EdBlogs

​Welcome to the inaugural Teacher Olympics! Due to the current funding crisis, we regret to inform you that the opening ceremony has been cancelled. Instead, we will launch straight into the first event: weightlifting. Teachers from across the land will compete to see who can struggle from classroom to car with the heaviest plastic box of unmarked ...

Many teachers struggle with the idea of connecting their own practice to the latest educational research. How many consciously set aside time to discover and digest research, browse the latest education publications and research oriented blogs or discuss research with their peers? This answer is probably - not many. Even given the many time pressur...

Homework has taken a lot of flack lately. Unduly so, I believe. There is a push – and even a hashtag, #ditchHW – to end the practice of teacher-prescribed homework for students. Most of those who oppose it cite either a lack of evidence for its effectiveness or a more pressing need for quality family time. I totally sympathise with the argument for...

Professor Simon Burgess of the University of Bristol says: "Having a good teacher as opposed to a mediocre or poor teacher makes a big difference. Teacher effectiveness matters enormously. A pupil being taught for eight GCSEs by all effective teachers (those at the 75th percentile of the teacher effectiveness distribution) will achieve an overall G...

It was finally happening. It took me a while (two years) to get there, but I now had the bit between my teeth and I was determined to get to the bottom of why disadvantaged pupils weren't making as much progress as their more advantaged peers. I also had some say for once – as a new chair of committee, I could finally make sure issues were properly...