StephenTall.org http://stephentall.org The Collected Stephen Tall Mon, 14 May 2012 19:33:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 More on the 446 state schools where poorer children perform better than average (and where they’re located) http://stephentall.org/2012/05/14/eef-446-state-schools-chris-cook/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/14/eef-446-state-schools-chris-cook/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 19:20:16 +0000 Stephen Tall http://stephentall.org/?p=26304   [ Read More ]]]>

At the weekend I blogged the graph first published in the TES magazine highlighting research from the charity I work for, the Education Endowment Foundation, showing The 446 state schools where poorer children perform better than average.

Well, we now know a little more thanks to the work of the Financial Times’s education editor Chris Cook who’s delved deeper into what he describes as this “real core of excellent schools who are market-beaters” in two posts today:

1) How to spot successful schools

Here Chris shows how those 446 schools really are helping to make a real difference to their most disadvantaged pupils’ lives, significantly reducing (by up to a half) the impact of poverty on their attainment: “These schools do better on efficiency (better results) and equity (more evenly spread).”

2) Capital ideas on school reform

Here Chris looks at where those 446 schools are located, and finds that one region stands out: “London’s school system, once a renowned catastrophe, is now excellent”. This will come as no surprise to those who’ve read Gill Wyness’s recent CentreForum report showing the success of London’s schools — though it will apparently surprise the Telegraph’s Matthew Norman who in an otherwise entertaining column indulged the fatuous stereotype that London state schools are just training grounds for crack-dealers.

Chris lists the different regions of England and how many of the 446 schools can be found in each. Over 40% of London’s 383 comprehensive secondary schools qualify as schools where disadvantaged children out-perform the national average — that’s a stark and worrying contrast to the North-East (just 11 schools out of 152, c.7%) and Yorkshire & the Humber (17 out of 282, c.6%), the two regions where fewer than one-in-10 schools are successfully narrowing the attainment gaps between rich and poor.

PS: and a bit of good news today

for the Education Endowment Foundation… Nick Clegg this morning announced the government is allocating up to £10 million to the EEF to pilot projects that will help disadvantaged pupil premium pupils during the transition from primary to secondary school. More info here.

]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/14/eef-446-state-schools-chris-cook/feed/ 4 In other news… (In which defectors & rebellions loom large) http://stephentall.org/2012/05/13/in-other-news-in-which-defectors-rebellions-loom-large/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/13/in-other-news-in-which-defectors-rebellions-loom-large/#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 17:15:40 +0000 Stephen Tall http://www.libdemvoice.org/?p=28508

Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days…

Lord Owen attacks coalition over Lords reform ‘farce’ (Telegraph)

Lord Owen was one of 43 of the peers polled who said the Upper House needs to be reformed, even though he disagreed with the changes devised by Nick Clegg and other senior Liberal Democrats. “There does need to be change,” said Lord Owen. “You look around the chamber and you can see the person who is a friend of George Osborne. You can see the person who was a big donor. And you can see the person who is an expert and deserves to be there.” The peer, who served as a Labour foreign secretary in the late 1970s, has a range of criticisms of the Coalition’s proposed changes, which he decribed as a “farce”. “The 15-year terms are too long – they should be six or seven years,” he said. “There is also no need for youth peers – I think there should be a minimum age of 45. It should be a revising chamber, not a challenger to the Commons.

Councillor suspends herself after EDL Twitter comment (BBC News)

A Bournemouth councillor has apologised “unreservedly” after saying online that only the English Defence League “sticks up for the English”. Conservative councillor Sue Anderson said she had suspended herself from the party and referred herself for disciplinary procedures.

Liberal Democrat leader resigns from party (Cambridge News)

The leader of the Liberal Democrats in East Cambridgeshire has resigned from the party … Cllr Ian Allen, who represents Haddenham ward, has announced he has resigned from the party and become an independent councillor. He said: “The stage has been reached where I can no longer support coalition policies that are unfairly directed at worsening the lives of the least well off in society.”

