§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evidence and related to which dates the old comprehensive schools involved(a) headteachers following orders, (b) teachers working alone, (c) school performance failure unchallenged and (d) accountability work as stated in her document Education & Skills: Investment for Reform, 5 July; and from what dates that model is derived. [74108]
§ Mr. MilibandUnder the original comprehensive system established in the 1960s, heads had neither the power nor often the resources to make their schools784W special. Schools were isolated, and teaching skills, the school curriculum and school improvement were not publicly scrutinised. There was no framework to measure the effectiveness of schools nor to ensure intervention to drive improvement where standards were unacceptable.
Significant policy initiatives introduced by this Government include: Excellence in Cities, which began in 1999 and is now operating in over a third of LEAs and having a positive affect on standards in those areas through partnerships and networks; intervention in inverse proportion to success leading to real action to tackle failing schools resulting in the number of failing secondary schools falling from 88 at the end of 1998 to 52 this summer; the expansion of the specialist schools programme as an engine for improvement—there are now almost 1,000 specialist schools covering 8 different specialisms compared to 181 schools in 2 specialisms in 1997; and a drive to improve leadership including the establishment of the National College for School Leadership, announced in 2000.