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How should we view the performance of the most disadvantaged students?

Jul 18, 2024 | Category: leadership

In spite of our best efforts, the academic performance of our most and least advantaged students stubbornly refuses to close. In fact, as a recent report from the Education Policy Institute shows, the...

The purpose of a system is what it does

Jun 20, 2024 | Category: leadership

Following a recommendation from Sam Freedman, I've recently devoured Dan Davies's The Unaccountability Machine. It's an attempt to analyse 'what's gone wrong' in what we might call The West over the p...

In defence of accountability

Mar 19, 2023 | Category: leadership

This weekend saw Joe Kirby publish a thoughtful blog in which he calls for an end to Quality Assurance. I agree with Joe's analysis of the causes of poor accountability - or QA - but not his suggested...

#accountability #quality assurance

Schools and the Tyranny of Merit

May 27, 2021 | Category: leadership

One of the books I read last year that has most stayed with me is Michael Sandel's The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? In it, Sandel argues that meritocracy is inherently harmful t...

#intelligent accountability #meritocracy

Accountability

Nov 07, 2020 | Category: leadership

The following is a summary of Chapter 4 of my new book, Intelligent Accountability. What stops us from taking the risk and trusting teachers is, in part, the very real fear that some will cut corner...

#intelligent accountability #Lerner & Tetlock

Trust

Nov 03, 2020 | Category: leadership

The following is taken from chapter 3 of my new book, Intelligent Accountability. Confucius believed that three things were needed for a ruler to govern: weapons, food and trust. If a ruler is unabl...

#intelligent accountability #Onora O'Neill

The surplus model of school improvement

Nov 02, 2020 | Category: leadership

In chapter 2 of Intelligent Accountability I suggest that schools can operate either a surplus or deficit model of school improvement. Schools often seem to be run on a deficit model whereby any defic...

#surplus model #intelligent accountability

Why we need to embrace ignorance and learn to love uncertainty

Nov 01, 2020 | Category: leadership

The opening chapter of my book Intelligent Accountability is an attempt to clear the way of objections and obstacles in order to create the conditions for teachers to thrive. As such, I argue that sch...

#intelligent accountability

Intelligent Accountability: An overview

Oct 24, 2020 | Category: leadership

My new book, Intelligent Accountability: Creating the conditions for teachers to thrive is out now.The argument I make is that while accountability is wholly necessary for teachers to thrive it is too...

#Intelligen Accountability

Five things new school leaders need to know

Jun 22, 2020 | Category: leadership

1. The primary role of school leadership is to remove extraneous demands on teachers so that they can focus on planning and teaching the very best curriculum possible.If you're doing anything that int...