The Importance of Teaching The Schools White Paper 2010 Department for Education The Importance of Teaching Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Education by Command of Her Majesty November 2010 Cm 7980 £19.75 © Crown Copyright 2010 You may re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or e-mail:
[email protected]. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at www.education.gov.uk/help/contactus. This publication is also available on http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/ ISBN: 9780101798020 Printed in the UK by The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID P002401441 11/10 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum. 1 Contents Foreword by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister 3 Foreword by the Secretary of State for Education 6 Executive Summary 8 1. Introduction – the future of schools 16 2. Teaching and Leadership 19 3. Behaviour 31 4. Curriculum, Assessment and Qualifications 39 5. New Schools System 50 6. Accountability 65 7. School Improvement 72 8. School Funding 78 Endnotes 91 2 The Importance of Teaching 3 Foreword by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister So much of the education debate in this country is backward looking: have standards fallen? Have exams got easier? These debates will continue, but what really matters is how we’re doing compared with our international competitors.