NASUWT: Ofsted ‘playing fast and loose’ with evidence data
Commenting on the report Moving English forward: Action to raise standards in English, published today by Ofsted, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said:
“The critical importance of pupils’ educational achievement in English is beyond dispute and Ofsted is right to monitor provision in this vital subject.
“However, it is essential that it does so on an evidence basis, rather than picking and choosing information that seems to support a predetermined view.
“This report fails to set out its findings in the context of the substantial improvements secured for pupils by the skill and dedication of their teachers over the past two decades.
“It should not, for example, be forgotten that in 1995, only 49% of pupils leaving primary school achieved the expected standard in English, a figure that had risen to 81% by 2011. Over the same period, the number of pupils gaining a GCSE in English at Grade C or above increased from 57% to 65%.
“The report also shows Ofsted, like the Coalition Government, playing fast and loose with international data, trotting out the same inaccurate claims that England is falling far behind other nations when any balanced and reasonably intelligent assessment of the evidence proves that this is clearly not the case.
“There can be no grounds for complacency as far as English is concerned and every teacher will always want to ensure that pupils get the high quality learning opportunities in English to which they are entitled.
“However, attempts to improve literacy education are ill-served by Ofsted failing to set out a complete and accurate assessment of standards in schools. Clearly, Ofsted’s ability to make effective use of evidence, to use its own term, requires improvement.”
ENDS
Stuart Gannon
NASUWT Press Office
Tel: 020 7420 9681
Mobile (and out of hours contact): 07966 198894
Address: 5 King Street , Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8SD
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