Backbenchers more rebellious than at any stage since World War Two (Independent)

The analysis, by Philip Cowley and Mark Stuart of Nottingham University, discloses that Tory MPs rebelled in 28 per cent of divisions in the two-year parliamentary session that ended last week. Liberal Democrat MPs were almost as mutinous, stepping out of line in 24 per cent of Commons votes. The combined rate of 44 per cent outstrips previous parliaments – and will be particularly alarming for Tory and Liberal Democrat managers as, historically, MPs have tended to be more rebellious as general elections approach.

Fastest defector yet ditches Lib Dems day after election (Press & Journal)

A Highland Liberal Democrat councillor is believed to have made history as the fastest political defector. Veteran councillor Biz Campbell retained her seat of Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh on Friday, but confirmed the following morning she was quitting the Lib Dems because they had “lost direction”.

* Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, and also writes at his own site, The Collected Stephen Tall.

]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/13/in-other-news-in-which-defectors-rebellions-loom-large/feed/ 2 Another Mail headline to savour… Lynne ‘slaps down’ Tory minister for opposing Coalition support for equal marriage http://stephentall.org/2012/05/13/another-mail-headline-to-savour-lynne-slaps-down-tory-minister-for-opposing-coalition-support-for-equal-marriage/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/13/another-mail-headline-to-savour-lynne-slaps-down-tory-minister-for-opposing-coalition-support-for-equal-marriage/#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 13:15:12 +0000 Stephen Tall http://www.libdemvoice.org/?p=28506

At this rate the Daily Mail will soon become Lib Dems’ favourite reading… A few days after its front page proclaiming David Cameron’s lament ‘I’d govern like a true Tory if it wasn’t for the Lib Dems’, the paper reports:

Tory Minister is slapped down by Lib Dems after criticising gay marriage

Two Ministers in the Coalition clashed last night over David Cameron’s plan to allow gay marriages.
Tim Loughton, Tory Minister for Children and Families, came under fire from Liberal Democrat partners after he said he was totally opposed to same-sex marriage and that the Prime Minister would do better to focus on getting Britain out of recession.

Lib Dem Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone immediately slapped him down, saying: ‘Our consultation on equal marriage is about how to do this, not whether. Both Coalition parties have made clear we are committed to legislate by 2015.’

Lynne put it equally plainly on her blog a week ago:

In the aftermath of a tough set of election results for both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats – I couldn’t help but notice a few naysayers popping up in the media and uttering dire warnings about a government that needs to concentrate on core issues rather than same sex civil marriage.

For goodness sake – it’s not either / or.

The economy is clearly the No 1 priority – but the Coalition can multi-task!

There will be no u-turn on equal marriage – we are committed as a government to legislate by 2015.

* Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, and also writes at his own site, The Collected Stephen Tall.

]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/13/another-mail-headline-to-savour-lynne-slaps-down-tory-minister-for-opposing-coalition-support-for-equal-marriage/feed/ 5 The 446 state schools where poorer children perform better than average http://stephentall.org/2012/05/12/eef-446-schools-poor-children-better-than-average/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/12/eef-446-schools-poor-children-better-than-average/#comments Sat, 12 May 2012 17:10:56 +0000 Stephen Tall http://stephentall.org/?p=26276   [ Read More ]]]>

One of the biggest questions in education is the extent to which schools can make a difference to the lives of the children they teach. Put more fatalistically, if you’re born poor does that mean you will perform poorly at school?

Last week Kevan Collins (my boss at the Education Endowment Foundation) published an article in the TES magazine which has, I’m glad to say, created some waves. You can read it in full here, but its central point is simply summarised…

Based on data we’ve researched, we can see that in 2010 there were 446 secondary schools (1 in 7 schools in England) where the poorest children — defined here as those eligible for free school meals — achieved better results at GCSE than the all-pupil average. It’s an encouraging and important finding which shows a significant number of state schools are helping ensure those children perform well in the exams which will play such a large part in deciding what career/study options are open to them later in life.

It does, of course, also show we’ve a long way to go. As the graph we’ve produced shows, there are large ranges in GCSE performance even between schools which have similar pupil intakes (at least as measured by their household income). Closing the attainment gap which exists between children from the poorest backgrounds and all other pupils has to be the starting point for any social mobility agenda.

