NAHT fully accepts that schools must be accountable to parents and wider society for their performance. This accountability needs to be based on measures that are fully understandable by all stakeholders. It is also vital that any measures retain stakeholders’ confidence. The Association believes that the flawed basis upon which the current measure, Contextual Value Added (CVA) data, is calculated and the inconsistent way in which it is applied, means that it fails to meet both of these criteria.
The growing support for the joint NAHT/NUT campaign to reform assessment at the end of the primary phase could well call into question the future basis of CVA as an accountability tool. It is essential that other effective measures are sought and reviewed. The government needs to take cognisance of and respect the knowledge of experienced professionals.
The NAHT urges government to review as a matter of urgency the CVA process, given the questions that have been raised over its credibility. The Association believes that school performance data of any nature should be used to ask questions, to suggest areas to be explored and not as a basis for condemnatory judgements.
Mick Brookes, General Secretary, comments as follows:
“The way in which data has been used to name, blame and shame schools over the past fifteen years had had a direct negative effect on colleagues’ job satisfaction and recruitment to the top job. It is unacceptable for school leaders and their staff to be condemned by the indiscriminate use of spurious data. External agencies caught doing this should expect a robust response from the NAHT.”
Note to Editors:
Contextual Value Added measure is a way of assessing a school’s performance in the light of the school’s context (socio-economic, cultural, gender, etc) and the various factors that may affect the performance of its students.
Press Office, Brighton Centre
01273 323026
Mick Brookes, NAHT General Secretary
Mobile: 07976 919353
Brighton Thistle Hotel: 01273 206700
Brighton Centre: 01273 323026
Kathryn James, Senior Assistant Secretary
Policy, Politics, Education
Mobile: 07968 587116
Siôn Humphreys
Assistant Secretary
Policy, Politics, Education
Mobile: 07595 657805
Page Published: 30/04/2009
