British education 'held back by poor classroom teachers'

16 Sep 11
Rewarding teachers on the basis of their classroom performance could dramatically improve British education, the Sutton Trust charity has said.

By Mark Smulian | 16 September 2011

Rewarding teachers on the basis of their classroom performance could dramatically improve British education, the Sutton Trust charity has said.

Research published today shows the UK could be among the world’s top five performers for reading and mathematics education within a decade if the standards of its least effective teachers were brought up to the current national average.

For poor pupils in particular, the difference between a highly effective and a poorly performing teacher was equivalent to one year’s learning, according to the research, carried out by education economists at the London School of Economics and Stanford University in the US.

The Sutton Trust proposes that, in order to improve standards, teachers’ pay should be based mainly on classroom results, reviews by head teachers, and external appraisals. Less emphasis would be given to qualifications, experience and length of service.

Sutton Trust chair Sir Peter Lampl said: ‘Achievement of pupils is largely determined by the quality of teachers. So the single most important way to improve the UK’s international performance is to improve the quality of its teachers. 

‘We believe that this can be achieved by giving teachers the right support, training and incentives, and it is absolutely essential that this be carried forward.’

The researchers said that by making these reforms, the UK’s international ranking could jump over a decade from 21 to three in reading and 22 to five in mathematics.

These rankings are calculated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in its Programme for International Student Assessment, based on each country’s academic results.

The Department for Education agreed that teacher quality was essential to raising school standards and improving ‘our woefully low position in international league tables’.

A spokesman said the free schools programme would allow schools to recruit the best teachers from outside the state system.

‘We are also making it easier for all schools to improve teacher quality or help those who cannot improve to move on. We have expanded TeachFirst, a fast-track graduate programme, to get more high flyers into challenging schools. And more teacher training will be in the classroom so new recruits learn from, and work alongside, the best teachers,’ he said.

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