Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust and Education Endowment Foundation said:
“We welcome the strong focus on teaching, leadership and the use of evidence in today’s White Paper. Good teaching makes all the difference between success and failure, particularly for the poorest pupils. But, it is vital that there is the capacity in schools and universities to ensure that the new higher teacher training standards are delivered successfully.
“The ambitious academies target also requires a huge increase in capacity if it is to succeed. Yet our evidence shows that while some academy chains are very successful, too many are not yet making the difference they should to outcomes for poorer pupils. The Government also needs to ensure that a focus on all schools becoming academies is not at the expense of weaker schools being turned around. Getting it right in the new Achieving Excellence Areas will be crucial and they must have the resources they need. We also need a radical revival of good leadership development programmes, something lost in recent years.
“We welcome the Government’s continued commitment to the pupil premium, and the importance of ensuring it benefits all pupils, including the highly able. We hope that measures are taken to ensure that schools do more to support and stretch their ablest pupils from low and middle income backgrounds, who too often fall behind in secondary school.
Sir Kevan Collins, Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said today:
“One of the biggest issues we face in education today is inconsistency across the system – there are big variations in attainment between similar schools, which creates winners and losers across the country.
“Evidence of what works is one of our greatest allies in the drive to achieve excellence across the board. So the government is absolutely right to focus on supporting teachers’ use of and access to high-quality research, from initial teacher training all the way through to school leadership.
“There is a fine line between an autonomous school and an isolated one. So we also welcome the government’s focus on greater collaboration and sharing of best practice between schools. The EEF will be investing more in resources, like our Families of Schools database, which allow schools to share their successes, learn from their colleagues and build capacity in the system.”
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