Ofsted have been graded!

[Rea]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/exclusive-ofsted-chided-for-poor-childcare-judgements-8751005.html

[Panders]

very interesting thanks Rea

[Helen]

I'm puzzled!

'The report found that centres graded as ”outstanding“ by Ofsted often received the lowest scores on scales used by teachers and care staff to check on the development of children and toddlers.'

 

A setting can be outstanding even if the children are not at expected levels of development- they may have been a very long way below expected levels when they started, and the staff have done a good job in closing the gap. It's all about progress from the starting points.

 

“There is no statistical relationship between Ofsted grades and quality of care infants and toddlers are receiving.”

 

This really needs explaining- anybody understand this?!

 

'The report raises the point that - if Ofsted gives a setting an outstanding classification - there is then no need or pressure on it to improve its performance. If its children have low scores for their development and readiness for school - this may not be tackled.'

 

I disagree with this entirely. In my experience, settings awarded outstanding are fearful they'll lose it at the next inspection! I think there is huge pressure for continuous improvement. They also wouldn't have been awarded outstanding if they weren't monitoring children's development carefully and planning for challenging next steps. Of course this will 'be tackled'.

[Beau]

I'm afraid as soon as I saw the term 'readiness for school' my hackles were raised! As Helen says, children come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and development levels. It's about a setting doing what is best for the individual child and helping them develop at a pace and to a level which is appropriate to them. This should never be about squashing children into a 'one size fits all' box ready to hand over to school. Grrrrr!!

[Helen]

Ah! This is a bit clearer now- they are relating Ofsted scores to ECERS scores:

 

'There is also the question of how good an assessor of quality Ofsted is. While Ofsted

ratings are a reasonably good predictor of outcomes at school age, Ofsted grades for

early years settings are less accurate at predicting children’s developmental outcomes

(Hopkins et al 2010).

A study published by the Daycare Trust examined the relationship

between Ofsted scores and Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scales (ECERS), which

were formulated to measure quality and are strongly indicative of children’s developmental

outcomes (Sylva et al 2006). While the Ofsted scores and ECERS scores were broadly

aligned for better-performing centres for older children (aged three and upwards), there

was less overlap for lower-performing centres, and no significant associations between

Ofsted grades and Infant Toddler Environmental Scale (ITERS-R) scores which assess

centre-based care for children under 30 months old. While the introduction of the EYFS

better aligned Ofsted grades to ECERS scores, the same was not true of ITERS-R scores

(Mathers et al 2012). In fact, the report points out that settings graded as ‘outstanding’ by

Ofsted often received the lowest scores on the ITERS-R scale.'

Proposals include:

Ofsted scores need to better reflect child outcomes, and be brought in line with

internationally respected Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scales (ECERS),

including infant- and toddler-specific scales. This could be achieved by:

1) Assessing the revised Ofsted criteria and scores against ECERS, where possible

by incorporating elements of these scales into Ofsted inspection criteria.

2) Placing a duty on Ofsted to train its inspectors specifically in early years practice,

and to ensure that they fully understand different types of early years settings.

3)Considering developing Ofsted’s role by publishing school-readiness scores by

provider, and having more finely-graded Ofsted scores with detailed feedback and

suggested action points.

1) An interesting concept, to align Ofsted inspections with ECERS and of course the EYFS.

2) I think they are and they do.

3) Oooh this is scary. Might there be no EYPS profile at the end of reception, but a new one introduced when children leave nursery/pre-school?

[HappyMaz]

Wow. This hit me between the eyes!

 

"A spokesman for Ofsted said: “We have only just had sight of IPPR's report so it is difficult to comment on its findings. It is also hard to understand how they can provide an informed report without talking to us or observing an inspection."

 

Can you imagine a setting receiving an inspection grade without actually having been visited by an Inspector? Oh wait. Didn't I read that this is how childminders will be inspected under the new arrangements with childminding agencies?

[HappyMaz]

Interesting what you're saying about ECERS, Helen. I remember when we did our ECERS auditing training we were told that many Outstanding settings fared less well when they subsequently had an ECERS audit.

 

Not everyone likes ECERS (mundia in particular is not a fan) but what I really like about it is that settings can use the scales themselves to see exactly what they can do to improve their score. The scores for each part of the scale are easy to justify and less likely to be challenged, in my opinion.

 

I'm very interested in the whole idea of Ofsted inspections incorporating ECERS. Both my inspectors were very knowledgeable about the scales and valued the action plans I had produced as a result of reflecting on the audit process.

[Sue R]

Yes, Maz, that's exactly how we used the ECERS and ITERS documents. Really useful for self-evaluation.

[Guest sn0wdr0p]

I recently bought the scales for self evaluation. I did not realise they were so widely used and no one in our local authority early years team have ever used them. I will take a proper look when on my hols next week - nowhere exciting just on my sofa.