Why do schools
fail?
Schools are
complex organisations with their own unique cultures and values. Although they are all concerned with learning
and teaching, and preparing students for their next stage in life, their
environments and approaches to learning, and how it is organized and managed, often
differ. The school diversity in itself does
not necessarily lead to poor outcomes and every school must be assessed on its
own merit. However, the scrutiny of
failing schools suggests that, for whatever reasons, they often have some
characteristics in common: unstable leadership, ineffective staff performance
management, low expectations of students, high teacher turnover and
difficulties with recruiting high caliber staff.
According to the
latest official figures, four out of 10 primary schools failed to reach the
government 2017 target and one in eight (12%) of secondary schools in England
failed to meet a new set of national standards based on 2017 GCSE results. Among those 365 underperforming secondary
schools, six were rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, the school watchdog. These statistics demonstrate that schools
fail thousands of young people in the system that is defined by the students’
end-of-year test results.
High level of school diversity
and variety of operational approaches mean that there are no easy,
one-size-fits-all solutions for instant improvement. Additionally, research indicates that schools
are so preoccupied with accountability measures and end results that often processes
leading to achieving these outcomes are lost along the way. This can have a negative impact on final
achievement because not enough resources are allocated to developing learning
cultures and consistent approaches to learning, ultimately leading to improved
end outcomes.
At the centre of
school inspections, are school improvement and monitoring of quality standards. Ofsted, responsible for inspecting all
maintained schools and some other educational institutions, states that its
“goal is to achieve excellence in education and skills for learners of all
ages”. Despite this noble aim, independent
research indicates that there is little evidence that the current system of
inspections leads to school improvement.
On the contrary, Frank Coffield, UCL, Institute of Education, asserts
that alongside some benefits of the national monitoring of the quality of
education, there are also some undesirable consequences, which reinforce
failure, especially with reference to schools with challenging intakes. The evidence from an empirical study by the
Education Policy Institute suggests that the “most deprived schools are
systematically more likely to be down-graded than the least
disadvantaged”. Coffield concludes
that: “The very schools that need most help are further harmed by inaccurate
and biased Ofsted reports that make recruitment and retention even more
difficult.”
Recently, Bill
Gates expressed his disappointment. He
feels that despite the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation huge investments in
public education, “by and large, schools are still falling short on the key
metrics of quality education”.
The search for quick
common fixes for all failing schools is problematic because their circumstances
and cultures are unique. Unlike successful
schools, poor performance schools often lack clear vision, robust strategic
planning and rigorous self-evaluation.
Ineffective assessment systems and poor understanding of how assessment and
constructive feedback can be used to advance learning can lead to underachievement. High focus on end outcomes and accountability
measures, and poor engagement with processes and strategies leading to achieving
these end results, can contribute to underperformance.
Discussing failing schools raises some uncomfortable questions relating to how we identify
a school’s underperformance and what is done about it before generations of students fail to
receive proper education or qualifications.
If the current system of school evaluations is flowed and fails to
identify poor performance for early intervention, then its fitness for purpose
should be examined. Perhaps a system of
truly independent school evaluations with a formative focus combined with validated self-reviews informed by 'pupils' voice', would support school improvement in a better way and reduce student
failure. Greater engagement with reflective practice, where critical self-assessment is part of day-to-day monitoring and informs future development, can only contribute to school improvement and reduce failure.
References:
Department for
Education (DfE) data; 2017 key stage 2 tests and GCSE examination results.
Stein, L et al. (2013).
Education Disrupted: Strategies for
Saving Our Schools. R&L Education.
Goodman, J.
(2011). The Spirit versus the Letter. King’s College London.
