Schools 'failing brightest pupils'
Thousands of bright children are being let down by England's non-selective secondary schools, inspectors warn.
A culture of low expectations meant able pupils were failing to achieve top GCSE grades, Ofsted said in a report.
In 2012, 65% of pupils - 65,000 children - who had achieved Level 5 in maths and English tests at the end of primary school failed to attain A* or A grades in both these subjects at GCSE.
Head teachers said school league tables pushed schools into the middle ground.
The report - The Most Able Students: Are they doing as well as they should in our non-selective secondary schools? - found more than a quarter (27%) of previously high-attaining pupils had failed to achieve at least a B grade in both English and maths.
Ofsted defines high-achievers as those pupils who achieve a Level 5 in both English and maths in their national curriculum tests, commonly known as Sats.
'Excellent opportunities'
The research - based on observations of 2,000 lessons, visits to 41 schools and school performance data - found in some non-selective schools, staff did not even know who their most able pupils were.
HIGH PRIMARY ACHIEVER GCSE RESULTS
- 62% of pupils (at non-selective secondary schools) who got Level 5 in their English Sats did not get an A* or A grade in this subject at GCSE in 2012
- 25% of pupils who got Level 5 in their English Sats failed to get at least a B
- 53% of students who got Level 5 in their maths Sats did not gain an A* or A grade in this subject at GCSE
- 22% of pupils who got Level 5 in maths in their Sats failed to get at least a B
In 40% of the schools visited by inspectors, the brightest students were not making the progress they were capable of and many had become "used" to performing at lower levels, with parents and teachers accepting this "too readily", Ofsted said.
Tracking the progress of the most academically gifted was "not used sufficiently well in many schools", the report added.
Ofsted was critical of mixed-ability classes, saying they often saw "a lack of differentiation, teaching to the middle, and the top pupils not being stretched".
The report said teaching was "insufficiently focused" for able pupils in Key Stage 3 (aged 11-14) and schools should ensure class work was challenging at this stage so that able pupils could make rapid progress.
Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said Year 7 (the first year of secondary school) was a particularly critical time for the most academically able - arriving "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" from primary school - because a cycle of underperformance could quickly set in.
He recommended school leaders consider streaming or setting pupils from the very start of their secondary education.
Sir Michael said parents should be sent annual reports giving information on whether their child was achieving as well as they should be.
Sir Michael said: "Too many non-selective schools are failing to nurture scholastic excellence.
"While the best of these schools provide excellent opportunities, many of our most able students receive mediocre provision.
"Put simply, they are not doing well enough because their secondary schools fail to challenge and support them sufficiently from the beginning.
"I believe the term 'special needs' should be as relevant to the most able as it is to those who require support for their learning difficulties.
"Yet some of the schools visited for this survey did not even know who their most able students were - this is completely unacceptable.
"It is a serious concern that many non-selective schools fail to imbue their most able students with the confidence and high ambition that characterise many students in the selective or independent sector."
School league tables
Head teachers said the current government benchmark measure for schools in England - the percentage of pupils getting five GCSEs at grade C or above, including maths and English - was partly to blame.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "The government's league table culture deserves a measure of the blame for this situation.
"For too long, schools have been forced into the middle ground, to get students over thresholds at the expense of both the most and least able.
"Education has become a numbers game, at the expense of the ethos and breadth that underpin a truly great education."
Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Schools are better than ever at using data to target specific groups of pupils and fully understand the need to identify the most able and ensure that they are appropriately challenged.
"However, the current accountability measure [of 5 A*-C GCSEs] is not helpful, and we are pleased that the government is looking at changing this."
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "Secondary schools must ensure all their pupils - including their brightest - fulfil their potential.
"That's why we are introducing a more demanding and rigorous curriculum, toughening up GCSEs and getting universities involved in A-levels."
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui
Posts
No comments: