THE STATE AND EDUCATION POLICY Also available from Continuum The Great City Academy Fraud, Francis Beckett Education Policy Unravelled, Dean Garratt and Derek Kassem Education, Policy and Social Justice, James Avis The State and Education Policy The Academies Programme Edited by Helen M. Gunter Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704 London New York SE1 7NX NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com © Helen Gunter and Contributors 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Helen Gunter has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as Author of this work. British Library Cataloguing- in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978- 1-4411-4311-2 (hardcover) Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data The state and education policy: the academies programme/edited by Helen M. Gunter. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978- 1-4411-4311-2 (hardcover) 1. Education and state—England. 2. Educational evaluation—England. 3. Educational accountability—England. 4. Educational change—England. I. Gunter, Helen. II. Title. LC93.G7S69 2011 379.41—dc22 2010020578 Typeset by Pindar NZ, Auckland, New Zealand Printed and bound in Great Britain by the MPG Books Group Contents Acknowledgements vii Illustrations viii Abbreviations x Contributors xiii Preface xx Francis Beckett Introduction: Contested Educational Reform 1 Helen M. Gunter 1 Academies and the Law 19 David Wolfe 2 Local Government against Local Democracy: A Case Study of a Bid for Building Schools for the Future Funding for an Academy 39 Richard Hatcher 3 The Birth of Norwich’s First School Academy: A Case Study 52 John Elliott 4 Academy Consultation Meetings: Local Discourse on a National Policy 66 Kirsten Purcell 5 Academies in the Public Interest: A Contradiction in Terms? 79 Harriet Rowley and Alan Dyson 6 From Reality to Vision: The ‘Birth’ of The Petchey Academy in Hackney 92 David Daniels vi Contents 7 What Works? An Empirical Assessment of Strengths, Weaknesses and Next Steps for the Academies Initiative 105 Judy Larsen, Valerie Bunting and David Armstrong 8 Are Academies Working? 120 Stephen Gorard 9 ‘Rapidly Improving Results’: Penetrating the Hype of Policy-Based Evidence 133 Terry Wrigley 10 Academies, Policy Networks and Governance 146 Stephen J. Ball 11 Joining Up the Dots: Academies and System Coherence 159 Ron Glatter 12 The New Enterprise Logic of the Academy Programme 171 Brian J. Caldwell 13 International Perspectives on Academies: Lessons Learned from Charter Schools and Choice Options around the Globe 185 Ellen Goldring and Madeline Mavrogordato 14 Academies and the Myth of Evidence- Based Policy: Limits and Possibilities 199 Denis Gleeson Conclusion: Public Education and Academies 212 Helen M. Gunter Appendix 1: Open and Planned Academies ( January 2010) 234 Appendix 2: The Academy Programme Process 269 References 272 Index 293 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society, particularly Dr Linda Hammersley- Fletcher, and the British Academy, who funded the seminar at the in June 2008 that led to this book. I would like to thank seminar participants for a very stimulating and interesting day. I would like to give acknowledgement to Professor Stephen Ball, who gave permission to include an edited version of Gorard, S. (2009), ‘What are academies the answer to?’ Journal of Education Policy, 24, (1), 101–13 as Chapter 8 in this collection. I would like to thank colleagues at Continuum for their support, particu- larly Alison Baker, the commissioning editor. As a change of government took place in May 2010 I would like to thank the publishers for allowing me to write a Coda regarding policy developments. I would like to thank Professor Tanya Fitzgerald for reading parts of the book and for her feedback. Most importantly for her friendship and col- laborative scholarship. Finally, I completed editing the major part of the text while working and visiting with Professor John Smyth, University of Ballarat, Australia, in February 2010, and I would like to thank him for his feedback, enthusiasm and intellectual companionship. I dedicate this book to all who believe in and value the importance of a vibrant and inclusive public domain. Illustrations Figures 0.1 Major changes to the Academies Programme 5 5.1 Weston Academy theory of change diagram 85 7.1 Average annual percentage point (pp) change in pupils achieving Level 2 (attainment at grades A*–C) at GCSE 109 7.2 Change in percentage of pupils in Phase 4 academies achieving Key Stage 3, Level 5 (i.e. the level of achievement expected of most pupils at end of Key Stage 3): 2005–7 110 10.1 A heterarchy 150 Tables 0.1 2000 launch of city academies 4 0.2 Types of academies 6 7.1 Sample of 27 academies: year of opening 106 7.2 Contextual variables for case studies 111 7.3 Pupil performance in academies 1 and 2 – Key Stage 4, 2002–6 (fi ve or