Learning from the success of those schools which have successfully narrowed gaps without lowering overall attainment, and then sharing evidence of what appears to work best with those schools where big gaps exist, is a practical step in equalising opportunities for children.

]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/12/eef-446-schools-poor-children-better-than-average/feed/ 16 @stephentall’s weekly Twitter updates for 2012-05-11 http://stephentall.org/2012/05/11/stephentalls-weekly-twitter-updates-for-2012-05-11/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/11/stephentalls-weekly-twitter-updates-for-2012-05-11/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 07:30:00 +0000 Stephen Tall http://stephentall.org/2012/05/11/stephentalls-weekly-twitter-updates-for-2012-05-11/   [ Read More ]]]>
]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/11/stephentalls-weekly-twitter-updates-for-2012-05-11/feed/ 0 Popbitch on Paddick… The way to a journalist’s heart is through their liver http://stephentall.org/2012/05/10/popbitch-on-paddick-the-way-to-a-journalists-heart-is-through-their-liver/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/10/popbitch-on-paddick-the-way-to-a-journalists-heart-is-through-their-liver/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 15:51:29 +0000 Stephen Tall http://stephentall.org/?p=26269   [ Read More ]]]>

The last time I mentioned celeb-gossip site Popbitch here, it was because they’d drawn attention to academic research on the link between the social mobility agenda and cricket.

This time, though, it’s the inside track on how — allegedly — Brian Paddick, the Lib Dem London mayoral candidate, helped restore the good humour of parched journos worrying about their file-by deadline by offering them copious taxpayer-funded libations:

>> Winey liberal <<
Paddick finally impresses hacks

At City Hall for the Mayoral election count, the Lib Dem candidate, Brian Paddick, managed to crack the code to the wine cellar, and dish some bottles out to the thirsty journalists who’d been waiting around for things to happen for ages. If only he’d done that before the election, he might have got the kind of favourable coverage that would have taken him above 4% of the vote.

I’m sure Lord Justice Leveson will soon be on the, erm, case.

]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/10/popbitch-on-paddick-the-way-to-a-journalists-heart-is-through-their-liver/feed/ 4 What I asked Nick in today’s #Clegginar about the ‘pupil premium’ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/10/clegginar-nick-clegg-pupil-premium/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/10/clegginar-nick-clegg-pupil-premium/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 14:40:09 +0000 Stephen Tall http://stephentall.org/?p=26265   [ Read More ]]]>

I’ve just finished participating in a web-chat with Lib Dem leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, the latest in a series of #Clegginars (yes, that is the Twitter hashtag) open to all party members.

Nick was in good, relaxed form (sipping water, munching Polos) — more importantly, he came across as honest, un-spun and informed about the Queen’s Speech and what it means for the Lib Dems. In general, the Queen’s Speech — much like the last Budget, in fact — was pretty good for the Lib Dems, with substantial progress on reforms of the banking sector, House of Lords, and pensions. (Though I don’t resile from my view that the Coalition is in real danger of losing its radical edge.)

I took the opportunity to ask Nick about one of the party’s top four priorities at the last general election: the ‘pupil premium’, money targeting children from the most deprived backgrounds intended to lift their academic performance. Here’s my question:

The pupil premium is, I know, a passion of Nick’s and he’s long championed it. However, educational benefits for the poorest children don’t always happen overnight. How does Nick think Lib Dems can stick up for the policy while resisting the pressure for instant solutions to these very complex issues of poverty and social mobility?

I’ve written in praise of the pupil premium before — while also noting its inherent danger for the party:

The Lib Dems, courageously, have said this money is not to be centrally directed: schools are free to spend it on those measures they think will boost the attainment levels of the poorest children in their specific context. Which is great liberal theory — but, as we’ve seen above, existing resources are not always well-spent so there is a good chance these additional resources might also miss the mark. How will the government — how will we as taxpayers — know if the ‘pupil premium’ has actually improved the educational life chances of the most disadvantaged; or will it simply have been absorbed into the general school budget to mop up pay-inflation increases, or repair the faulty boiler?

