It's interesting to see the mess that Obama is walking into with his backing of the States' new "Common Core Standards". In principle, it sounds as fudgy and wrapped up in abstract goals such as "excellence" and "world leading" as any other changing school curriculum in the world at the moment. Until you read it.And then you realise it's far from fudgy, but not in a good way. It's one of the most prescriptive curriculum outlines you could have asked for, and clearly few educators have touched it, seen it, or passed their metaphorical red pens over it in the drafting stage. Worse still, the conditions under which it is being adopted are, how do you put it, totalitarian. Susan Ohanian explains what's wrong in a superb piece at the Huff Post:…How about Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical...

According to this morning's newspapers the rules governing how fire-fighters operate in difficult situations could be relaxed to take account of 'common sense'. The potential move follows an inquiry into the death of Ayrshire women who died after falling down a mine shaft. Fire-fighters were told to wait more than six hours before attempting to rescue her because of the need to follow certain safety rules and regulations. On the face of it this seems a sensible and worthy approach. However is it as simple as this and are there are other aspects of public life which could benefit from this approach? It’s worth considering in the first place why we have rules and regulations at all. In simple terms it is to ensure a uniform and consistent approach wherever people live. Thus if you have...

Children's strange misconceptions about science are revealed in a science knowledge...

The government has decided to allow BNP members and other racists to continue teaching in schools. This is the right decision. Schools should not have to find out whether people who apply for teaching jobs are members of the BNP. There is enough for them to find out already, and they have many other tasks to complete in addition to recruiting teachers. Not all racists are members of racist Visit seniorspeaks.blogspot.com to read the entire entry....

My House Points column from today's Liberal Democrat News.The material on the Stockport murder case of 1861 comes from an article by Gitta Sereny which was published in the Independent in 1995.Modern timesHouse Points has reached an age when it is allowed to have fogeyish moments. And when it has them it argues that modern Britain no longer understands the distinction between adult and child.The murder of James Bulger in 1993 showed this development at its starkest. Rather than being merciful because the perpetrators were children, the press and public were angrier. The judge, who allowed Thompson and Venables to be named and described them as being possessed of an “unparalleled evil and barbarity”, did his best to add to this mood.If you doubt this is a modern development, look back...

Women come out best in listening and recollection tests in study by University of London's Institute of EducationIt's been an endless source of aggravation between the sexes; how can men so easily forget birthdays, anniversaries, and even friends' names?Not, it seems, because they cannot be bothered to remember. Research suggests that, in middle age at least, absent-minded-ness is a particularly male problem.At the age of 50, women's verbal memory outperforms their male counterparts by a significant margin, a report by the Institute of Education, University of London suggests.A survey of more than 9,600 middle-aged British men and women showed that women outscored men in two listening and recollection tests."Men performed significantly more poorly in the verbal memory tests: particularly...

But inquiry is ordered into whether anti-racist measures are working adequately in private schoolsMinisters have ruled out banning members of the British National party from the teaching profession, after an independent inquiry into racism in schools decided such a move would be disproportionate.The issue of whether those who belong to racist organisations should be prevented from teaching – as they are from working as police or prison officers – will be reviewed annually.But a separate inquiry has been announced into whether measures to stop racism being promoted in independent schools are adequate, provoking an angry response from representatives of the private sector.In his review, Maurice Smith, a former chief inspector of schools, said he had decided banning teachers from being...

Members of organisations which may promote racism, including the BNP, will not be banned from being teachers, says a...

A lesbian student at a school in Mississippi wanted to take her girlfriend to the prom. So the school cancelled itIf all those John Hughes movies are to be believed, the senior prom is a highlight of American teenage life. But in a real-life scenario that would have made for a great John Hughes plot, a cowardly school in Mississippi has cancelled its senior prom this year after a female student wanted to bring her girlfriend as her date.Constance McMillen, an 18-year-old student at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi, asked to be able to take her date. The school's board objected – and to McMillen wanting to wear a tuxedo – so the American Civil Liberties Union got involved, pointing out the discrimination issue.How did the school react? By blaming "distractions...

The closure of almost half of Kansas City's schools shows what can happen when the wealthy opt out, and services sufferTwenty-nine out of 61 Kansas City, Missouri, schools will soon be shuttered in a desperate bid by the struggling school district to stave off bankruptcy. At the same time, close to one-quarter of the city's school employees will lose their jobs.While many districts around the country are closing under-enrolled-in or low-performing schools in an effort to save money, the scale of KC's decision puts it in a league of its own. Students around the city will be disrupted by the changes, as they lose teachers, have to travel further to school each morning, and possibly see their class sizes grow.The number of students in Kansas City's public schools – 18,000 – would...

