On Debate Night, Reform UK’s Thomas Kerr claimed that nearly 400 000 ‘voted for us.’ It was only 365 000, not so near.

Then, ‘educationist’ and former head and maths teacher but a former parliamentary Lib Dem candidate too, Carole Ford, converted that 400 000 into ‘three quarters of a million‘ (750 000)! Rusty?

Earlier Ford had repeated her trust in the OECD/Pisa tests which some suggest reveal a decline in standards in Scotland.

which are sat right across developed countries, the OECD countries. Scotland’s standards have been on the slide since about 2004.

Ford was a Heidie in Kilmarnock for 14 years. I was a teacher, lecturer, Associate Dean (Quality Assurance), Professor, PhD supervisor, Faculty Research Ethics Chair and peer-reviewed published researcher for near on 40 years and I never met one credible academic who thought these narrow wee tests comparing quite different school cultures had any credibility or value,

From another retired Head Teacher, why Ford’s reliance of the OECD (Pisa) data is uneducated:

By Alasdair Macdonald

The issue is with PISA. It has very little statistical rigour and offers nothing in the way of improving educational practice.

I was a secondary school head teacher at the time it and other ‘measures’ were introduced in education in Scotland in other places. I and my colleagues argued against it.

Educational provision, like everything else, ought to be continuously evaluated, partly to get evidence on whether it is achieving the aims set out for it and partly to get information on areas which require attention. However, there are, literally, hundreds of aspects to be measured and many of these aspects are not measurable by things like tests of arithmetical competence. Such tests are part of the picture but their results are not the full picture (insofar as a full picture can be obtained) Most of the data have to be set in a fairly long time context so that temporary fluctuations can be seen. Usually such temporary fluctuations are easily explainable, in the cases of individual schools.

Such data do, in fact exist. There is a great deal of it and it requires a great deal of care and experience to identify things which are of statistical significance. And things can be significantly ‘good’ as well as ‘poor’.

PISA is of no benefit in this evaluative context. It is an instrument of BLAME and, as such, is a tool of control and compliance over schools and teachers. For some politicians and their media mouthpieces it is a malign instrument which stifles the creativity which is an essential part of teaching.

Some of those in power see such creativity as presenting a threat to their power.

Creativity and the autonomy necessary to be creative can challenge power, but it is the way that people in all walks of life improve things. It is essential in medicine, science, engineering, the arts, social policy, etc.

PISA is a club to beat creativity out of teachers and schools.

The teacher unions are not too keen on creativity amongst their members, too!

And from me, a short video explaining why the comparison with England is deeply flawed:

Short video on – England’s Pisa scores are based only on a tiny selective sample of higher achieving schools making Paul O’Kane’s sad desperate attempt to claim they are better than Scotland just another under-educated failure from Scottish Labour

Detail at:

England’s Pisa scores are based only on a tiny selective sample of higher achieving schools making Paul O’Kane’s sad desperate attempt to claim they are better than Scotland just another under-educated failure from Scottish Labour