In March the government published its education White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, which reaffirmed its commitment to moving towards a school-led initial teacher training (ITT) system.
Centres of Excellence
The government is keen to increase the level of training that teachers receive and wants the “best universities to establish ‘centres of excellence’” to improve the quality of teaching.
“We will reform our allocation of teacher-training places so that ITT is delivered by the best higher education institutions and school-led providers where new entrants are most needed, where places are most likely to be filled, and where training is most likely to be delivered well,” the paper says.
Chairman of the Sutton Trust and Education Endowment Foundation, Sir Peter Lampl said:
“The Sutton Trust welcomes the strong focus on teaching, leadership and the use of evidence in the White Paper. Good teaching makes all the difference between success and failure, particularly for the poorest pupils. But, it is vital that there is the capacity in schools and universities to ensure that the new higher teacher training standards are delivered successfully.
“The ambitious academies target also requires a huge increase in capacity if it is to succeed. Yet our evidence shows that while some academy chains are very successful, too many are not yet making the difference they should to outcomes for poorer pupils. The Government also needs to ensure that a focus on all schools becoming academies is not at the expense of weaker schools being turned around. Getting it right in the new Achieving Excellence Areas will be crucial and they must have the resources they need. We also need a radical revival of good leadership development programmes, something lost in recent years.
“We welcome the Government’s continued commitment to the pupil premium, and the importance of ensuring it benefits all pupils, including the highly able. We hope that measures are taken to ensure that schools do more to support and stretch their ablest pupils from low and middle income backgrounds, who too often fall behind in secondary school.”
Academies
Academies are becoming increasingly popular under the current government, however the Sutton Trust’s Chain Effects research found that not all academies are performing as expected.
Whereas some academies can have a transformational impact on a pupil’s life chances, there are been examples of some academy schools underperforming.
Learn more about the Sutton Trust’s Chain Effects research here: http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/chain-effects-2015/
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