Examination of Witnesses (Questions 40-59)
DEPARTMENT FOR
EDUCATION AND
SKILLS AND
OFSTED
27 FEBRUARY 2006
Q40 Mr Khan: My final question is
this: the spin of the Report is there are 980,000 pupils in failing
schools. Bearing in mind we have seen an improvement, although
it is not fast enough, would you say that is the least number
of pupils that have ever been in poorly performing schools?
Mr Bell: Certainly as far as schools
in Special Measures are concerned, we know there are fewer pupils
in Special Measures schools because of the decline in Special
Measures. In relation to the under-achievement of poorly performing
schools, the frank answer is we have not had the data at our disposal
until recent years and that in itself is an improvement. By giving
schools access to data that tells them how well their pupils are
doing against other schools they are going to be in an even better
position in the future to target improvement on the basis of that
data.
Q41 Greg Clark: Mr Bell, can you
confirm that since the NAO conducted this analysis the percentage
of poorly performing schools has risen?
Mr Bell: In relation to Special
Measures there has been a slight increase under the new inspection
arrangements that started in September 2005.
Q42 Greg Clark: The answer is yes?
Mr Bell: Mr Smith may wish to
confirm the overall percentage.
Q43 Greg Clark: We had a letter from
Mr Smith to MPs in which he said: "At the other end of the
scale the proportion of inspections resulting in schools being
placed in categories of concern was 9.3% compared with an average
of 8% during the last three years of the old inspection framework".
Mr Smith: The number of schools
in Special Measures as at 31 December 2005, the difference in
the numbers was only two. The proportion is different in terms
of the numbers of schools that have entered Special Measures.
Q44 Greg Clark: We are not playing
with statistics, the proportion is clearly what counts. You can
confirm the proportion has increased.
Mr Smith: The proportion of schools
going into categories has increased from 8% to 9.3%.
Q45 Greg Clark: So our schools are
getting worse?
Mr Smith: No.
Q46 Greg Clark: The proportion of
the ones that are poorly performed has increased, that sounds
to me as if they are getting worse.
Mr Smith: I think I would take
the data over a longer period.
Q47 Greg Clark: Part of the point
that you make is that you have done a lot more inspections in
one term—
Mr Smith: We have.
Q48 Greg Clark: —than was previously
the case.
Mr Smith: Yes.
Q49 Greg Clark: This is quite a significant
sample size and there is a very significant increase in the proportion
that are causing concern, so surely you must agree they are getting
worse.
Mr Smith: The proportion has increased
from 8% to 9.3%.
Q50 Greg Clark: Correct.
Mr Smith: I would bow to a statistician
to say whether that is quite significant; I am not a statistician.
Q51 Greg Clark: Mr Bell, are our
schools getting worse?
Mr Bell: No, because what we asked
Ofsted to do was to raise the bar. We actually said that the inspection
standard has to get tougher. I think it was absolutely right that
we asked Ofsted to do so because we cannot—
Q52 Greg Clark: On that point, Mr
Smith, you made no mention of the comparator having changed here.
You wrote a letter to MPs making a direct comparison between these
figures, you did not say that these are non-comparable, which
is the point Mr Bell has just made.
Mr Bell: We were very clear to
Ofsted that the inspection system had changed from September 2005.
That was made very, very clear to all the schools and those who
took part. As a Department we were also very clear that there
had been a raising of the bar, that the expectation to be at least
satisfactory, to be good or to be outstanding had changed over
time. I think that is absolutely appropriate because I do not
think we can be in the position of saying what was acceptable
as a standard ten years ago is acceptable now.
Q53 Greg Clark: We are not talking
about 10 years ago, we are talking about the last three years.
It says that schools placed in categories of concern has increased.
Let us move on, we could spend 10 minutes talking about that.
On the inspection regime, the NAO Report on page 9, paragraph
24, makes a very clear link between the quality of the leadership
and management of the school and its performance, and I think
that has come out in some of the earlier questions. Why does the
new Ofsted inspection regime no longer evaluate the quality of
leadership provided by a headteacher? Mr Bell, you are a former
Chief Inspector of Schools.
Mr Bell: I will answer the question
if you wish. It does describe the quality of leadership because
in statute Ofsted is required to Report on the quality of leadership.
In actual fact, it could be argued with a stronger emphasis on
school self-evaluation and the leadership knowing what needs to
be done to improve a school it is more strongly focused on the
quality of leadership.
Q54 Greg Clark: Can I give you an
example of what I mean by this. I have got an Ofsted inspection
report of 2004 before the changes took effect from a High School
in Hereford and in the summary of the main inspection there is
"judgments of the leadership of the headteacher", in
this case it was classed as three, which is good. The same school
was looked at in 2005 under the new arrangements and the equivalent
current question on leadership of the headteacher is "Leadership
and management. How effectively leaders and managers at all levels
set clear direction leading to improvements and promote high quality
of care and education". Do you think that is as clear a focus
on the quality of the head as it was before?
Mr Bell: I think I would argue
that leadership in a school is not exclusively to do with the
headteacher.
Q55 Greg Clark: Indeed, but the report
emphasises that the head can have a very significant role. My
point is that specifically the head is no longer identifiable
in your reports. That is correct, is it not? You have gone to
a definition which is about the leadership process: "leaders
and managers at all levels", the head no longer appears in
the report.
Mr Bell: I do not know if Mr Smith
or Ms Rosen want to comment on that detail. What I would say is
by focusing on the leadership of the school, which of course includes
the headteacher, as a Department we are continuing to say that
it is vital that Ofsted reports on the quality of leadership and
in actual fact that is what Ofsted does. I think strong emphasis—
Q56 Greg Clark: Mr Bell, we do not
have much time. I quite agree with you about the importance of
leadership in the round but there is a specific contribution that
a headteacher makes. On page 13, paragraph 37, the NAO's Report
says: "The headteacher is key to sustaining performance and
improvement in any school." The system that we have now in
place to monitor this has left out the headteacher in favour of
a leadership team and that seems to be a step backwards, not forwards.
Mr Bell: The guidance that Ofsted
gives its inspectors to come to the judgment about leadership
that you have described does include an emphasis on the role of
the headteacher. I accept that is not quite the same as saying
the headteacher, but I do not think any inspection team could
make a rounded judgment about the quality of leadership in a school
without considering the contribution of the headteacher.
Q57 Greg Clark: It would have been
helpful to have some report on the headteacher. Just on the inspection,
the inspection regime is about to change again, or is changing,
to rely more on self-assessment rather than the inspector's judgment
which you have indicated might be a guarantor of standards. Indeed,
schools now have a self-evaluation form, self-assessment form,
and there is a section on leadership and management in which headteachers,
presumably leadership teams, themselves are invited to say how
good they are. The particular item is "Effectiveness and
efficiency of leadership and management" and they are invited
to rate themselves as "outstanding, good, satisfactory or
inadequate". Do you think it is reasonable for a headteacher
to be expected to tick the "inadequate" box?
Mr Bell: We have already had some
discussion this afternoon about the quality of self-evaluation.
As I understand it, there have been schools where the internal
judgment has been made that the leadership and management is inadequate,
so looking internally—
Q58 Greg Clark: How many cases have
there been, Mr Smith?
Mr Smith: 87.
Q59 Greg Clark: 87 schools around
the country have described themselves as being inadequate?
Mr Smith: No, 87 schools from
September to December have been judged as requiring Special Measures.
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