Memorandum submitted by Alan Quinn
I have been an inspector for 10 years and offer
these observations from first-hand experience.
— Government claims, on basis of improving
Ofsted reports, that standards in schools are rising are misleading.
— The nature of inspections has changed
since Ofsted began.
— The changes in the Handbook of 2000
and now 2003 have led to less objectivity by inspectors.
— The largest single factor in this
is the requirement to feedback verbally to teachers immediately
(or soon after) after a lesson is observed.
— Many inspectors are now grading teaching
higher than they did previously because of the potential confrontation
with teachers.
— Much unsatisfactory teaching is now
graded as satisfactory. I understand that only 1 in 20 lessons
is unsatisfactory now. This dramatic improvement in recent times
is not credible and supports my contention that inspectors are
less objective in their judgements on teaching and learning.
— The statistics of these higher teaching
grades thus recorded mean that other factors, such as pupils'
achievement, progress, attitude etc. have to be correspondingly
raised to support the inflated teaching grades.
— Many anomalies in the first-hand
evidence have to be adjusted to make both the report and the profile
in the Judgement Recording Form (JRF) coherent.
— The grades in the JRF reflect the
adjustments rather than the true picture, in many cases. Team
decisions are rarely genuinely corporate.
— Ofsted statistics depend on these
inaccurate grades in the JRF and are therefore flawed.
— The objectivity of inspection can
be restored by an arm's length approach or, now that procedures
are so well embedded, the introduction of spot checks.
1. Inspectors are now under pressure from
Ofsted and schools and are now almost apologetic in approach for
fear of upsetting someone. I have heard schools describing an
Ofsted inspection as free consultation.
2. There is far too much emphasis on regular
feedback and negotiation in the course of an inspection. Inspectors
are losing their objectivity as a result.
3. The Framework requires that we are objective
and impartial but the procedures make these difficult to achieve.
Inspectors are in schools to observe first and then to make judgements.
The main and considered feedback should come at the end of that
and should be separate from the initial inspection process. Time
should be set aside after the week of inspection if consultation
is required and inspectors should be paid a fee for such work.
4. Ofsted makes unrealistic demands on inspection
teams in the time available on site. It requires inspectors to
work for as much as 14 hours each day. The process is fundamentally
flawed because inspectors have to cut corners to try to obtain
objective evidence in too short a time. The constant reference
to teachers, through feed back and discussions that the Handbook
envisages, impedes the process further.
18 October 2003
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