Learning from the UK Experience of Charter Schools Sue Street
Executive Officer, National Association of Head Teachers, UK
In the last few years I have seen first-hand how private business is shaping the future of the UK education system by establishing Free Schools and Sponsored Academies (Charter Schools). It paints a very worrying picture and is proving to be a potentially destructive mechanism for Education. In my Executive role with the NAHT (National Association of Head Teachers) I have met many highly principled school leaders who feel their ideals are being eroded by the relentless business focus of the powerful, wealthy sponsors. “Caught” and “forced” are words I hear from school leaders in many conversations. There are now 79 Free Schools in England. Fifty-five opened this academic year (1 September 2012). Fourteen of these have between half and a third of their places still available. Many others are similarly not at capacity and are, according to national press reports, struggling to recruit children. Many Principals of existing schools in these areas point out that there really was no need for the Free School at all. As this year’s new bunch of Free Schools were launched, a poignant story appeared in the UK Guardian newspaper showing that Free Schools have had very little impact on providing desperately needed Primary School Places in deprived areas. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/sep/03/freeschool-primary-places-labour The problem with the Free School Movement is the variability of quality as parents see it. Some are a really good fit for their communities. I have met with the Headmaster of the West London Free School. He has a long history of leading private schools and his pupils are very complimentary about the school. I applaud his resolve to try out new teaching methods, to evaluate these and encourage other teachers to adopt those that work well. The West London Free School fits the middle class and aspiring middle-class community it serves. Some however do not fit nearly as well. The NAHT, Teacher Unions, press and several academics constantly raise concerns over the pot-luck approach to establish ing these new schools. Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “To allow so-called free schools to open, irrespective of local need . . . is not a sensible approach to creating primary provision.” This academic year the Department of Education withdrew its support for the ‘One in a Million’ free school in Bradford just eight days before it was to open. The Newham free academy in east London was withdrawn in July owing to a lack of interest and the Rivendale primary school in west London has abandoned plans to open. There is insufficient attention paid to assessing a community’s educational needs before allowing a Free School to be established.
There are concerns over how Free schools are funded, where they are built and the communities they serve. School leaders, especially new Head Teachers, are being appointed under quite different conditions in Free schools. In turn they are expected to employ staff on contracts that do not necessarily match the pay and conditions normally expected for teachers. This leads to teachers in Free schools feeling discriminated against. It also changes the nature and focus of not just the Free schools but all schools because neighbouring public schools are competing with them for students. At the outset, associated with the Free school concept came the notion that turning around achievement for failing kids was a short-term project for a Head Teacher. This idea has now given way to cooler thinking patterns that are mindful of the complexities and multi-layered issues that surround kids who don’t succeed as we might normally expect. There is now recognition that effective changes take time and expertise. In NZ there are seven key concerns around Charter Schools (see table p. 12). These largely mirror the experiences of the UK but in some areas the UK has placed stricter regulations. In July this year, the UK government was urged to reconsider whether sponsored academies are the best way to boost weak schools – as the Tory Government claims. The reason? A University study released in July shows that those inner-city schools who engaged with the City Challenge Programmes developed better and faster and the results for their “disadvantaged” students improved faster than any other programmes available. From 2008 to 2011, City Challenge ran in London, Manchester and the Black Country. In the capital, a similar programme, The London Challenge began in 2003. For five years, my job was to chair one of the steering committees. It was a successful
Charter schools are a business and thus financial viability and profitability are the driving imperative. Accountability is about meeting overall targets, not meeting the needs of individual children. programme. City Challenge was designed to crack the associated cycle of disadvantage and underachievement by reducing the number of underperforming schools, increasing the number
Concerns in NZ
Learning from the UK experience
Those responsible for teaching in charter schools would not necessarily have to be registered teachers
Same. Charter schools do not require ‘Qualified Teacher Status’ or a ‘teacher’ to actually have received teacher training. Some feel this is of value in the technical subjects as it will expose students to real-life workers. To maintain the reputation of NZ Education, NZ must fight to keep standards very high. Internationally, NZ Teachers have a reputation for being excellent. This would be diluted by anyone who is allowed to teach in a school without the rigorous NZ Initial Teacher Training. The question still remains over the qualifications of the Principal. On coming to power, the UK Tory Government was quick to remove the legal requirement for all principals to hold NPQH (the National Professional Qualification of Headship).
Charter schools would not In the UK this is a fuzzy area. One moment all schools are equal and in the next Free Schools/Academies are have the same accountabilities working to their own, agreed set of outcomes. The most worrying trend currently is that in order to prove the validity and viability of the Free schools movement, the Government has enlisted OFSTED (the UK ERO as state schools equivalent) so that businesses could take over ‘failing schools’. The schools and OFSTED would agree the key areas for improvement and after three inspections either be removed if the agreed targets had not been met or confirmed if they had succeeded. In NZ ERO is a true part of the school improvement cycle whereas OFSTED in the UK is not. Charter schools would select Selecting students would completely undermine the basic tenets of public education in NZ and the belief that students rather than be every child has a right to a free education that is best suited to their needs. In the UK every school except truly required to accept all students private ones must accept all students. However, Academies in particular have managed in certain circumstances to avoid accepting some students. Last year a sponsored, new-build academy hit the headlines for not admitting a gifted and talented student because she was in a wheelchair despite the school’s ability to accommodate all her needs. Charter schools have the potential to undermine the viability of our quality public school system
In the UK the successful Free Schools and Academies are the ones who emulate the perceived ideals of private education because it is the middle classes and aspirant middle classes who are drawn to those values. Where issues arise is where the location of the school has not been thought through carefully and competition arises with good neighbourhood schools or when the new school will not engage in collegiality.
