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10 May 2007 : Column 368W—continued
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2007, Official Report, column 1575W, on secondary education: curriculum, what the evidential basis was for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s decision to reduce the amount of specific and particular subject content in the secondary curriculum review programmes of study. [136361]
Jim Knight: The QCA’s advice to reduce the amount of specific and particular subject content in the secondary curriculum programmes of study was in line with the remit given in February 2005.
Reducing the amount of subject content will increase opportunities for learners to secure the functional skills required for life and work. It will create the flexibility to stretch more able learners and ensure that those at risk of falling behind are able to catch up.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2007, Official Report, column 1575W, (1) on secondary education: curriculum, what the main principles of effective teaching identified by the review of research into effective teaching carried out in the preparation of the secondary curriculum review were; [136388]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2007, Official Report, column 1575W, on secondary education: curriculum, whether the Qualification and Curriculum Authority has established causal links between the principles of effective teaching it has identified and cognitive outcomes; [136341]
(3) pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2007, Official Report, column 1575W, on secondary education: curriculum, what documents containing evidence on the principles of effective teaching were taken into consideration by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in the preparation of the secondary curriculum review (a) programmes of study and (b) supporting guidance. [136342]
Jim Knight: In preparing for the secondary curriculum review the QCA considered evidence from research and reports into effective teaching produced by: Ofsted; various specialist subject and professional associations; national agencies, such as national strategies; and others. Documents containing evidence on the principles of effective teaching are available on the websites of each of these organisations.
In the answer of 1 May 2007, Official Report, column 1575W, on secondary education: curriculum, 10 specific principles of effective learning were referenced. The 10 principles are that:
students learn more when they are engaged actively during an instructional task;
high success rates (and to a less certain extent, moderate success rates) are correlated positively with student learning outcomes and low success rates are correlated negatively with student learning outcomes;
increased opportunity to learn content is correlated. positively with increased student achievement. Therefore the more content covered, the greater the potential for student learning;
students achieve more in classes in which they spend much of their time being directly taught or supervised by their teacher.
In general, teacher instructional time that is spent with large groups is correlated positively with student achievement;
students can become independent, self-regulated learners through instruction that is deliberately and carefully scaffolded;
the critical forms of knowledge associated with strategic learning are (a) declarative knowledge, (b) procedural knowledge, and (c) conditional knowledge. Each of these must be addressed if students are to become independent, self-regulated learners;
learning is increased when teaching is presented in a manner that assists students in organising, storing and retrieving knowledge;
students can become more independent, self-regulated learners through strategic instruction;
students can become independent, self-regulated learners through instruction that is explicit;
by teaching sameness both within and across subjects, teachers promote the ability of students to access potentially relevant knowledge in novel problem-solving situations.
The document containing these principles, by Ellis, E.S., Worthington., L. A. and Larkin, MJ. (1996) is entitled “Research synthesis on effective teaching principles and the design of quality tools”. It is produced by the Worthington National Centre to Improve the Tools of Educators.
Statistics
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the process is for deciding the date of publication of statistics prepared by or relating to the Department; and who is involved in that process. [113088]
Jim Knight: The National Statistics Code of Practice (2002)—which serves as a model for all public sector statistical work—established the principle that
“final responsibility for the content, format and timing of release of National Statistics”
rests with the Head of Profession for Statistics in each Department. The Head of Profession has published a statement describing how the Department’s release practices comply with the Release Practice Protocol. This can be accessed at:
In reaching their decisions, Heads of Profession take into consideration the detailed procedural guidance given in the “National Statistics Protocol on Release Practices”.
Copies of the code and its 12 supporting protocols are available in the Library of the House and can also be accessed using the following address:
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which statistics released by his Department and its agencies are classified as (a) national statistics and (b) official statistics; and if he will make a statement. [115470]
Jim Knight
[holding answer 16 January 2007]: A list of the titles of all of the National Statistics produced by each Department and Agency was placed in the Library of the House on 8 January 2007 to accompany the Second Reading of the Statistics and Registration
Bill. An equivalent list was also placed on the National Statistics website. These lists can be accessed using the following URL:
In addition to National Statistics, the Department for Education and Skills publishes a wide range of other numerical information in a variety of forms including other data produced from the management and administration of the Department and in research reports. There is no centrally held information on the total published.
Teachers: Copeland
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many (a) primary school teachers, (b) primary school teaching assistants, (c) secondary school teachers and (d) secondary school teaching assistants were employed in Copeland in financial year (i) 1996-97 and (ii) 2006-07; [136268]
(2) what the pupil to teacher ratio in Copeland (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools was in financial year (i) 1996-97 and (ii) 2006-07. [136270]
Jim Knight: The following table shows the full-time equivalent number of regular teachers and teaching assistants employed in maintained primary and secondary schools and the pupil to teacher ratios in Copeland constituency, January 1997 and 2006 which is the latest information available at constituency level.
| Full-time equivalent number of regular teachers and teaching( 1 ) assistants employed in maintained primary and secondary schools and the pupil/teacher ratios in Copeland constituency, January 1997 and 2006 | ||||||
| Primary | Secondary | |||||
| Regular teachers | Teaching assistants( 1) | PTR( 2,3) | Regular teachers | Teaching assistants( 1) | PTR( 2,3) | |
| (1) Teaching assistant figures includes teaching assistants, special needs support staff and minority ethnic pupil support staff. (2) The within school PTR is calculated by dividing the total FTE number of pupils on roll in schools by the total FTE number of qualified teachers regularly employed in schools. (3) For statistical purposes only, pupils who do not attend both morning and afternoon at least five days a week are regarded as part-time. Each part-time pupil is treated as 0.5 FTE. Source: Annual School Census | ||||||
Young People: Unemployment
Paul Holmes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of (a) 16 year olds, (b) 17 year olds and (c) 18 year olds in each local education authority area were not in
employment, education or training in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [135319]
Jim Knight: The following table gives the number and proportion of (a)16, (b) 17 and (c) 18 year olds not in education, employment or training by local authority in England, for December 2005 and 2006.
Data are drawn from the operational client management systems maintained by Connexions services. They only include those people known to the service (about 85 per cent. of the population); some young people who attended independent schools or were at school outside England are excluded. The age relates to those of calendar year age 16-18 on the date of measurement. Data are only available at the local authority level from 2005.
These NEET measures are those used for setting and monitoring local authority NEET targets. The definition differs from that used to measure the national departmental PSA NEET target. Along with not covering the entire population, the Connexions NEET measure excludes those on gap years, those in custody and those undertaking voluntary work. The PSA measure is for academic rather than calendar age 16-18.
It is estimated that 220,000 (11 per cent.) 16 to 18 year olds were not in education, employment or training (NEET) at the end of 2005. Not all of these young people are out of work—the figures include young people taking a break from study, caring for families, or simply between jobs or courses. Annual surveys carried out on a group of young people at ages 16, 17 and 18 found that nearly 20 per cent. were NEET at one of the three survey dates, while only around 1 per cent. were NEET at each of the three survey points.
Record numbers of 16 year olds are in full-time education. But, we recognise the need to take action to reduce the proportion of young people not in any form of education, employment or training, and have set ourselves a very challenging target to get the proportion down to 8 per cent. by 2010.
Our 14-19 reforms are vital: the implementation plan makes a commitment to make an offer of learning to every young person after they complete year 11. They also give us the platform for agencies working with young people to plan and develop learning and employment opportunities that meet local needs.
To keep them in learning, we need to help them tackle the other issues in their lives that might cause them to leave, which we are doing through our Every Child Matters reforms.
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