Schools are sacking headteachers like football clubs sack managers
Education Data Surveys director John Howson sa
id schools were making head teachers the scapegoats for poor results even when the underlying problems were elsewhere.Howson spoke out as figures showed three out of four schools that failed their Ofsted reports between 2003 and 2005 parted company with their headteacher within a year of the inspection.
Despite this frantic activity, the number of schools failing the reports remained fairly constant at 1% over that time.
“It is a bit like football clubs,” Howson told the Sunday Telegraph yesterday. “If they are not doing well, they sack the manager. There might be an initial halo effect, but if the underlying issues have not been addressed the team will drop down the divisions.
“Many of these schools have a high turnover of staff and students, causing destabilisation.
“Some will have refugee children, a high proportion of children with English as an additional language, a lack of funds to meet the needs of these types of children, and many other issues.”
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The Sunday Telegraph commissioned the Education Data Surveys research.
