Scrap the targets ... says Exams Chief

Following on from demands to scrap SATS tests (e.g. by the 'Cambridge Primary Review') ... and the need to remove the target driven culture ... more leaders appear to be speaking out ...

For example the head of England's exams watchdog OfQual, Isabel Nisbet, has said that Official targets on the number of good GCSEs teenagers should be scrapped, and that the current league tables are too "simplistic".

Schools are currently measured on the proportion of pupils who achieve five GCSEs at grade C or higher, including maths and English. The new government has said it wants to overhaul the league tables and Education Secretary Michael Gove thinks parents should be given more information.

Asked what she would do if she were education secretary for a day, Ms Nisbet said: "I would get rid of the targets related to the number of passes at grade C at GCSE."

At the Cambridge Assessment conference last week she also questioned the format of league tables: "The question is, is it simplistic to measure a very small number of indicators, sometimes drawing false conclusions? I think the answer is it probably is."

Ms Nisbet, who is leaving Ofqual next year, said parents should be given more information about schools, and that most people understood there were different schools serving different communities (nb one could hypothesize why such comments have not been forthcoming sooner).

Mr Gove has said he would like to see an "English Baccalaureate" - where pupils would study five GCSEs including English, maths, a science, a language and a humanity such as geography, history, art or music.

Let's see whether a little common sense (and 21st century management practice) will prevail, with the target systems being scrapped and league tables being replaced ... and let's see whether measurement systems are instead used to support front line staff more ... to help them identify and continuously improve our children's education ... by systematically removing the 'real' barriers to learning and student development.


The dismantling of the fundamentally flawed and outdated (19th century) practices, put in place by the last Government (nb mainly Gordon Brown - hence the picture), will take a little time and the UK is suffering badly as a result of such mistakes (e.g. the cost of failure in terms of wasted investment, opportunity and  talent) ... and will the current Government turn things around or make things worse ... well we're about to find out ...!

Poweromics - failing our children ...

Education in the UK is failing our children, our children's children ... and our nation. Rather than equipping people for the future, the Government has, through the systematic introduction of 19th Century management practices (e.g. outdated strategies, league tables and targets), been driving education backwards ... 

From their ivory tower they have systematically used their position of 'power' to dictate strategy ('Every Child Matters'), introduce 'league tables' & 'targets', and 'drive in' numerous ill-conceived 'policies', 'initiatives' and 'tests' (e.g. inclusion, literacy hour, numeracy hour, SATS etc). At first glance some of these may have appeared sensible, but it doesn't take long to find fundamental flaws.  For instance here's just a few:

1. The strategy "Every Child Matters" is a statement, not a strategy.  It has also been implemented alongside an all-embracing inclusion policy, which makes it very difficult for teachers to ensure that all children are able to learn to the best of their ability. As a result many teachers are now having to spend most of their time/energy dealing with a minority of very disruptive children (who, due to inclusion, are less easy to exclude), rather than helping the majority of children to learn. This is a flawed ill-thought out 'strategy' which fails everyone, and shows little understanding of education, psychology and 21st century management practice. It also demonstrates a lack of consultation with (and trust in) those 'responsible for teaching our children' (nb. another attribute of those who like to apply Poweromics)!  

2. League tables have predictably pushed most schools to dumb down 'learning', particularly at GCSE level, in favor of making sure children understand/practice the 'process' of getting an answer to pass an exam (and 'collect a certificate'), to get their school 'performance' and 'league table' positions higher. But an education is not just about 'collecting certificates' - it's meant to prepare children for the future, and to help them to 'learn' to learn ... so they can develop understanding, apply knowledge and continue to learn in the future (e.g. by progressively developing their problem solving, creativity and communication skills). 

3. The Government introduced league tables in order to give parental choice, and to drive up standards, but in reality many parents have been disappointed and given little choice - since those parents who want their child to go to the school with the highest results find there is no way that school can take them all. All this has done is to push up house prices in those areas where results are highest (creating another post code lottery), whilst steering schools to spend more of their time/energy on helping children to 'collect certificates' at the expense of helping them to 'learn to learn' - i.e. pushing up results, but driving down the 'standard of education' ... which Universities are getting particularly concerned about now with A levels.

Dr W. Edwards Deming pointed over 20 years ago that most (e.g. between 80-90%) of the variation in the performance of an enterprise is a result of "the overall system", rather than the capabilities of the people involved (ie the children & teachers), and the introduction of league tables/targets into education (as well as the issues above) has made the "overall system" much worse.  Just as some Police forces are now starting to do (See "The Targets era is over" ...), such 19th century management practices (arguably better described as "shackles") need to be systematically removed and replaced by 21st century management practices ... ones which help front line staff (teachers, supported by head-teachers) to prepare children for the world of the future ... a world that'll be very different to that of today ...

We need to reduce the gulf appearing between what the system is currently doing and what children need to succeed in the future (e.g. take a look at this simple, but brief and brilliant, video called "Shift Happens" to see what I mean, and to see some of the challenges facing future generations). A better strategy is desperately needed (based on Leanomics*, instead of Poweromics!) which is much clearer, wide ranging and motivating in its goals (e.g. "Giving all our Children the best possible start in life") ... and one teachers can readily relate to and, given our support, aspire to bring about. Whilst this may seem a somewhat minor change, it would actually create a profound impact on education and beyond, as it would re-enforce the primary purpose of education and it would also fundamentally change the attitude/policies with respect to managing disruptive children (i.e. in fact it would radically change numerous educational policies, as well as re-enforce the relationships with many other government agencies too). 

The economy is already in crisis, and not addressing this now will only make things much worse in the future. Education is not a 'political football', it's a necessity and essential to the future of us all ... but will Government 'leaders' take note, take responsibility and trust those actually responsible for educating our children (i.e. the teachers) ... by supporting them in helping our children to 'learn' to learn, and to continuously improve the way education is provided (augmenting & supporting the roles & responsibilities of parents) ... in order to "give all our children the best possible start in life"?

The Government needs to apply 21st century management practices and invest in a framework that provides an effective 21st century education now ... and not just rely spin, head-lines or shiny looking buildings ! 

Emerging economies are rapidly doing this, and if we don't do so soon we will fall further behind and find it difficult to catch up ...

* Leanomics = People taking responsibility for adding value and continuously improving the situation for others (e.g. customers, communities, overall environment), based upon fundamental values such as trust, honor, responsibility and respect.