Pekinese Souwester became the UK’s first all-nude presenter of a live-to-air TV history programme mostly by accident, when the flimsy summer dress she was wearing caught on an exposed halberd as she did a piece to camera from the newly restored armoury at the famous Milton Keynes medieval castle. As it was the hottest day of a unusually warm British summer – as the Met office had forecasted that it was going to be the coldest and wettest British summer on record,sales of barbeque equipment and sun cream had already reached record levels by this time – and as she was filming under hot TV lighting, Souwester had already forgone her underwear under the dress. With one eye on the ratings both her producer and director had both confirmed that this course of action was fine by them,...

Schools adjudicator clamps down on parents who deceive to get their children into the best state schools• Datablog: get the data behind this storyParents caught lying to the authorities to get their offspring into top state schools will have their child's place automatically withdrawn under new rules, the schools adjudicator said today, following indications that more than 4,000 fraudulent applications were made last year.Officials will conduct random samples of at least 10% of applications to root out deception, and set up a whistleblowers' hotline for parents to report their suspicions about other families. If a family changes its main place of residence within a year of an application, it will trigger an automatic re-examination of the case, to check they have not given false...

A report into parents who cheat to get their child into a school calls for whistleblowing hotlines to be set...

Most families in England were given their first choice of secondary school - but the picture is...

It's interesting to observe how, in the run-up to the General Election, Labour is making valiant efforts to distract attention away from national issues and working hard on a 'localism' programme of their own.It goes rather like this for anyone who hasn't spotted it already. "We, the local Labour Party, may operate under the same flag as the gang in government but really we're different and can offer friendly local solutions that government can't.' Of course, any occasional scraps of comfort or finance that fall locally will, rather like some strange and primitive 'Cargo Cult', will be the divine gift of 'a Labour Government' and just to remind you what this is:'A cargo cult is a type of religious practice that may appear in traditional tribal societies in the wake of interaction with...

Schools in England are being issued with new guidance on how to spot signs that children are involved with...

Lottery admissions can be destabilising for children and bad for their welfare, the Schools Secretary, Ed Balls,...

Judgments from schools inspected last term lead teachers' unions to accuse Ofsted of 'moving the goalposts'One in seven secondary schools inspected last term was branded inadequate under a new regime honing in on teaching quality and pupil progress, the schools inspectorate, Ofsted, revealed today.Only half of all the 2,140 schools visited were judged to be better than satisfactory. Teachers' unions attacked the inspectorate for "moving the goalposts" as the overall proportion deemed inadequate more than doubled, rising from 4% to 10%.Ofsted said the figures did not reflect the quality of provision across all the country, because it had focused more on weaker schools.But a quarter of the schools it inspected between September and December last year got a lower grade than at their previous...

As the issue of faith schools has often been debated on this site, and it’s been back in the news with the question of sex and relationship education, we’ve asked David Laws to explain the party’s approach to these issues: The recent Government climbdown over sex and relationship education in state funded faith schools has prompted further debate amongst liberals about what role, if any, faith schools should have in English education. Some liberals argue that in a free society faith groups should be free to deliver a faith education, and that parents should be free to send their children to such schools. These liberals believe that state interference in faith education would be a major infringement of basic liberties. Other liberals and Liberal Democrats argue with equal...

More schools in England are being judged as inadequate in Ofsted's new-style inspections, according to figures just...

More schools in England are being judged as inadequate in Ofsted's new-style inspections, figures are expected to...

Prenuptial training for young people aims to tackle country's rising divorce ratesThere was a time when Iranian women seeking husbands prioritised job status and financial security – not to mention love – at the top of their list of needs.Now potential suitors face the prospect of having to fulfil a daunting new requirement before asking for a bride's hand – having the right government certificate.Acquiring the appropriate official qualifications before popping the question is part of a plan for prenuptial training courses approved by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with the aim of reversing declining Iranian marriage rates and rising divorce statistics.From next week, online courses will be offered to young people to prepare them for the pitfalls of married life. The...

In an indirect way Michael Gove, Tory Education spokesperson, has shown a prejudice in the way the Tories view education. He has said:"In the last year for which we have figures, of the 80,000 pupils who are eligible for free school meals, the very poorest, just 45 got to Oxford or Cambridge."He went on to say that Labour had failed the poorest pupils as a result. But hang on I say. Is...

Targets for getting young people into higher education should be scrapped and top-up fees raised, say graduate...

Professor explains the possibility of robots as companions for children with autismLinda NylindElliot Smith...

I have written this post for the Public Finance blog:The Conservatives’ shadow schools secretary is finding himself in an increasing muddle as he starts to put flesh on his schools’ policy. One day Michael Gove is extolling the virtues of free schools, liberated from the shackles of Whitehall, with the touchy-feely charms of Goldie Hawn jostling alongside Swedish companies to deliver. Days later he is laying down the level of detailed knowledge that every youngster should have of their kings and queens, their classical poetry by heart and their algebra under the tutelage of the Tories’ Maths mistress Carol Vorderman.Gove’s confusion on education policy, one of the few areas where the Tories have at least done some homework, seems to mirror his party’s wider confusion as it...

