If the league tables don't show that state schools are improving, then fix them. Fix the tables, that is. You make easier to get GCSEs count the same as ones in the more difficult - but absolutely fundamental subjects - like maths, English and science. You also pretend vocational qualifications that are less academically demanding are equivalent to GCSEs, or even worth more.
The league tables are now becoming useless as a means of genuinely telling if one school has a better academic performance than another. The farce is neatly revealed in this account of what went on beneath the surface in the 'most improved' school:
A survey published yesterday by The Times Educational Supplement showed that the Government's most improved school, Waverley, in Small Heath, Birmingham, achieved the status primarily by less demanding vocational qualifications given the same weight as GCSEs.Its 75 per cent of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs drops to 22 per cent when maths and English are included. The survey also shows that no pupil gained a double science GCSE, only three per cent gained at least a C grade in a modern foreign language or history and eight per cent in geography.
By contrast, 85 per cent passed the vocational GNVQ in ICT and 48 per cent the GNVQ in science, both of which count for four high grade GCSEs.
That was in the Telegraph. The full story is here.
Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Education
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Another, widely unreported, factor in considering the percentage that get 5 A*-C GCSEs is that the published figures include independent schools. Only 7% of students go to independent schools, but the results are so dramatically better that they substantially raise the overall figures.
For example, if you count only the state sector and only those that include maths and english in their 5 A*-C GCSEs, you find that the percentage of boys achieving this standard falls to around 38%.
Posted by: HJHJ at January 19, 2006 01:53 PM
?? What's the problem? League tables are league tables. Maths & Science GCEs require an enormous amount of teacher effort, not to speak of teachers actually trained in these subjects. But teachers' incomes continue to roll in, roll in, from tax revenues,no matter what. Why should teachers/politicians/officials bother?
Posted by: Sudha Shenoy at January 19, 2006 04:16 PM
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The Telegraph is missing the additional detail that not only did this school do such, virtually all of the "most improved" schools do so via the same route, the TES checked the top 100.
Posted by: Paul Robson at January 19, 2006 01:39 PM