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Within
School Variation is "Educations Biggest Challenge "
Research
TV reports that 'Within School Variation' (WSV) is "Education's
biggest challenge"
because it can have a negative impact on a child’s educational
development.
"While academic results achieved by different
schools have been extensively measured, up until recently,
variations in performance between classes and departments
within a school have received little attention. The
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
found that performances varied four times more within British
schools than between them."
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"We have always known that
there is a difference in performance between schools.
But what can make a bigger difference is the experience
that children have within one school. So a child can
do really well in one subject and not do well in another
subject. And that can make an even bigger difference
to children's life chances than differences between schools."
- Jane Creasy, Assistant Director of
Research, NCSL |
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 Variation
at GCSE between and within schools - source: DfES |
In
practice, this simply confirms what most headteachers already know
- that league table measures of attainment are a poor indicator of
the quality of education that a child could expect to receive. Instead,
measures of Within School Variation would provide a better indicator
of the consistency in the quality of provision from school to school.
Were such information to become more widely available, parents might
well be advised to consider choosing a school with low variation (high
consistency of provision) over one which had high capped attainment.
(5 A*-C grades).
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According
to the DfES, eliminating negative Within School Variation
nationally would increase the proportion of A* to C students
at GCSE level by ten per cent.
4Matrix was designed to allow schools to analyse the comparative
performance of pupils across groups, providing the key measures
of Within School Variation needed to support a school improvement
strategy.
Data Confident schools are already taking the initiative in this
area - click here to
see how your school compares.
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