If you were ever in doubt that Cameron is no conservative consider his latest offering - to take independent schools into the state sector. Why, in heaven's name? From the Mail: A David Cameron government would create a new breed of state-funded independent school with freedom to vary the national curriculum as well as teachers' pay and conditions.Independent schools can do that already, so...

Continuing on from the stimulus of an English chef who knows his vision - to eradicate obesity - and wants us to "pass it on", I saw this piece on a US school making a huge difference to its learners' potential futures:"I never had a doubt that we would achieve this goal," King said. "Every single person we hired knew from the day one that this is what we do: We get our kids into college." While I don't think anyone in his school would argue that they are not also about producing "rounded individuals", "a caring environment" and all the other edu-fluff that we see in mission statements from schools and curricula, this school CEO in Chicago, working with an all-male, all-black school population in a deprived area, knows exactly what vision he wants achieved.The next action for every...

Over the weekend the implications of Mad Hatters Harman’s ‘Equality’ legislation, the policy aimed at making the British people too stupid to even wipe up their own drool as they sit gawping at the latest Celebrity Reality Overly-Besequined Extravaganza On Ice, were set out in a code of practice, drawn up by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Apparently, the Mad Hatters wants her legislation to prevent ‘discrimination’ against anybody’s beliefs, no matter how absurd, in the totally misguided and hopelessly naïve belief that this will somehow – perhaps by magic – make everything all better. The code of practice implies that this means that no matter how utterly deranged the beliefs of anyone are, as long as they are held sincerely, those beliefs will be...

Whether through over-zealous editing, poor transferal of interview material from me, over compression of complex arguments or the fact that newspapers feel they can only put online what little will fit in the paper edition (and in the case of the TESS, put even less online than in the paper edition), I feel moved to clarify some of the remarks attributed to me. I also feel obliged to point out the boon that Glow, the national schools intranet, offers, something that will not make as sexy a story as the journos might want but which, frankly, matters a damn site more than their headlines. 1. Is "Glow the modern equivalent of a worksheet"? Absolutely not.The original quote was lifted and, I believe, altered for Friday's Times Education piece, originally from an interview which coasted onto...

Those who can do, those who can't, teach and those who can't teach become Tory education ministers. Question Time this week saw a car crash of a performance from Carol Vorderman, when she was thoroughly outclassed by those around her and her 'independent' voice was exposed as a sham. Unqualified to serve as a teacher under a Tory government, she relied on reading her crib notes - wonder who briefed her? - and independently took shots only at Labour throughout the show.Gaby Hinsliff watched the show as wellChatty Carol, the lovable whizz with a whiteboard, metamorphasised before the Question Time audience into a malfunctioning robot apparently programmed by a shock jock. Smoke billowed from her wiring as she veered between shrill (on the public's apparent right to hunt down Jon Venables)...

From the man who suggested making the film Titanic just so he could dive two and a half miles under the sea, and who invented the technology needed to make his sci-fi dreams come true in Avatar: James Cameron learnt through his expeditions to the bottom of the world thatFailure is an option, but fear is not What I see with increasing regularity is that education leaders are gripped by the notion that failure is not an option (à la Nasa) and that fear will prevent that happening. Meanwhile, on the ground we see teachers prepared to take measured risk, putting their previous fears to one side, and accept, as they ask their students to do in learning, that there will be some degree of failure before we get to where we want to be. I'm quite clear on who I think needs to change their...

Head teachers warn that Tory plans for free schools could lead to a system of 20,000 'corner shop'...

School leaders say record numbers of head teachers are losing their jobs because of poor exam...

Recruitment drives and the downturn have led to a flood of applicants from the private sector seeking greater job security and satisfactionThousands of bankers, IT workers, PR executives and journalists are turning to teaching, figures show today. The recession has made private sector workers think again about their working lives, with 13,500 "career changers" applying to train as teachers in the past year, a 35% rise. In all there was a 117% rise in inquiries from those looking to change jobs.Many cited job security and satisfaction as the reasons and were surprised that their salaries would not suffer as much as they expected.Graham Holley, chief executive of the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), which has released the figures, said the influx of career changers –...

Looking through the education pages on the BBC website, I noticed that Nick Clegg has sought to make a deal with headteachers.Everyone has the right to have high expectations on schools. A good start in life enables us to create a society that is healthier in mind and body, a society that has to rely less on crime and a society that becomes fairer.But those expectations have to be backed...

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg is to ask head teachers to "raise their game" in return for a £2.5bn education funding...

Schools Secretary Ed Balls has told head teachers in England they need to plan savings now - or face staff cuts...

I had been hoping to bring you an interview with Nick Clegg in a short while after he had dealt with some press commitment. But conferences being conferences not to mention the press taking more of Nick's time, something about a Fifer appearing before Chilcott, that was not to be.Instead at very short notice I had to direct my questions to the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats...

More schools are failing under new-style checks brought in by England's schools inspectors, it is...