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ePolitix.com reports on Monday's children, schools and families select committee evidence session.
Giving evidence to the House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee, Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, argued that at the moment, teachers were low in trust, but high in accountability, and this needed to be corrected.
Teachers unions and the General Teaching Council were giving evidence to the committee on school accountability and the new school report card system.
Blower called for an accountability system which would be “owned by” and meaningful to the teachers and parents.
Dr John Dunford, representing the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) called for “intelligent accountability”. This was a call echoed throughout the evidence session from all the unions. Accountability had to be looked at “in the round” he said, warning that if the report card system must be brought in, other methods of accountability would need to be phased out.
Martin Johnson, Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), warned the committee not to focus their inquiry on different mechanisms, but rather on how they fitted together. He called for better integration between inspection and support and favoured the view that as support was to be supplied by local authorities, inspection could be brought to that level as well.
In a statement which concerned some committee members, he pointed out that “parents were transient” and whilst they had their child's interests at heart, this did not always run in line with the needs of a community or school.
He challenged the committee on the condition of public servants: Was there a presumption of trust, or was the “large hammer” of accountability required.
Mick Brookes from the National Association of Head Teachers called for intelligent inspections and emotionally intelligent inspections. He pointed out that “a large letter” on the front of a report card was not appropriate.
From the General Teaching Council for England, Keith Bartley criticised the one-off episodic inspection method used by Ofsted. He advocated a more continuous method of inspection, something Christine Blower referred to as a “narrative”. He stressed the need for moving accountability to local government to give schools and teachers “space”.
Derek Twigg (Lab, Halton) pressed those giving evidence about what teachers and schools should be accountable for.
John Dunford argued that it was right that schools are held to account for examination results, attendance and other indicators, pointing out that their responsibility of public spending required accountability. However, he pointed to the need to look at the wider development of children rather than just “measurable effects”.
Christine Blower went on to suggest that the accountability systems are "muddled", arguing that there were flaws with exam reports. She criticised the lack of narrative in report cards for schools in a particular area.
Johnson felt that there was, in principle, difficulty between “what we think the outcomes should be” and restrictions that can be placed on schools.
Brookes added that financial management in schools was a problem as the schools had to prove they were using the money. They were in effect “guilty until proven innocent”.
Bartley argued that accountability should be about improving outcomes. This was harder to measure as a result of the wider aspirations.
On inspection, the unions agreed that Ofsted's thematic reviews were helpful; however, John Dunford clarified that “quality assurance combines internal evaluation with external checks” and the responsibility of Ofsted need be nothing more than these external checks. He added: “We need an agency capable of continuous assessment.”
Ofsted needed to paint a "national picture for the government".
Blower agreed that this should be moderated by an external agency.
Bartley criticised the “high stakes testing system, in which one test is used for such a breadth of assessment”.
When questioned further about parental choice, Dunford highlighted that parents need a clear understanding. not just about choosing a school, but also about engaging with a school.
The teachers' representatives also spoke about quality assurance of educational inspectors further into the evidence session.
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