more GCSEs A*–C) 112 8.1 Selected examination results, all schools in England, 2005/06 122 8.2 FSM percentages for 2002 cohort of academies, 1997–2007 123 8.3 Level 2 percentages for 2002 cohort of academies, 1997–2007 123 8.4 Level 2 percentages, including English and maths, for 2002 cohort of academies, 2003–7 124 8.5 FSM percentages for 2003 cohort of academies, 2004–7 124 8.6 Level 2 percentages for 2003 cohort of academies, 2000–7 125 8.7 Level 2 percentages, including English and maths, for 2003 cohort of academies, 2004–7 125 8.8 FSM percentages for 2004 cohort of academies, 2005–7 126 8.9 Level 2 percentages for 2004 cohort of academies, 2000–7 126 8.10 Level 2 percentages, including English and maths, for 2004 cohort of academies, 2005–7 127 Illustrations ix 8.11 FSM percentages for 2005 cohort of academies, 2005–7 127 8.12 Level 2 percentages for 2005 cohort of academies, 2001–7 128 8.13 Level 2 percentages, including English and maths, for 2005 cohort of academies, 2006–7 129 8.14 FSM percentages for 2006 cohort of academies, 2005–7 129 8.15 Level 2 percentages for 2006 cohort of academies, 2002–7 130 9.1 Analysis of GCSE results 137 9.2 Attainment gains adjusted for national gains and school population change 143 11.1 Average class size: lower secondary education (adapted from OECD, 2008, table D2.1) 161 11.2 Four models of governance and their centres of gravity (adapted from Glatter, 2002, p. 229) 164 Abbreviations AAA Anti Academies Alliance ARK Absolute Return for Kids ASBM Advanced School Business Managers ATL Association of Teachers and Lecturers BITC Business in the Community BME Black and minority ethnic BSF Building Schools for the Future BTEC Business and Technology Education Council CEA Cambridge Education Associates CMO Charter Management Organization CTC City Technology College DCLG Department for Communities and Local Government DCSF Department for Children, Schools and Families DETR Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions DfEE Department for Education and Employment DfES Department for Education and Skills EAL English as an additional language ECAC Every Child a Chance ECC Every Child Counts ECM Every Child Matters EMO Education Management Organization EOI Expression of Interest FMiS Financial Management in Schools programme FOIA Freedom of Information Act FSM Free school meals GCSE General Certifi cate of Secondary Education GMS Grant- Maintained Status GNVQ General National Vocational Qualifi cation HMC Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference HOTS Hands Off Tamworth Schools HE Higher Education ICT Information and communication technology Abbreviations xi KIPP Knowledge is Power Program LA Local Authority LEA Local Education Authority LMS Local Management of Schools MP Member of Parliament NAEP National Assessment of Educational Progress NAGM National Association of Governors and Managers NAHT National Association of Headteachers NAO National Audit Offi ce NASUWT National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers NCLB No Child Left Behind NCSL National College for School Leadership (from 2009, the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services) NEET Not in employment, education or training NFER National Foundation for Educational Research NGC National Governors’ Council NGO Non- Governmental Organization NLE National Leaders of Education programme NPD National Pupil Database NUT National Union of Teachers NRT National Remodelling Team OECD Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development OfSTED Offi ce for Standards in Education PEF Private Equity Foundation PFI Private Finance Initiative PISA Programme for International Student Assessment PLASC Pupil Level Annual Schools Census PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers QCA Qualifi cations and Curriculum Authority RE Religious education SBD School business directors SCC Staffordshire County Council SEN Special educational needs SENCO Special educational needs co- ordinator SHA Secondary Heads Association SSAT Specialist Schools and Academies Trust SSFA School Standards and Framework Act xii Abbreviations SSP Specialist Schools Programme STRB School Teachers’ Review Body SATs Standard Attainment Tests TIMSS Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study TUPE The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations YPLA Young People’s Learning Agency Contributors David Armstrong, PhD, is an Associate Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Since joining PwC in 1998, David has led a wide range of national research and evaluation assignments on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and other government depart- ments and agencies. For example, David led PwC’s independent review of school leadership, published by DCSF in January 2007, and he is currently fi nalizing PwC’s ongoing longitudinal evaluation of academies, again on behalf of DCSF.