Dr. Chris Carpenter’s Post

Are we going to go full circle? Could this signal a first step toward re-establishing local authority oversight over a wider range of schools? Will the SEND review include a recommendation that all SEN commissioning continues to be undertaken at a local level, but under the governance of an LA controlled children's trust, like many LAs already have? Then will those children's trusts be able to 'acquire' schools, Academies and LA schools? In summary, will there likely be a step change, however, the ceasing of continued expansion funding and free schools is telling - could this be the first step at bringing schools back under the governance of the LAs?

This paper by Anne West, David Wolfe & Basma B. Yaghi argues that there is a need for greater consistency regarding the governance of state-funded schools. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ejFbpV7v

ICYMI | Check out this clip where Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education's Dan Greenstein discusses: 🏫 Access to higher education 🧑🎓 How institutions address adult learners' needs 💵 The economic impact of adult learners Read more and learn how Chancellor Greenstein took a bold—and sometimes controversial—approach to repairing a public university system in a downward spiral. ➡️ https://bit.ly/3B0De6m

Key points from the recent Confederation of School Trusts paper “An Enduring Shared Mission”: 1. School Trusts as Agents of Equity: The paper emphasizes how school trusts play a crucial role in leveling the educational playing field by addressing systemic barriers to opportunity. 2. Alignment with Government Goals: It underscores the alignment between school trusts and the Labour Party’s “opportunity mission” for improving educational outcomes. 3. Policy Recommendations: The paper provides actionable recommendations to enhance collaboration between the government and trusts to better serve students. You can explore the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/eD89MEFY

A huge post-budget announcement from the government today. It has been announced that the academy conversion grant is to be scrapped, and while the decision to end TCaF may not come as a huge shock to most, the decision NOT to award funding for successful TCaF 4 bids certainly will. How do you feel about the government's decisions? Has this changed your mind on Wednesday's funding announcements? Let us know below. #TCaF #academy #academies #MATs #education #UKeducation #schools #government #DfE

It has been my view for some time that many parents across the country do not use the Ofsted word grade as the only reason for choosing a school. There are lots of reasons, including the ability of the child to get to school in the morning, leaving the house at a reasonable time, the capacity of a family to create working travel arrangements, the climate of a school in terms of its welcome and relationship with feeder primary schools, the availability of schools in the local area, particularly in rural areas where a small local primary is the only school available. In these cases, parents may not be able to make a wide choice, whatever the Ofsted judgement. In these cases, a report card describing the provision will not be confusing; it could be quite helpful. Over the life of the Ofsted grading system, 5980 schools with RI or inadequate judgements remain. 1840 of these (8%) have been graded inadequate. For the people in the area where these schools exist, they don't have a choice; my question is whether, whatever system is put in place, the scorecard being the currently projected answer, will it prompt the level of improvement that the judgement suggests is necessary and does the system have the capacity to make the improvements required? A judgement system alone has failed the system. Pointing the finger and making victims of professionals has never been an effective strategy. It will be really powerful to see an education system that provides equity for all learners and a high-quality provision supported by an improvement service. What is your perspective? https://lnkd.in/ePH3maAK #edtech #educationreform #educationpolicy #schoolleadership #secondaryeducation #primaryeducation #education

🚨 New analysis shows secondary school pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) are nearly twice as likely to miss school than their wealthier peers. 📊 Analysis of Department for Education Pupil Absence Data covering the 2022-23 academic year, conducted by Teach First, found the overall absence rate for FSM secondary pupils was 14.4%, compared to just 7.3% for their more affluent peers. 🗣️ Kate Willis, Teach First Ambassador and Headteacher of John Cabot Academy, Bristol, said: “Persistent absence from school can severely impact a child’s prospects. 💬 “If schools like ours are to continue to ensure that every pupil has what they need to remain and flourish in school, we need the right staff, provisions and funding.” 🤝 As part of our ongoing efforts to support schools serving the most deprived communities in England, Teach First wants to see an increase in investment enabling schools to attract, recruit and retain brilliant teaching staff who remain the key to ensuring young people can thrive in education. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ePjhz-Vr

HLC: Inform the Students. Don't be the Viability Judge. Since 2016 accredited private colleges have closed to the tune of about 1 per month. While HLC and other accrediting agencies have been busy making sure colleges are dotting their regulatory i's and crossing their checklist t's, data suggests some 40,000 students at those closed colleges have been financially and emotionally impacted. I offer that the HLC plans noted in this Higher Ed Dive story by Ben Unglesbee is a day-late and dollar-short public relations move by organizations who have a conflict of intererest. They have their own financial concerns if they push too hard, their colleges - along with their paid fees - will move to other accrediting agencies. The role HLC proposes as judge and jury should really be one that focuses on providing comparative information about the financial health of private and public colleges. Let the students, families, and other stakeholders make decisions about a college's viability. Provide them the tool to do so. Click on the link below to read the rest of the post. https://lnkd.in/gPd9Rshw https://lnkd.in/gxkT_-y9 Higher Learning Commission Inside Higher Ed The Chronicle of Higher Education Eric Martin Jamie Stanesa Deanna McCormick Higher Ed Dive Ben Unglesbee #collegeviability hashtag #cvapp hashtag #garystocker

Below is a love letter from me to the accrediting agencies. Dear i-dotters and t-crossers: Your mission to help shelter students and other stakeholders from the fallout of a sudden, unexpected closure is to be commended - belatedly. Since you are late to the predicting-when-a-college-will-close party, let me save you some time. The data already exists in an easy-to-use form. It is called the College Viability app and has IPEDS data comparisons from 2015-2022. You can compare almost 2,800 private and public (2 and 4-year) colleges across more than 30 reports. It even has pictures (charts). (That was a self-serving announcement.) If you insist on being the judge and jury on a college's viabiltiy, I can point you to folks much smarter than me with the data and skills to do the math and predictive analytics - probably much faster than you can. But, don't look for a single predictive closure value. I have and it doesn't exist. Look at a resource that lets students, families, and other stakeholders compare the financial health, enrollment trends, graduation rates and more. With that approach you are off of the litigation hook because you are a data compiler- not a viability judge. While you are at it, take a look at the NCES and IPEDS data on program completions. There are too many colleges with really small numbers of graduates in programs and majors. You might ponder minimum enrollment numbers as part of your 'i' and 't' processes. (pssst: I have already have an app in final development that does this for about 1,200 private colleges. Don't tell anybody.) Gary PS: Please get out of the merger and consolidation approval business. Your plodding involvement may lead to additional colleges closing. I don't expect you to concur, but I thought I would ask.  g Higher Learning Commission