Science grades inflated.

Schools' tricks to inflate science grades revealed - BBC
or
Teachers ‘mark pupils higher’ to lift rankings

In one case, a teacher was asked: “Are you saying that .. assessments are being done in such a way to give the child a higher level or higher grade than the one they will achieve through an accurate assessment.” The reply was “Yes, basically.”

The teacher then told of one pupil given a grade C target who was functionally illiterate - who was given a teaching assistant for the assignment.

“When I have read the work that the TA has actually submitted or the child has submitted with the help of the TA, the quality of the writing is that of an adult. And it's clear to me that the child is not responsible for what has been written on the paper. The clarity of thought is far too deep,” said the teacher,

“I do suspect that perhaps the child hasn't achieved the standard in their science work that the piece of work in front of me suggests they have achieved.”

The teacher said he passed the work on to course supervisors and it was awarded a C grade. In the BTEC qualification under discussion there was no grade lower than a C - it was C or fail. The teacher said, in his judgement, the child should have failed.

As the father of an autistic child, who is mentally about 11 years old, I know too well the problems of "unteachable". Unfortunately the education specialists, health professionals, social services and every Tom, Dick and Harry seems to think they know different, until they have had their go. Usually spending thousands in the process.

But I don't think the Teenagers have to keep studying English and maths policy is going to help. There should be some point, either at 11 or 14, or both, that the schools say no further progress towards GCSE etc. until you can write clearly and show a basic understanding in maths.

The problem is a lot of the institutions involved in teaching those who don't pass the required standard, put all those students in the same "special needs bucket".

So that you will get the true medically challenged and the others all in the same class. This doesn't help anybody, no matter how many specialist teachers and helpers are in there.

This certainly does not help the issues either....

Schools "Tricks" to inflate grades

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This certainly does not help the issues either....

Schools "Tricks" to inflate grades

You need to look further back on the thread on the days when you get up at lunch time.

I already linked that one.

Oops, slaps himself on wrist. That'll teach me. As for being asleep at lunch time? Naw, on a tacho break using Iphone & laptop sipping a pint :)

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Now here is what could be a good idea.

Family income not a factor as students eat free

In the UK the politicians could get this going and at the same time reduce child benefit, as reducing benefits is one of this governments main aims.

...

The unteachable that I referred to was due to bad parenting that left the child with an inbuilt resistance to any sort of disciplined education, which they just rebel against.

So let's examine this. Why are so many students coming to the classroom "unteachable"?

Bad parenting? Possibly. But it is more than that because there is such hostility against authority (in particular teachers) by these students that there has to be more to it than that.

Poverty? Possibly. Parents just trying to survive have trouble putting the effort needed to raise a child properly. However we have very poor children here in Canada and still don't have the extreme behavioral problems that I saw in the UK.

Bad teachers? I have seen the most awesome teachers in my time teaching in the UK. Teaching standards since I was at school have gone through the roof. I would love to have had teachers teaching me in the progressive ways that teachers teach now. Rather than succeeding despite the education system, I would have thrived.

So lets turn it on its head. What is the common trend I have noticed in the best behaved most engaged pupils?

Respect for teachers and the value of education.

That is it. Pure and simple. If the pupils have a general respect for teachers and the value of education then they will do their best at school. It doesn't even have that much to do with the quality of the teachers.

So where to children learn to respect teachers and education?

ok, so here is the Educational "Psychobabble" that certain people here are so dismissive of. Children learn from ALL the adults around the (not just their parents). If the parents respect teachers then the students will. It doesn't matter what the parents and society tells them to think. The adults have to do what is called modelling the behaviour they what their children to display.

What sort of attitude do you think parents who read the Daily Mail model?
What sort of attitude do you think parents who hated school themselves model?
What sort of attitude do you think parents who think teachers are lazy union members model?

and so on

You want to know why children don't respect teachers? Read this thread, watch how the media treats teachers.
They came by it honestly.

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Reality Internet Personality

Yes it was a good post. I think that Es highlighted an interesting point in that there has to be more to the issues involved.