It’s a worry that I know is felt by Lib Dems, anxious that Labour is going to attack the pupil premium as ineffective unless quick results can be shown, and use that as an excuse to ring-fence the money in ways central government thinks will work and in the process undermine local schools. However, the expectation of ‘quick wins’ is a problem if the Lib Dems are genuinely interested in finding out what works in raising attainment among the poorest pupils: quite simply, it takes time to find out which educational interventions have a real and enduring impact.

What was Nick’s reply?

Well, in part he rehearsed his very clearly passionate belief in the pupil premium — he did after all write a pamphlet extolling it a decade ago — and he also referred me to a speech he’s making this Monday, which will apparently include examples of successes of the pupil premium to date around illiteracy and the difficulty in transitioning children from primary to secondary school.

Here’s how I summarised his answer in tweets:

]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/10/clegginar-nick-clegg-pupil-premium/feed/ 6 State of the Coalition (2): What I said on BBC Radio 5 Live http://stephentall.org/2012/05/10/state-of-the-coalition-2-what-i-just-said-on-bbc-radio-5-live/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/10/state-of-the-coalition-2-what-i-just-said-on-bbc-radio-5-live/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 06:25:06 +0000 Stephen Tall http://stephentall.org/?p=26246   [ Read More ]]]>

Late Tuesday night, I was on Tony Livesy’s BBC Radio 5 Live programme alongside Henry Hill of the Dilettante blog talking about today’s Coalition re-up. Here’s what we said…

Listen to 2012-05-10 071552
]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/10/state-of-the-coalition-2-what-i-just-said-on-bbc-radio-5-live/feed/ 2 When did the Tories stop supporting Lords reform? http://stephentall.org/2012/05/09/when-did-the-tories-stop-supporting-lords-reform/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/09/when-did-the-tories-stop-supporting-lords-reform/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 07:45:21 +0000 Stephen Tall http://www.libdemvoice.org/?p=28444

From all the debate and angst within the Tory party over the issue of House of Lords reform you’d imagine the plan to inject an element of democracy into the UK parliament had been foisted on David Cameron by sneakily obsessive Liberal Democrats.

Yet the reality is somewhat different. The Coalition Government’s pledge to overhaul the revising chamber (after Labour’s successive, botched failures) built on Tory promises to the electorate over a decade or more — recognising perhaps that such reform is in fact in their own interests.

Here’s what the Tory manifesto said as far back as 2001:

In changing the way Parliament works our overriding objective will be to strengthen the ability of the House of Lords and the House of Commons to hold the Government to account. We will strengthen the independence of the House of Lords as an effective revising chamber by requiring new members to be approved by an independent appointments commission. We will set up a Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament in order to seek consensus on lasting reform in the House of Lords. We would like to see a stronger House of Lords in the future, including a substantial elected element.

By 2005, this Tory pledge of Lords reform had become firmer still:

proper reform of the House of Lords has been repeatedly promised but never delivered. … We will seek cross-party consensus for a substantially elected House of Lords.

This reforming pledge was repeated in 2010:

We will work to build a consensus for a mainly-elected second chamber to replace the current house of Lords, recognising that an efficient and effective second chamber should play an important role in our democracy and requires both legitimacy and public confidence.

With such a track record of commitment to Lords reform small wonder that the 2010 Coalition Agreement made an almost identical pledge to the Tory manifesto:

We will establish a committee to bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper chamber on the basis of proportional representation.

So the question really to Tory MPs about Lords reform is this: why have you stopped supporting your own party’s manifesto commitment?

* Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, and also writes at his own site, The Collected Stephen Tall.

]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/09/when-did-the-tories-stop-supporting-lords-reform/feed/ 3 The Daily Mail front page that could serve as the Lib Dems’ next general election poster http://stephentall.org/2012/05/09/daily-mail-front-page-lib-dem-general-election-poster/ http://stephentall.org/2012/05/09/daily-mail-front-page-lib-dem-general-election-poster/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 07:09:14 +0000 Stephen Tall http://stephentall.org/?p=26250   [ Read More ]]]>

Okay, so we should probably say something positive as well — but, still, it’s quite a handy reminder of how important the Lib Dems are to the UK’s government right now:

]]> http://stephentall.org/2012/05/09/daily-mail-front-page-lib-dem-general-election-poster/feed/ 85