Posted by Editors Academies, ARK, CfBT, Charter Schools, EdReform, EduBusiness, Free Schools, In The News, League Tables, Management Consultants, McKinsey & Co., OECD, Ofsted, PISA, Research, Teach First, Teach for America, Teach for Australia, Testing, Unions Monday, June 30th, 2014
We were a little undecided as to whether or not to write this post because of the youthfulness of those involved in Lessons from London Schools: Investigating the Success (LLS), the study that we will critique, and not wanting for youthful enthusiasm to be overly dampened by what is to be said about the LLS […]
Posted by Editors Academies, EdReform, Free Schools, In The News, Labour, Politics, Schools, Teach First, Teacher Training, Tories Sunday, March 2nd, 2014
The question to be addressed in this short post is prompted by statements made on a number of occasions by Tristram Hunt, Labour’s shadow Education Secretary. Mr. Hunt has recently made a number of public remarks about how the Tories have been wrong to allow schools to employ unqualified teachers (E.g. here, here, and here). […]
Posted by Editors Academies, ASCL, EduBusiness, Events, Free Schools, In The News, League Tables, Managerialism, Ofsted, Standards, Teach First, Teacher Bashing, Testing, Tories, Working Conditions Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
Michael Gove, UK Ed Sec, spoke at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) conference on the the 24 March 2012 so we thought we’d run through the justifications he could come up with for alienating both teachers and headteachers with his needless reforms. There was a defence of free schools and academies. There […]
Posted by Editors Academies, EduBusiness, Free Schools, In The News, TUC Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
One year on from the Academies Act – Fighting Academy conversions & Free Schools Saturday 11th June, 10.30am – 4pm Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS A major one day conference for governors, parents and staff who want help to organise to stop primary, secondary and special schools converting to academy status. Speakers […]
Posted by Editors Free Schools, In The News, Teach First, UFT Saturday, May 28th, 2011
A May 18th lawsuit organised by teaching union UFT and the NAACP against school charterisation in NYC has been likened to the battle against racial segregation in schools witnessed at Little Rock, Arkansas in the 1950s and seen also as symptomatic of a worrying new phase in middle class flight. In language all too familiar […]
Posted by Editors Academies, CfBT, Free Schools, In The News, Special Schools, Teach First, Tories Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
We have already written at some length about the new philanthropic organisations that appear to be doing the UK Tories’ dirty work and also the rather creative interpretation of UK charity commission guidelines that permit organisations like Teach First to operate as charities. CfBT Education Trust is another on-message charity. They claim to “provide education […]
Posted by Editors Free Schools, In The News Saturday, March 5th, 2011
If ever you needed evidence why ‘free’ schools are a very bad idea indeed, then look no further than the illiberal comments of one Toby Young in a recent Spectator magazine and yesterday’s Torygraph. And this is the type of person Gove wants to take control of schools?! The guy isn’t fit to be a […]
Posted by Editors Charter Schools, EduBusiness, Free Schools, In The News, League Tables, Tories Friday, March 4th, 2011
For all those celebrating the news of Toby Young’s ‘free’ school funding green light, recent events in one Los Angeles’s charter school group should perhaps make us more than a little concerned about the future integrity of opt-out schools. The LA Times report that “The Los Angeles Board of Education voted Tuesday to begin the […]
Posted by Editors Free Schools, In The News, McKinsey & Co., Michael Barber, NUT, Research, Teach First, Tories, Working Conditions Saturday, February 26th, 2011
This was going to be a post about the Tory White Paper. We took a look at it but what really caught our eye was how many times Sir Michael Barber got a mention. In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Barber was Education Secretary given the amount of space devoted to his work […]
Posted by Editors EduBusiness, Free Schools, In The News Saturday, February 26th, 2011
In ‘Some free schools fail to meet the standards’ a Swedish newspaper reports what many suspicious of the ‘free’ school innovation have been saying for a long time now. Minister for Education Jan Björklund says today that some free schools give priority to profit for the owners before quality. Björklund is one of the most […]
