Ei-iE

The Association of Teachers and Lecturer's (ATL), the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT), all three affiliated to EI, have expressed their opposition to the changes to the Ofsted inspection system. The changes were announced on 21 March by the Chief Inspector of Schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw.

NUT: evaluation must be done by schools

“Sir Michael Wilshaw continues to bury his head in the sand about the destructive nature of Ofsted inspections,” NUT General Secretary Christine Blower said. “Sir Michael himself has said that two in five teachers leave the profession in the first five years of teaching. One of the reasons is certainly not being able to face the pressure of another Ofsted inspection.”

The NUT strongly believes that a 20-minute lesson observation by an inspector is nothing less than a waste of time and money.

“While teachers understand the need for accountability, overwhelming evidence from research and practice demonstrates that evaluation by schools themselves must be at the centre of school inspection and support”, Blower said.

“The dreadfully high-stakes nature of Ofsted inspections means that many leadership and teacher roles will be harder to fill everywhere and perhaps even more so in schools with a higher proportion of challenging students,” she added.

“Everyone wants the best for pupils but this inspection system neither works for teachers nor for the raising of educational standards in a balanced curriculum”, Blower stated.

NASUWT: no proper focus on needs of young people

THE NASUWT is also opposed to the changes. “This announcement fails to address the most serious issues which schools and teachers have with Ofsted - namely the extent to which inspection is driving schools to focus on preparing for Ofsted, rather than addressing the needs of children and young people,” NASUWT General Secretary, Chris Keates, said.

“The focus on making judgements about a schools’ effectiveness through a focus on performance data will actually exacerbate the pressures on schools, encouraging even more data churning”, she warned.

She added that problems of ‘gaming’ in the system, narrowing of the curriculum and teaching to the test which are the result of the current accountability framework will remain, simply replacing one high-stakes system with another.

The NASUWT has consistently raised concerns about the variability of the judgements Ofsted makes about schools.

“Moving to a position where all inspectors are employed by Ofsted is a step in the right direction in addressing this problem, but falls short of what is required which is a fundamental reform of the school accountability regime,” Keates noted. “We need a fit-for-purpose accountability system which supports schools to ensure that all young people are enabled to reach their full potential.”

ATL: consultation on the inspection system requested

“ATL is concerned that Ofsted is still not fully aware of the problems it faces,” ATL General Secretary Mary Bousted said.“ With the announcements from and about Ofsted over the last few weeks, schools don't know whether they're coming or going.”

She insisted that Ofsted needs to produce some well-thought out proposals instead of these piecemeal statements - and then give proper time to consult with teachers, leaders and parents about what they need from the process.”

All schools want to do the best for their students, and want to keep improving, Bousted said, stressing that “to do that we need an accountability system that gives a full picture of a school rather than just what we know from the exam and test results, and where professionals give honest judgements that will support each other to improve. The current high stakes inspection system leads to loss of confidence and an exodus of good teachers and heads.”

She also deplored that too many inspectors have little training in data analysis, even though they rely on it to support their judgements, and too many are sent to inspect subjects or age ranges they know little about.

EI: dialogue essential

EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen expressed the support of EI and its affiliates for their UK colleagues.

“The UK Government still does not seem to understand that teaching to the test is not the appropriate way to ensure that students receive a quality education,” he stressed.

“Public authorities, including the UK government, must engage in social dialogue with organisations representing teachers and education personnel to develop appropriate accountability systems”, he said. “They must also allocate adequate public funding to support quality education in all schools.”