Consultation on the Improvement in Scottish Education Bill

Introduction

"We will legislate at the earliest opportunity to continue the modernisation and improvement of Scottish education."

Partnership for Scotland, May 1999

1. The proposals for legislation set out in this document support the Scottish Executive's central objective of continuous improvement in all Scotland's schools. They create a new framework in which all those with an interest in schools - teachers, parents, local authorities and the communities served by schools - can identify and pursue the key priorities on which raising standards depend.

2. These proposals do not exist in isolation. Legislation on its own cannot deliver improvement. Success depends on the commitment and professionalism of all those working on a day to day basis with children in schools. The Scottish Executive is committed to establishing the conditions in which that professionalism is recognised, strengthened and celebrated. It is therefore important that the proposals are seen in the context of the wider strategy to raise standards that is underway in schools and education authorities throughout Scotland.

Schools are the Centres of Improvement

3. Only schools themselves can take responsibility for their own improvement. Improvement comes from within the school and from the needs of the children in it. But schools must operate in the framework of challenge and support provided by the local authority. The legislative proposals in this document confirm the role of the local authority and at the same time more clearly define it to take account of modern requirements. Challenging and supporting schools is a major responsibility and to do it successfully requires commitment and rigour. External evaluation through inspection and open reporting of performance will assist this process.

4. The role of the Scottish Executive is also to support and challenge. In carrying out this role it will not seek to direct schools or authorities. It will pursue initiatives that can be demonstrated to be effective in raising standards, following proper consultation.

Supporting Teachers

5. The Scottish Executive will also work to support teachers and to strengthen their skills and professionalism. Improvement in schools can only be delivered by teachers working with pupils and supported by parents and the community. The professionalism of teachers is central to raising standards and to ensuring that every child achieves his or her full potential. Teachers throughout Scotland are working with dedication and commitment to make a difference. They are appreciated and valued by this administration.

6. In taking forward their modernisation agenda the Scottish Executive will consult on the powers and responsibilities of the General Teaching Council for Scotland. That separate consultation will include proposals for legislation following from a recent review of the Council and the version of the Bill that is presented to Parliament for consideration may contain provisions following from that consultation. Copies of the consultation document on the GTC can be obtained from the address given at the beginning of this document.

Targeting Excellence

7. The White Paper Targeting Excellence was published by the previous administration in January 1999. It set out a vision for the education system and contained a comprehensive description of how the school system is working to raise standards. It also included key proposals for modernisation of the schools system that would require legislation.

8. Responses to the White Paper show the widespread commitment among schools, education authorities, teachers, parents and others to the overall objective of raising standards. Many helpful and positive suggestions were received, as well as favourable comments on current initiatives.

9. The legislative proposals relating to the provision of pre-school education and School Boards were overwhelmingly welcomed. Proposals relating to improvement planning by schools and local authorities gained general support, as did the idea that best practice in local authorities could be nurtured through regular independent and external evaluation. There was a general recognition of the need to continuously improve performance in schools from whatever level.

10. Concerns were expressed regarding the implications of some of the proposals for the balance of responsibility between local and national government and the loss of local flexibility that would follow from greater central direction. The Scottish Executive has taken all of these comments into account in making its decisions on the proposals for legislation included in this document. The Scottish Executive does not intend to create centralised structures to direct school education - it firmly believes excellence already exists within Scottish education. The challenge is to help those not yet achieving the best practice to do so.

A World Class System

11. The Scottish Executive's commitment is to ensure a world class school system for Scotland. A world class system demands world class standards. The highest expectations of each child, of each teacher and every part of the schools system must be maintained. Scotland's children are entitled to excellence and to expect that every school that is not already excellent can become so.

12. The commitment to excellence is fundamental to Scotland's educational tradition. The Scottish Executive will seek every opportunity to celebrate and foster that excellence so that schools ensure that children and young people:

• Are confident, well motivated and fully rounded.
• Are literate and numerate - to a level at or above that of their peers in the rest of the world.
• Fully understand and are able to play their parts as citizens of a modern democratic society.
• Seize opportunities open to them regardless of their background.
• Have the skills and aptitudes to work flexibly and to embrace change throughout their future lives.

Comparing Ourselves with the Best

13. The world class system that our children deserve must set itself to achieve world class standards and be prepared to compare itself honestly and fairly with those achieving the highest standards in education. Within Scotland each teacher and each school should, through self-evaluation, compare itself with the best and learn through the sharing of good practice.

14. The Scottish Executive will work to ensure that comparisons, both with levels of achievement in other countries and within Scotland, can be made on a basis that is fair, taking properly into account all the relevant circumstances. It will ensure that the process of comparison is assisted by the highest quality benchmarking information.

