Testing and Academies have their limitations – Diane Ravitch agrees
Reading an article in the New York times last week about Dr. Diane Ravitch made me think how similar the thrust of education policy in the UK and US has been over the last decade. And how similar the failings are.
Dr. Ravitch, a key academic supporter of the No Child Left Behind bill in the US, has developed increasing scepticm in three main areas of policy since 2003: Charter Schools (equivalent to the UK Academies programme), Standardised testing and private sector involvement.
I want to point out where her scepticism (based on observation of the results in America) has big implications for UK educational policy under the next government.
1. Repeat testing in core subjects = narrower, duller curriculum.
The unintended consequence of increasingly prescriptive curriculum guidelines, SATs and now Assessing Pupils Progress is that subjects that are not measured (or are hard to measure) get dropped from the teaching timetable. So humanities, arts and even the more experimental aspects of science and maths give way. Unfortunately, there is even little evidence that a decade of such testing in the UK has really increased numeracy or literacy rates either, probably because a dull curriculum does not inspire an inquisitive attitude.
2. Operational independence (i.e. Academies) DOES NOT necessarily lead to better results
Increasing educational standards relies on better teachers, but most Academies do not have the budget or flexibility to really pay much more for the best teachers, or the power to sack bad teachers. On the other hand, giving these independent organisations more spending power leaches talent away from LA-controlled schools. There are only so many teachers to go around, and unless new Academies make better use of them, by freeing them from paperwork and testing, they won’t produce much better results.
“Nations like Finland and Japan seek out the best college graduates for teaching positions, prepare them well, pay them well and treat them with respect,” Dr. Ravitch said. “They make sure that all their students study the arts, history, literature, geography, civics, foreign languages, the sciences and other subjects. They do this because this is the way to ensure good education. We’re on the wrong track.”
A new government in England should focus more on increasing status and respect for teachers and increasing the desirability of teaching (which is about pay, curriculum-flexibility and discipline) rather than just testing the outputs.
