Tell us what you think makes a good school
The methods for evaluating and comparing schools are undergoing significant changes, with Ofsted, the education watchdog, having already revamped their contentious grading system to provide more detailed information and context for parents. Additionally, researchers have developed the Fairer Schools Index, which aims to address various biases present in the traditional school grading system.
Have your say! What makes a good school? Are top exam results the priority, or would you look for something else? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.
Historically, in England, Ofsted's succinct one or two-word summaries served as the basis for parents forming their first impressions of a schools standard. Post-inspection, schools would typically receive a rating, categorised as outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate.
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Looking ahead, a "report card" will dissect various facets of a school's performance, offering parents more comprehensive and practical information when selecting a school. According to The Mirror, the Fairer Schools Index takes into account additional factors such as pupil demographics, ethnicity, and economic disadvantage, in addition to traditional performance metrics.
This approach is said to mitigate some of the inherent bias against schools that serve children from underprivileged backgrounds found in the Department for Education's league tables. In this new Index, certain schools achieve higher rankings than they would in standard league tables, an acknowledgment of their success in "beating the odds" and making a substantial impact.
For instance, pupils from less affluent backgrounds who receive free school meals tend to perform worse than their peers by an average of 0.69 of a grade. With nearly a quarter of all schoolchildren receiving free school meals, the Index aims to consider factors like this when establishing the new ranking system.
The Northern Powerhouse Partnership think-tank is advocating for the index to be used in conjunction with league tables. Chief executive Henri Murison stated: "We must demand the best for every child. Those schools that beat the odds stacked against their pupils should be recognised as being high performing. And that will drive down the disadvantage gap over the next decade and reduce the gaps which exist across and between parts of England today."
"By failing to account for a number of different variables related to pupils' backgrounds, the last government labelled many schools in areas like the North East of England as under-performing while failing to account for demographic differences in helping drive higher outcomes in London schools."
Have your say! What makes a good school? Are top exam results the priority, or would you look for something else? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.