Life After Levels - 3 provocative questions we could ask

The English education system is stressing about one thing more than any other right now: Life After Levels. In this post I consider 3 provocative that just might be worth asking at this moment.

A headteacher told me that a student of his was expected to get a string of top grades. Her mother committed suicide and she derailed. The school spent hours in time and generous amounts of money simply to get her back to school. She gained passes. According to the hard data of expectations, the school failed. In my book, they should instead be championed, along with every school in the country that achieves such stories, every day of every school year. If you are a headteacher then I guess you have a similar story to tell and I would love to hear it.

I was recently involved with the Rochford Review whose interim recommendations are now out. I am hosting a forthcoming Think Tank for headteachers about life after levels along with Maria Landy, Jan Martin and Natalie Packer. I find myself sucked into the whirlwind of the crisis and I am pausing for thought. I am not convinced of the following questions, but I am equally not accepting of the sheep-like adherence to the limited world view of our education system. Take a breath, here goes...

Q. 1 Could there be a different paradigm where a teacher's role is measured by how well we 'switch on' students instead of their ability? How would this affect our teachers and students?

I have always valued how a child engages with reading rather than their technical achievement. I take it as read (pun intended) that ability generally grows with engagement - albeit with some exceptions. Nearly all problems are rooted in preparedness for learning and exceptional achievement through sheer enthusiasm. Surely there has always been a disconnect between hard data and the broader progress students make? If we shifted our paradigm so that the measurable outcome was engagement with learning, then outstanding schools would be those that are super-enthusiastic about learning despite their levels. Schools with higher ability attainment could find themselves considered a lower standard for not necessarily fostering a love of learning. Hmm, that's a thought.

Q.2 Is our graded system essentially biased to the top 50% for whom it is relevant and for everyone else, the most vulnerable bottom 50%, it merely demarcates levels of failure?

This is a related question to the first albeit with a different emphasis. For the majority of students that I consult schools about, trying to eke out a grade which is so far below the value of mainstream grades is essentially a fool's errand that both the teachers, students and parents/carers suck up and wonder why. Yes, there is some value in saying that this student can formulate this technical skill slightly better than they could last term, but actually, it is everything else a teacher and parent discuss that makes the most sense to try and capture - the multiplicity of successes and failures in their myriad of forms along the way, between (and even despite) the technical achievements or lack thereof. Do we have to play the same game for all of those students who are not trying to differentiate themselves from the pack in order to get in to their top 2 university choices?

Q.3 If we are going to make a change to our system of grades, can we conjure something up that captures successes rather than absolutes that lead to comparing one with another? 

Absolute grades lead to comparisons between students and schools. I hope that outstanding education can exist beyond the myopic vision of hard data and even despite the hard data. I wouldn't mind so much if the self-serving Ofsted system actually led to change, but in reality there are still thousands of schools stuck at RI and below. All schools should be afforded support rather than the judgement. With this in mind, hard data would be less relevant and the measures of success could be around a number of factors, for example, parental engagement - a cornerstone of engaging vulnerable students. Interestingly, I am quite sure that most Ofsted inspectors haven't got a clue about how to take a school on a journey to develop their parental engagement.

Now imagine a letter from the DfE and/or Ofsted to the headteacher I spoke of at the start of this post:

Dear Headteacher, I am writing to acknowledge the multitude of young students whose lives you have improved, despite and regardless of their grades; all of the moments they will take with them that will enrich their lives and lead to successes; and more importantly, experiences that will help them to navigate the tough times ahead. For all of these things, congratulations and thank you.