School type and performance

A paper published yesterday by the Centre for Economic Performance, of the London School of Economics, compared the changes in performance of some academies with other schools.

They compared the short term changes in GCSE performance of 27 schools which were awarded academy status between 2002 and 2006. They conclude that there was no statistically significant difference.

We assume that there were sufficient 'other' schools to make the comparison. The results suggest that there is a wider range of increased achievement in the 'other' schools, even if the average is the same.

The Department for children commented that surveys show that parents like academies, and their children are happy to go to them. Did anyone do a similar survey for the 'others'?

It is known that David Cameron and Michael Gove are in favour of academies, so what are the implications for their policies?

It must be noted that these are very early findings, as the authors themselves admit. They may need time to change and for cohorts to work through the full 5 years of secondary education to the GCSE. They are still in some ways experimental, and may deliver better results.

The sample is very small, of necessity, and the catchment areas may not be typical. If Gove/Cameron schools are introduced, either to "compete" with or take over present 'other' schools, it is difficult to predict what might happen.

In general, and without knowing their methodology in detail, I would have to say that the findings are interesting, but we would need a longer run of results in more areas before deciding which type of school delivers better performance.

Gove/Cameron have been talking of a greater degree of freedom and independence for schools. Even the academies are subject to central government controls.