Mr. Michael J. FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he has taken to assess the validity of league tables for state schools which include a value-added element. [65078]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeExtensive development work has been done by the Department and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on methods of calculating measures of value-added by schools for publication in performance tables. We have also conducted a pilot study, involving some 200 state and independent schools, to investigate a variety of options for presenting school value-added indicators based on information about individual pupil performance. The results of the pilot study were published on 1 December, as a supplement to the 1998 secondary school performance tables. A copy has been placed in the Library.