For 10 years (aged 4 to 14) I was beaten several times to within an inch of my life (with some being that serious, it's noted on my medical records). Attending an all boys school didn't help matters as many attempts were made to bully which after what I had experienced, was not standing still for.

That eventually got me permanently expelled. Being put into a mixed school (& at that age, what an eye opener in more ways than one). The teaching was fantastic.

Over 40 years on, one thing amazes me to this day. How I've never become a hardened criminal or a woman hater.

Now to a surprise which I only heard about fairly recently. While living in London, I had a good friend who at the time became a boyfriend to one of my sisters.

This guy had loving parents & raised him and his sister good. From what I understood at that time, he also had a good education. After leaving school & asides from him visiting the family home, I often bumped into him or his sister on my travels.

He became a wheeler dealer & the reason why I lost touch? He served a lengthy prison sentence for manslaughter. That shook me as he was a friendly cheerful & happy go lucky guy.

Looking at the two sides, one would automatically think it would have been the other way around.

Like Es stated, there has to be someting else in the mix.

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He had all that, yet did time for a very serious offence, so that's out the window.

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So Es, based on your experiences in both countries, what the hell is wrong with the UK in general, and teaching in particular, and how would you go about putting it right?

Let teachers teach & politicians stay out of education.

Careers advice failing

"The duty to provide careers guidance was placed on schools at a time when most existing infrastructure and funding for such provision had been removed."

And just who removed those provisions? Why the government of course!

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Encourage you children to read is the massage in this item, Maths advantage for pupils who read for pleasure.

Children who read for pleasure are likely to do better in maths and English than those who rarely read in their free time, research suggests. The study, by the Institute of Education, London University, examined the reading habits of 6,000 children.

It indicated reading for pleasure was more important to a child's development than how educated their parents were. The researchers concluded a wide vocabulary helped children absorb information across the curriculum.

They analysed the results of tests taken at the age of 16 by 6,000 children, all born in one week, from the 1970 British Cohort Study. The findings showed those who had read often at the age of 10 and had been reading books and newspapers more than once a week aged 16 had performed better than those who had read less.

There was a 14.4% advantage in vocabulary, a 9.9% advantage in maths and an 8.6% advantage in spelling, the research found, once parents' background and reading habits were taken into account.

The study said: "The influence of reading for pleasure was greater than that for having a parent with a degree."

The careers adviser at my school told me i would become a journalist or an auditor. Ten years later i'm a pharmaceutical chemist, that worked out well.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

Truly as accurate as ever.
One of my cohort at school convinced the carers people he was going to be a tree surgeon, he ended up working in the local council offices....

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

My career adviser at my Grammar school told me to become a Quantity Surveyor. On comparing notes we found he had said the same to everyone (boys Grammar only).

I ended up graduating as a Chemical Engineer, and enjoyed 45 years working in various chemical industries.

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

Now this is a surprise, Atheism to be taught to Irish schoolchildren

I bet that will cause quite a furore.

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For those in the UK and know youngsters think of going to University the the Russel Group have produced this "Informed Choices"

The problem is a lot of the institutions involved in teaching those who don't pass the required standard, put all those students in the same "special needs bucket".

I think you have hit a nail on the head there. That is the easy option for those who are not that good a teacher in the first place. Lets label all "difficult" pupils with the same brush, then we don't have to deal with them any more.

Uhhh ... what?
On what do you base this? Provide some current examples.
The trend in the US since somewhere around 1993-1995 has been "inclusion" ... elimination of "tracks" (advanced, college bound but not advanced, etc. ... ). I'm willing to bet it was already occurring elsewhere, like the UK, before here.
What you describe is more like what I experienced.
Neither is a perfect approach.

I'm not going to give you published examples. I have to live, some of the time, with one my 30+ year old Autistic son.
And as you might realise I had to deal with him and the education system for a long time. For him the expensive system they put in place, for all the "special needs" children, did not work, and if they had listened to me and the doctors should have realised it was not going to work.

Special Needs as far as I can make out on my experience, is all kids who the normal teachers cannot deal with.