Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, will this evening call for a more humane
approach to judging schools.
Giving the National Education Trust (NET) 2018 annual lecture, he
will say the accountability system needs to be recalibrated so
that it is used to guide targeted support and is less punitive to
schools which are deemed to be underperforming.
He will say: “Our accountability system mercilessly flogs schools
to jump through hoops, with careers hanging in the balance on the
basis of a single set of results, and schools stigmatised as
failing which serves only to compound their problems.
“Performance measures present a flawed and partial view. Progress
8 is better than the previous headline measure of GCSE attainment
regardless of pupils’ starting points. But even Progress 8 has
its drawbacks.
“We know that disadvantaged pupils often have greater challenges
in their lives than other pupils and tend to make less progress.
So schools with large proportions of disadvantaged pupils – those
in the most deprived communities – are very likely to record
lower Progress 8 scores than those in leafy suburbs.
“And yet these schools – the schools which most need help and
support – may find themselves branded as failing through no fault
of their own and regardless of their teaching quality. It saps
the morale of leaders, teachers, parents, pupils and communities.
Can it really be a useful outcome of the accountability system to
make life even more difficult for schools which most need help
and support?
“Ofsted inspections provide the opportunity for a more nuanced
view which takes context into account. But even here we should
beware. In the most deprived areas, data shows us
that the proportion of schools judged as outstanding is lower
than in the most affluent areas, and the proportion rated as
requires improvement or inadequate is higher. This should give us
some pause for thought about the extent to which Ofsted
inspections really are a level playing field.
“Of course schools should be accountable. But we need to
recognise that no accountability system will ever be perfect, and
its most productive use is to guide support rather than condemn
schools.
“Let’s imagine a system in which performance data and inspections
are always the start of a process rather than a declaration of
judgement. Where a dialogue takes place to understand the
challenges and context, and to provide targeted support for the
schools and communities which face the greatest obstacles. Such
an approach would surely be more successful in raising standards
and closing educational gaps than branding schools and sacking
their leaders.”
This evening’s NET lecture – the Mike Baker Lecture
2018 – will be held at Inner Temple, London, at 6.30pm,
and will be chaired by Roy Blatchford, founding director of NET.
He said: “We are delighted to welcome Geoff Barton to give
our 12th Annual Lecture, following in the footsteps of many
illustrious speakers. We all recognise the strong leadership
Geoff is giving to the teaching profession today. His thoughts
will be of national interest.”
