Last drop of trust evaporates as Alan Wells misleads the public over crucial GCSE results
Standards-Not-Tiers Press Release - 1st March 2008
Cabinet member for Schools and Children, Alan Wells’ grasp of Isle of Wight schools performance is so poor that he has fed our local media false statistics.
On Isle of Wight Radio and in the County Press this week Alan Wells was quoted as saying that the Isle of Wight comes “127th out of 150 local authorities in the country” for its GCSE results for 5+ A*-C grades including English and Maths in 2007**.
Its actual position in the league table for Local Authorities on that measure rose considerably to 94th out of 149 in 2007***. And the DCSF have confirmed that the Isle of Wight is the 7th best authority in England for sustained improvement for five good GCSEs including English and Maths since 2004****.
A Standards-Not-Tiers spokesperson said: “Alan Wells is seriously misrepresenting the performance of Isle of Wight high schools. Evidence of genuine improvement is staring him in the face and he chooses to ignore it. One has to ask, what is his motivation for doing this and is it in the interests of children?”
Sources:
** Refers to Alan Wells’ original comment from Isle of Wight Radio news and in the County Press 29.2.08: “Not one of our high schools returned higher than the national average for five or more A*-C grades including English & Maths at GCSE in 2007. In this category, this ranks the overall performance of the Isle of Wight at 127th out of 150 local authorities in the country. How that can be interpreted as ‘excellent’ is difficult to understand”
*** Table showing league table of local authorities GCSE 5+ A*-C inc E&M: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7180228.stm
**** Confirmation from DCSF of IW sustained improvement at GCSE “Thank you for your email dated 07 February 2008 about Secondary and 16-18 performance Tables. I can confirm that the Isle of Wight is the 7th best performing Local Authority based on their sustained improvement at 5+ A*-C inc. English and Maths since 2004 with an improvement of 9.6 percentage points. Based on the same measure of 5+ A*-C in any subjects, the Isle of Wight are the 67th most improved LA with a sustained improvement of 8.3 percentage points. I have attached the full list of LAs for info.”
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March 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Hi,
I too looked at the BBC website data and as you say we came 94th out of 149 (5+ A*-C E&M). If you paste the data into Excel, then sort on Average Point Score then we come 123rd, and if sorted on Contextual Vale Added, 111th. So it would appear that we are relatively better (and improving) at getting people to the (5+ A*-C E&M) hurdle, but not so good developing the APS (high Point Score useful for onward study).
But why the difference between 149 or 150 Local Authorities? The BBC lists 149, but the DCSF notes state 150. Searching the DCSF pull-down menu, it lists “City of London” which the BBC does not. Earlier postings here noted there were no state schools in the City of London. The DCSF City of London entry states (5+ A*-C E&M)=46.7%.
Could it be that both statistics are correct? Could it be that the sources have just compiled the figures differently?
I can’t prove that AW’s figures are correct, but neither can I prove they are incorrect. Any further info from SNT would be great.
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:58 am
Anonymous, looks to me like Alan Wells is the one who needs to explain himself. I’m glad someone out there is scrutinising it - be nice if the local media would check the figures themselves (I expect they thought he knew what he was talking about).
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:04 am
Another discrepancy. This from IW radio news (also on their website today) about the IW’s improved 2007 KS3 results:
“The Isle of Wight is now just above the average for England but Alan Wells says the Council is not happy at just being average. He adds that these figures further strengthen the Council’s desire to deliver an education system the Island can be proud of.”
So how does this tally with the Council’s vision as outlined in its One Island plan (detailed on their website):
“Campaign: Raising Standards in Island Schools
Background and purpose:
To raise standards in Island schools at key stage 2, 3 and 4 to national averages through a programme of leadership support at all middle and high schools which focuses on pupil data management, effective quality assurance systems and processes and preventative strategies.” Link here:
http://www.iwight.com/OneIsland/respect/raisingstandardsinschools.asp
Has Mr Wells read this?