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TCRU@50: A listening, thinking and hopeful vocation
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 2 March 2023
Illustration of book covers, by TCRU artist in residence Nora Wuttke.
2 March 2023
By Les Back, Glasgow University, with an introduction by Mette Louise Berg
2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Thomas Coram Research Unit, a leading centre for research into children, parenting and families. Throughout the year we will be running a series of events and activities to reflect on the unit’s past, present, and future. For our first anniversary event we were delighted to be joined by former TCRU colleague, now Professor of Sociology at Glasgow University, Les Back. In conversation with former TCRU co-director Professor Ann Phoenix (UCL) and Dr Sivamohan Valluvan (Warwick University), the three speakers reflected on race, multiculture, and conviviality in the shadow of Brexit, COVID, and the Windrush scandal. Here we publish an abridged version of Les’ comments at that event, sharing his reflections on the ground-breaking work carried out by TCRU on race and identity, its formative influence on his own scholarship and career, and the importance of hope and listening in research. Read the rest of this entry »
Has peak PISA passed? A look at the attention international assessments receive
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 23 February 2023
23 February 2023
By John Jerrim
Once upon a time, when Michael Gove was Secretary of State for education, PISA was all the rage (for the uninitiated, PISA is the Programme for International Student Assessment, which compares the performance of 15-year-olds across nearly 100 countries in reading, mathematics and science). As I noted at the time, international evidence was then en vogue, with PISA in particular featuring prominently in education debates. But is PISA now receiving less attention than it use to? In a new academic paper, I take a look… Read the rest of this entry »
Nuclear disarmament education is needed now more than ever
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 8 February 2023
Credit: Zef Art / Adobe Stock.
8 February 2023
By Ellis Brooks and Hans Svennevig
When is a good time to teach nuclear disarmament in the classroom? You might be surprised to see it phrased liked that, rather than something more anodyne like ‘explore the topic of nuclear weapons’. But disarmament is not a controversial topic. It is an agreed international goal. The Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 committed nuclear armed states, including the UK, to disarmament in good faith. Read the rest of this entry »
How do inspector characteristics link to short school inspection outcomes of primary schools?
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 7 February 2023
Credit: Phil Meech for UCL IOE.
7 February 2023
By John Jerrim, Sam Sims and Christian Bokhove
This is the final post in a five part series on Ofsted inspections. Jump to: previous.
We have published a new academic paper investigating how Ofsted inspection outcomes vary across inspectors with different characteristics. This has been supported by the Nuffield Foundation and uses data we have pulled together on approximately 30,000 school inspections conducted between September 2011 and August 2019.
You can read a full version of our academic working paper along with our responses to some FAQs about the research.
This final blog in the series looks at the relationship between lead inspector characteristics and short inspection outcomes of primary schools. Read the rest of this entry »
What is the joint impact of all the characteristics of Ofsted inspectors that we examine?
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 7 February 2023
Credit: Phil Meech for UCL IOE.
7 February 2023
By John Jerrim, Sam Sims and Christian Bokhove
This is the fourth post in a five part series on Ofsted inspections. Jump to: previous and next.
We have published a new academic paper investigating how Ofsted inspection outcomes vary across inspectors with different characteristics. This has been supported by the Nuffield Foundation and uses data we have pulled together on approximately 30,000 school inspections conducted between September 2011 and August 2019.
You can read a full version of our academic working paper along with our responses to some FAQs about the research.
This fourth blog in the series provides an illustrative example of how inspection outcomes differ across two lead inspectors with very different characteristics. Read the rest of this entry »
The relationship between Ofsted judgements and inspection team size
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 7 February 2023
7 February 2023
By John Jerrim, Sam Sims and Christian Bokhove
This is the third in a five part series on Ofsted inspections. Jump to: previous and next.
We have published a new academic paper investigating how Ofsted inspection outcomes vary across inspectors with different characteristics. This has been supported by the Nuffield Foundation and uses data we have pulled together on approximately 30,000 school inspections conducted between September 2011 and August 2019.
You can read a full version of our academic working paper along with our responses to some FAQs about the research.
This third blog in the series explores how Ofsted inspection judgements are related to inspection team size. Read the rest of this entry »
How do Ofsted inspection judgements vary between OIs and HMIs?
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 7 February 2023
7 February 2023
By John Jerrim, Sam Sims and Christian Bokhove
This blog is the second in a five-part series on Ofsted inspections. Jump to: previous and next.
We have published a new academic paper investigating how Ofsted inspection outcomes vary across inspectors with different characteristics. This has been supported by the Nuffield Foundation and uses data we have pulled together on approximately 30,000 school inspections conducted between September 2011 and August 2019.
You can read a full version of our academic working paper along with our responses to some FAQs about the research.
This second blog in the series explores differences between inspectors who hold different contractual relationships with Ofsted – Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and Ofsted Inspectors (OI). Read the rest of this entry »
Do Ofsted inspection outcomes differ between male and female inspectors?
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 7 February 2023
Credit: Phil Meech for IOE.
7 February 2023
By John Jerrim, Sam Sims and Christian Bokhove
This post is the first in a five part series on Ofsted inspections. Jump to: next.
We have published a new academic paper investigating how Ofsted inspection outcomes vary across inspectors with different characteristics. This has been supported by the Nuffield Foundation and uses data we have pulled together on approximately 30,000 school inspections conducted between September 2011 and August 2019.
You can read a full version of our academic working paper along with our responses to some FAQs about the research.
This first blog in our series focuses on differences between male and female inspectors. Read the rest of this entry »
The ‘Shaping Us’ campaign – a welcome spotlight on the early years
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 3 February 2023
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Professor Pasco Fearon, and Professor Alissa Goodman, during a 2021 visit to UCL. Credit: Parsons Media for UCL.
3 February 2023
It was exciting to be invited earlier this week to the launch of Shaping Us, the new Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood campaign to raise awareness of how important the early years are for shaping the adults we become.
At the launch, the Princess of Wales showed her obvious passion for and commitment to improving the lives of all children, from their earliest stages of life. Her serious personal interest in the deep scientific underpinnings for why the early years matter is also very striking. Read the rest of this entry »
Young people’s physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic
By Blog Editor, IOE Digital, on 31 January 2023
31 January 2023
By Jake Anders
Although young people were among those least likely to be directly affected by severe effects of COVID-19, they were not immune from its immediate effects on health. We are better able to understand the implications of this using data from the COVID Social Mobility & Opportunities study (COSMO). The study includes a representative sample of over 13,000 young people across England, who were aged 14–15 at the onset of the pandemic, and 16–17 during the academic year 2020/21 when our first data were collected.
COSMO’s purpose is also wider than the direct health impacts of COVID-19. As such, this blog post — drawing on our latest COSMO briefing published today — also takes a wider look at young people’s health behaviours during this period. Read the rest of this entry »
