Professor John Robertson OBA, , former schoolteacher, education lecturer, head of department, Associate Dean (Quality Assurance), Research Professor, research methods tutor, Masters and PhD supervisor, multiple peer-reviewed international research author, Faculty Research Ethics Chair

I have more detail on the above ‘research’, front page this morning and 35th by this afternoon. The only story that has sunk faster is that on the Labour MSP and the paedophile.

I’ve already clarified in my previous post why you should be wary of ‘The Commission on School Reform, the education arm of the independent think tank Enlighten.’ Who on earth do they think they are? ‘Commission, education arm, independent?’ Who commissioned them – the Queen, a government? Nope. They just did it themselves.

I used to follow the research output of a group of Glasgow University professors, with multiple top-level publications and they were happy to be known as the Glasgow University Media ‘Group’. They were light-years ahead of this ‘commission‘, led by Labour politicians and with a ‘research director’ who has no research degree. Their one ‘academic’ is Lindsay Paterson: Professor emeritus of education policy in the School of Social and Political Science at Edinburgh University. [The only Scottish ‘academic’ who thinks Pisa scores are useful]. Paterson has published research on education but it’s just based on statistics he chooses to favour such as Pisa scores. He has never, taught in schools. His background is in agricultural research.

Anyhow, the substance of their ‘critique?’ It’s the same as they tried last year. Their figures are based on working out the percentage of all the S4 pupils who were in mathematics classes who got at least a C pass and not, as is normal, the percentage of those who actually sat the assessment.

30-plus years in education at all levels and I never saw anything so frankly laughable. No school, college nor university I ever taught in and/or was an external examiner for, ever, worked out the pass rate based on any other cohort than the one which actually sat the test.

It’s bloody madness. Also, why would you expect all 15/16 year-olds to have a mathematics qualification? Much of it is of little real-world value. Most ‘top’ MSM journalists, judging by their work would struggle with Primary 7 mathematics.

The actual pass rate based on the percentage of those who actually sat the assessment was 69.5%, rounded to 70%: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/105123.11712.html