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Suspect Proof of Specialist Success - Impressive results may be due to selection rather than their ethos
Tony Blair’s drive for education reform was dealt with a blow today as research shows there was no convincing evidence that specialist status itself is improving secondary schools.
The Prime Minister has used the apparent success of specialist schools to justify his plans for more change.
But a report, published today by the Research and Information on State Education trust, states that “much of the evidence provided by Government has been inconclusive or methodologically suspect”.
“It is clear that the majority of specialist schools are highly effective – four fifths were judged to be so in a survey by Ofsted,” the study says.
“But whether this is due to their selection practices (overt and covert) or to their being already highly effective in order to obtain specialist status is not clear”.
“There is no proven causal link between the improved performance of these schools and their specialist status.”
Mr Blair praised specialist schools in his introduction to the education white paper.
In it he says: “We have seen how specialist schools – with external sponsors, strong leadership and a clear sense of mission, driven by their acquisition and retention of specialist status – have improved faster than other comprehensives.”
Researchers Frances Castle and Jennifer Evans of London University’s institute of education acknowledge that the three-quarters of secondary schools which now have specialist status are getting better GCSE results than the remainder.
They also say that pupils in specialist schools get better GCSE grades than similar students in other schools.
But their report notes that schools can only get specialist status if at least 25 per cent of their pupils are already gaining 5 A*-C grades.
It said that research was needed to find out if specialised schools were cost-effective, as a typical school in the programme can receive around £600,000 extra over a four-year period.
It is also said that too little was known about the impact that specialists have on neighbouring schools, as there were “indications of increased social polarisation in some areas”.
The Specialists School and Academies Trust (SSAT) has defended the schools by publishing a series of evaluations on their value-added results produced by Professor David Jesson, from York University.
But the new report said the evaluations did not take enough factors into account and that it was wrong to draw evidence from them suggesting a casual link between specialist status and results.
The SSAT said it was unable to comment on the report. (26.2.06 TES)
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Ofsted brands new academy satisfactory
The new City of London Academy in Bermondsey is providing a ‘satisfactory’ service according to Ofsted inspectors, who recently conducted its inaugural inspection.
The inspectors commented that pupils were “well cared for, guided and supported” and were being taught in “an excellent teaching environment”.
However Ofsted were cautious about the assessment of pupils’ achievements being taken by the school, noting that pupils were yet to take any public exams and although the internal analysis done by the Academy showed that most pupils were making good progress, “the end of year tests last year did not entirely confirm this progress, particularly in science.”
Inspectors also noted that the standards of literacy in the school were” generally low” and although there have been “recent improvements developing pupils’ literacy skills…..weaknesses in this area still act as a barrier to learning for too many pupils.”
Despite these concerns, inspectors found that pupils were “generally very clear about what is meant by a healthy lifestyle” and the academy “takes suitable steps to promote this.” The new lunch arrangements, much lauded by headmaster Martyn Coles, were praised because “food and drink which are high in fat and sugar content are kept away from the dining area.”
The curriculum in the main part of the academy is described as “very good, broad and balanced”, with teaching time being “significantly above the recommended minimum”.
The system whereby heads of year do not have teaching responsibilities is praised because it gives them more time to “meet the parents, pupils and representatives of various outside agencies”. The leadership of headmaster Martyn Coles is described as “very strong and effective” and the governing body, lead by Chair of Governors William Fraser, “supportive and well informed about the academy’s progress.”
Cllr Caroline Pidgeon, Southwark Council’s Executive Member for education said: “The City of London Academy is a pivotal part of the Southwark school community and we have supported it from the start. We are pleased that the recent Ofsted report shows that pupils are making good progress and we are confident that they will continue to do so as they settle into their new state of the art premises.
“The inspectors found the leadership and management at the Academy to be effective and with a strong vision. We believe that the GCSE results in 2007 will validate the confidence we have placed in the school.” (Southwark News 16.2.06)
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