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Government should overhaul accountability measures
Released 16/07/2010
ASCL call on the government to overhaul measures published in White Paper
ASCL is calling on the government to overhaul a range of accountability measures for schools and colleges, in a new paper on intelligent accountability published today (16 July). The paper recommends changes to inspection, use of data and school improvement partners, among others.
ASCL general secretary Dr John Dunford said: "Schools and colleges are rightly accountable for how they spend public money and for the quality of education young people receive. However, the current accountability mechanisms are poor and often create the wrong incentives, which inevitably impact on how and where resources are focused.
"The emphasis on raw results in league tables and Ofsted inspections creates a perverse incentive for schools and colleges to attract the brightest students. The performance indicator of the proportion of students with five GCSE passes at grade C or above encourages schools and colleges to concentrate disproportionately on students at the C/D borderline.
"The way in which Ofsted continues to raise the bar for inspections makes it appear that the quality of schools and colleges across the country is declining, when in fact they are continuing to improve. There must be consistency between successive inspections. The current distinction between ‘good' and ‘satisfactory' Ofsted gradings should be abandoned and there should be three grades: above expected level of performance, around expected level of performance, and below expected level of performance.
"School improvement partners (SIPs) have been one of the success stories of the accountability framework and, although a new model how SIPs work with heads is required as we move to more autonomous schools, it is important that the principle of external, independent challenge and support is preserved. In future SIPs should be appointed by the governing body, not the local authority.
"The contextualised value added measure of school performance is, in principle, a good indicator, but an independent review of the methodology behind it is needed," said Dunford.