No copying!

Just because Ofsted stops doing something, it doesn’t mean schools have to follow suit, says Michael Tidd. School leaders still have a duty to grade individual teachers...

How often do we hear sentences that begin with “Ofsted want to see…”, or “Ofsted like…”? I’m never convinced by their validity, but they continue to drive far too much of what happens in our schools.

Of course, more recently, a new discussion has emerged. We’ve all been told quite clearly that Ofsted no longer gives individual lessons a grade, and the temptation – indeed the implication – is that schools should therefore stop doing so too. It seems an obvious leap to make: many things we do only for Ofsted cease once the inspectorate is no longer looking.

But perhaps we ought not to rush into this free-for-all. After all, although it sometimes can be forgotten, a headteacher or senior leader should know a good deal more about his or her school than any Ofsted inspector can ever hope to garner. There are good reasons why inspectors shouldn’t be grading individual lessons: they’re rarely there for the whole lesson; they have too little time to look at the wider picture of evidence; and they know little of the context of any given class, group or individual sequence of lessons. These caveats ought not apply to a school senior leader.

In schools, leaders have a duty – an obligation – to know about the quality of teaching in their classrooms. Inevitably they will at some point have to reduce that knowledge to a simple Ofsted grade as part of self-evaluation. Any attempt to conceal grades up to that point will be only that: concealment. There is no doubt that leaders will need to come to some sort of conclusion about the quality of teaching in individual classrooms, and so to hide that knowledge from the individuals involved seems rather pointless.

There’s another more significant issue: the quality of inspectors is – at best – variable. These highly-trained professionals, whose main role is to come to such judgements, are renowned for being inconsistent. But we should be honest: the quality of judgements within schools is also likely to be variable. And although it may not be perfect, the underpinning of a grading framework provides some small consistency in this quagmire of judgements.

The inconsistencies don’t end there. Feeding back to colleagues after observing a lesson is a tricky business. Every observer has an individual approach, and what’s more, every observed teacher will react differently to the same news. The challenge of providing feedback is enormous, and again – while imperfect – the framework of grades at least provides some common structure for discussion and explanation.

Take, as an example, an under-confident teacher and a frank-speaking observer. With the current framework, the teacher may go away with a Good judgement while focusing on the negatives raised by the observer. Often the balance of the conversation can seem not to reflect the final grade. But in this case, at least the grade can provide clarity about the outcome alongside the commentary that may seem more negative. Take away that grading, and a teacher could be left with the feeling that they had delivered an awful lesson because of the tone of the feedback.
Similarly, a teacher who has great confidence in his abilities, but a core weakness in his teaching skill, could be left with the feeling that there is little to improve in his teaching if the observer isn’t absolutely explicit in feedback. Again, the structure of the grading framework can help to make things clearer for both parties.

Ofsted inspectors simply cannot gather enough evidence to make sound judgements; school leaders should have a duty to do so. That may well mean moving away from 60-minute lessons observations followed by immediate feedback; if school leaders are really to know about the quality of teaching in their school, then it’s reasonable to presume that a one-hour dipstick test is probably not the best approach.

A whole range of information is available to leaders about the quality of teaching in a school, or an individual classroom. Observations will inevitably form part of that process, but a wider trawl of evidence – looking at planning, books, discussions with children, even feedback from other parties – can all provide evidence to help the leader to reach a final judgement.

Teachers have a right to receive professional development and feedback as part of their roles, and leaders a duty to provide it. We don’t need simply to copy Ofsted and mimic their moves in schools; rather we should draw on the expertise in schools and the time available to us to make useful and constructive judgements that help us to improve things for all involved.

About the author

Michael Tidd is deputy headteacher at Edgewood Primary School in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.