Charter schools will not be required to respond to requests under the OIA (Official Information Act)
This is dangerous and not a feature of schools in the UK. If new schools and structures are to be seen as fair, moral and ethical then they must be able to be questioned. Like any school a Free School or Sponsored Academy in the UK must respond to Freedom of Information requests within 40 working days AND cover any reasonable costs incurred by this process as long as the request is not frivolous.
Students will attend charter schools during the hours set by the business sponsor, which may include weekends and holidays.
My background is working with schools in challenging circumstances. I have said on BBC Radio 4 that in the UK school is for many children the only safe and stable place they know. Last academic year I asked one of my classes how many children attended any type of school on the weekend. More than three quarters did. This could be the Mosque or Gurdwara, but many attended extra lessons in subjects where their parents felt they were weak e.g. Maths. We are a changing society with new challenges to meet including those of child deprivation. I rather think a sensible implementation of a wrap-round provision tied to the specific needs of the community the school serves is now essential and that may involve extra work for teachers.
AND
The charter school business However, teachers need to be paid for extra work outside their core responsibilities and in the UK some sponsors (school leaders), teachers, especially new teachers in Free schools can find themselves accepting positions where they are who are not required to have expected to do more than a teacher in another school for less money in order to secure a permanent position. any educational background, will set pay rates for teachers and the rules under which the charter school will operate
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of good and outstanding schools and improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children. The key strategy was providing external experts to work alongside existing head teachers to assess each school’s individual needs and to set up tailored support programmes which included mentoring by head teachers from better performing schools. It was a system in which NZ is already so successful, because in NZ there are no encumbrances like League Tables to interfere with the necessary collaboration and cooperation between schools. So what did the study find? The researchers, from the Institute of Policy Studies in Education at London Metropolitan University, drew on government data to compare GCSE improvement rates for the poorest-performing fifth of schools between 2008 and 2011. These were schools where in 2008 fewer than 32% of pupils achieved five A* to C GCSEs including English and Maths. The research team’s analysis showed that pupil attainment in the underperforming schools supported by City Challenge improved significantly more than pupil attainment in sponsored Academies. By 2011, the secondary schools that had been in City Challenge programmes improved their exam results by 4% more than sponsored Academies. Some of the secondary schools supported by City Challenge programmes subsequently became sponsored Academies, but the research showed that as Academies they did not make any greater gains. Lead author Professor Merryn Hutchings told BBC News: “What we are showing is that there is an effective way to improve schools through support and expert advice as happened with City Challenge. The current government’s policy is to turn weak schools into sponsored academies. Our data suggests that this has been effective only in those schools that had previously been supported through City Challenge.” So WHY are Free Schools and Academies still so popular? There is no clear answer but perhaps Governments can see a way to reduce investment in education and businesses can see profit margins. In the USA some Charter Schools work due to massive amounts of money, donated through a well-established philanthropic culture, not just to the school but also to the wider school community. Some American Charter schools require parents to make a commitment to the school by signing an oath/agreement in respect of their conduct and commitment to the school and their children’s learning. This is legally binding and not a feature of any Charter/Free School or Academy in the UK or NZ. The charter school debate raises both positive and negative points. But there is one fundamental underlying problem, common to all charter models. It is the undermining of teachers as professionals. Doctors, lawyers, psychiatrists or any other professional would find it unthinkable and immoral that an unqualified person would practice in their field. The public would likewise be outraged if it was discovered that a practicing lawyer or doctor was unqualified. It is thus bizarre that politicians would consider that it is fine for unqualified people to be responsible for children’s learning or worse to lead a school. Teaching is a vocation. It is not a 9am to 5pm job. Creating a successful learning environment takes a high level of skill. For children to achieve results teachers constantly call on their own learning gained through their training, their experience and their on-going professional development. They meet with parents and families in order to understand the background and culture of the children they teach so that they can tailor authentic learning experiences to meet individual needs. They collaborate with
fellow teachers, share ideas, resources and best practice. They spend hours outside of the classroom time, thinking, planning, preparing and evaluating their own practice in order to deliver the best learning experience for the children in their classrooms. The charter school model is anathema to these values. Charter schools are a business and thus financial viability and profitability are the driving imperative. Accountability is about meeting overall targets, not meeting the needs of individual children. Success is about targeted outcomes or products, not about individual children’s progress and learning. Sue Street BSocSc GDipT(Pri) QTS(Sec) DipChem NPQH FN, National Executive Member of NAHT (UK) Sue works as a school improvement leader with significant experience in developing and leading both Primary and Secondary schools. She trained to teach in NZ and has taught sciences, classical studies and languages in both the USA and UK, across most of the internationally common syllabuses including GCSE, A-Level, Cambridge Examinations and i-GCSE, International Baccalaureate and the International Primary Curriculum. Sue is also a National leader of ICT and is a NAACE Fellow. Her research interests focus on learning acquisition, pedagogy and practice with IT, and Global Comparative Education. She is no stranger to BBC television and radio, the Guardian, Telegraph Times and Observer newspapers through which she debates educational issues. In her free time she writes for BBC’s Eastenders soap-opera and works with the Raspberry Pi Foundation on modules for including this revolutionary IT device into schools.
Margaret Walshaw has researched doctoral engagement and is a published author in the field of doctoral study. www.engine.ac.nz
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