AAIA - The Association for Achievement and Improvement through Assessment » News

Second language, first-class results

david — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:01:26 +0000

TES article – Pupils who speak English as an additional language (EAL) have achieved an academic breakthrough, with new figures showing that a higher proportion have gained five “good” GCSEs than their native English speaking counterparts for the first time.

DfE – GCSE and Equivalent Attainment by Pupil Characteristics in England, 2010/11.

New data shows that pupils miss out on core academic subjects

david — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:10:31 +0000

DfE press notice – Thousands of pupils are missing out on the opportunity to study the core academic subjects, new figures reveal.

Sir Michael rings the changes

david — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:10:06 +0000

TES article – Outstanding schools fear inspection once more as new chief stamps his mark on Ofsted.

Government set to dig in on Nationals deadline

david — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:09:05 +0000

TES Scotland – As the EIS prepared to press the case for flexibility, sources suggested Michael Russell would stick to his guns.

Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales 2010-2011

david — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:23:42 +0000

Estyn – Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education 2010-11, an overall assessment of standards and performance of schools, education and training providers in Wales.

TES article – Welsh literacy levels still ‘shocking’.

Ofsted challenged to prove its ‘integrity’

david — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:22:28 +0000

TES article – “Ofsted do not know good teaching when they see it,” a government adviser and expert on teacher quality has claimed. Professor Dylan Wiliam of London University’s Institute of Education is challenging the watchdog to show some “integrity” by subjecting its school inspections to an evaluation of their reliability and publishing the findings.

Move to delay Nationals 4 and 5 applauded

david — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:20:16 +0000

TES Scotland article – Council’s decision to hold off introduction of new qualifications is praised by unions.

TES Scotland article – Why all eyes are on the council that broke ranks.

EIS union calls for delay to new curriculum exams

david — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:19:41 +0000

BBC News education – Schools should be allowed to delay a new exam system if they are not ready to implement it, Scotland’s largest teaching union has said.

Only the highest quality qualifications to be included in Performance Tables

david — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:33:22 +0000

DfE press notice -’Equivalent’ qualifications to be slashed from more than 3,175 to just 125. All qualifications will have the same value in the tables.

Guardian Education – Thousands of vocational qualifications to be stripped out of GCSE league tables.

Guardian Education – An end to qualifications that have no real value. The vast number of approved GCSE or GCSE-equivalent qualifications has been reduced by 96% to just 125, and these fulfil tough criteria ensuring they lead to meaningful further study or employment, says Alison Wolf.

The Telegraph – Michael Gove: we must not limit young people academically. The Education Secretary, Michael Gove defends his policy of downgrading vocational qualifications and cutting them from official school league tables, saying young people must be able to prove themselves academically.

The Independent – Government shake-up for vocational qualifications.

BBC News Education – Most GCSE equivalents axed from school league tables.

Wave goodbye to ‘satisfactory’

david — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:29:05 +0000

TES article – Ofsted’s ‘requires improvement’ rating will pile pressure on schools.