League tables do not raise standards

Commenting on the school performance tables which are due to be published this week for England, ASCL General Secretary Brian Lightman said:

“ASCL strongly supports the principle of openness in making performance data available to the public, provided the data is reliable and accurate. However, league tables in themselves do not raise standards, that happens through a powerful combination of excellent teaching and leadership underpinned by active support from parents. The data only poses questions which allow an informed discussion to take place. Many schools for years have published more data than the minimum requirement because school leaders want parents to engage in discussion about these issues. Prospective parents will still visit a school and talk to staff and pupils in order to determine whether its aims and ethos suit the needs of their child. No quantity of raw data will show this.

“The minister says he wants schools to stop prioritising their rankings in exam league tables, but measures like the English Bac and floor standards make it difficult and in some cases dangerous for schools to ignore the tables. As long as the government emphasis is on just a few measures, there will be perverse incentives to focus on certain subjects and certain groups of students. This was the case with the unhealthy emphasis on the C grade which has been the dominant measure of school performance for many years, and in this respect the move to recognise wider measures of achievement is helpful.  

“Contrary to many of the messages that are being sent out through the media, school leaders passionately wants to raise standards and many have already achieved vast improvements over the last two decades. The way forward is for the entire educational community and government to work together to overcome any remaining barriers in order to build on this trend.”

23 January 2012