The new Progress 8 performance measure is due to come into effect in 2015. What are your thoughts on it? Is Progress 8 a better way of assessing school performance? Are you thinking of opting in to the new measure or are you undecided? Here ASCL members share their thoughts on this important issue.

Tied or tested?

Progress 8 is better

In my opinion, Progress 8 is a better way of assessing a schools performance than the existing mechanisms at GCSE in that the efforts and progress of all students are recognised and valued rather than the ‘Holy Grail’ of a grade C plus in headline figures.

As headteacher of a fully comprehensive school, my views are also tempered by my other more important role as a father of a teenager. As a parent, I find that the measure is complex and I am not sure what it tells me about my daughter’s school’s performance over time. The demand from the local and national press for simplistic comparative measures are not going to be met by Progress 8 as it is clearly prone to entry policies, curriculum design, and the disproportionate effect of a few students who perform significantly better or worse than expected. How will the press dress up its usual claim of falling standards and easy exams and how will the local press publish simplistic comparisons on invalidated data, as is the current practice?

It may mean that we can have a more sophisticated discussion of education progress and priorities – I hope so. This year, my school has let the press and parents know that we will not be commenting upon unvalidated and simplistic headline figures. We will publish our overall results later in the autumn term. What is interesting is that I have found that parents seem to agree and that we got very positive coverage in the local press for our position.

Perhaps we give our stakeholders too little credit, perhaps they are ready to engage in a more detailed and nuanced discussion of intelligent accountability, I for one, as a school leader, parent and someone who wants our communities to thrive, certainly hope so.

Paul MacIntyre 

Headteacher of Myton School in Warwick

A cautious welcome

It is natural for school leaders to hold their breath when a new accountability measure is introduced; quite literally, a school’s future success may hinge on it, however, I cautiously welcome the new Progress 8 measure. ‘Every grade counts’, as opposed to students having to pass a certain threshold. By virtue of the above, there is a greatly reduced emphasis on the C/D borderline. Also, since the measure is based on Key Stage 2 fine point scores, the issues surrounding expected levels of progress using whole National Curriculum levels is ameliorated.

However, my concern is that since the measure is dependent on the performance of students in other schools across the country, schools will not know how they have performed until well after ‘the horse has bolted’, which makes it much more difficult for school leaders to prioritise individual student interventions towards those for whom it is likely to have the greatest impact.

Gareth Burton 

Deputy Headteacher of Cheltenham Bournside School & Sixth Form Centre in Cheltenham

A fairer reflection

We’re opting in to Progress 8. We think it will probably give a fairer reflection of the kind of broad GCSE-based curriculum we offer. We have always tried to make all our course decisions on what’s in the best interests of our students rather than potential league table positions, so we haven’t given it a huge amount of thought. It feels to us that if it’s the main measure of the future, we may as well adjust to it sooner rather than later.

Geoff Barton

Headteacher of King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds

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