (of the Royal Statistical Society) concluded that 40% of the difference in students’ education results were down to the family. The rather limited family intervention programmes tend to be successful at raising standards. So who is handling the government research into this? Why, according to a story in the news last year it is Mr Cameron! Very wise Dave, make sure your name is on the successes.
In the real world however it is going to be the poor and disadvantaged who will end up in tears. The Nasty Party are back!
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