A Partnership for Continuous Improvement

15. The sharing of good practice at all levels reflects the commitment of the Scottish Executive to partnership. Schools are not in competition, one with another. They form a comprehensive network throughout Scotland - they have the expertise and understanding of how to address children's needs in the classroom and this expertise must be pooled and shared.

16. The Scottish Executive will give the highest priority to providing opportunities for the identification and dissemination of good practice in all areas of teaching and learning. Staff development and continuous professional development are of fundamental importance in this strategy. The expertise of HMI is essential to support the process.

17. Bullying, study support, early intervention and multi-disciplinary working in New Community Schools are among the important areas in which the sharing of practical experience between teachers _ and between parents and pupils _ are bringing enormous benefits to schools throughout Scotland. New networks to ensure good practice and good ideas in all areas central to raising attainment will be established building on the expertise being developed through this work. These networks will be supported by modern information and communication technology established through the National Grid for Learning.

The Continuous Improvement Agenda

18. Targeting Excellence set out a programme for radical improvement in schools. This programme is already underway and gathering momentum. All schools are now working to targets they have set to improve attainment and attendance and have just finished the first year of the 3 year target period.

19. Targets have focussed attention on raising attainment. Under the Excellence Fund the additional resources identified in last year's Comprehensive Spending Review are now reaching schools. Those funds focus on activities that will directly improve the quality of children's experience and support teachers in their commitment to raising levels of attainment, in particular, by promoting social inclusion and widening educational opportunities.

A Commitment to Continuous Improvement

20. A world class education system must be based on a culture of continuous improvement. This does not imply that there is systematic underperformance in the Scottish education system. HMI's Standards and Quality report in January this year confirmed that as a whole the system performs well. It is a matter of regret that undue attention was given in public reporting to areas of weakness that were identified. HMI's report gives the Scottish Executive every confidence that any areas of weakness can be addressed and overcome and action is already in hand to do so.

21. Excellence already exists in the system: the challenge is to sustain and widen its application. The Scottish Executive rejects the suggestion that improvement is not possible in some areas. Through rigorous self-evaluation supported by benchmarking information, schools and authorities can identify where improvement can be made. Self-evaluation is equally important in sustaining excellence as it is in raising standards from a low baseline.

22. These ideas are not new - the Quality Initiative in Scotland's Schools is the embodiment of this approach. It is based on self-evaluation, careful and objective scrutiny by schools of the present level of performance, and the identification of and planning for improvement. It is supported by external evaluation through inspection. How Good is Our School? - which provides a set of performance indicators to guide school self-evaluation _ has been developed in Scotland and adopted by a number of other countries showing Scotland's place at the forefront of international networks.

23. Continuous improvement is not promoted by a constant stream of new initiatives which add to workload and cause other practical difficulties for front line services. In recent years, major national initiatives have been of importance in establishing the requirements of a modern schools system. In particular, major reform of all stages of the curriculum, which has the most exacting implications for teachers in the classroom, will have been achieved with the successful introduction of Higher Still. Education in Scotland is entering a period of greater stability.

Time for Teaching

24. The Scottish Executive wants to see a sharing and consolidation of good practice in teaching and learning in the classroom. As part of this, the administrative burdens on teachers, schools and authorities must be addressed. Time for Teaching - a joint report by HMI and the Accounts Commission - explored ways this might be done. Technology, in particular the National Grid for Learning, has an important role to play and the introduction of classroom assistants will have a major impact. But there are other ways in which procedures can be simplified or their impact on the classroom teacher reduced.

25. In the context of the proposed legislative framework the Scottish Executive will examine the administrative burdens that are placed on authorities and schools with a view to determining the extent to which they continue to be appropriate under the new arrangements. The outcome of this process should be that bureaucracy is reduced and that authorities will be given more freedom and time to support and challenge schools, and teachers will have more time to teach. The Scottish Executive would be interested to receive your views on this.

Our Commitment to You

26. The Scottish Executive will exercise firm leadership to ensure that expectations are high and that those yet to achieve the performance of the best are supported and challenged to do so. The Scottish Executive will:

• Consult widely to identify national priorities and will allocate resources in accordance with need to achieve stated outcomes.
• Work in partnership with authorities to ensure that the highest quality benchmarking and other information is available to schools and authorities and more widely to the Scottish Parliament and people.
• Create opportunities for networking and for sharing good practice.
• Find new ways of seeking the views of parents, teachers and pupils.
• Celebrate the excellence already in the system and share it widely with others in the system.
• Focus on improvement.

27. The Scottish Executive calls on everyone with an interest in the education system to work together with us to build a world class education system for Scotland that:

• Is firmly based on the concept of continuous improvement through self-evaluation and the open reporting and assessment of performance.
• Is fully inclusive and offers opportunity for all.
• Places children and young people at the centre of all developments, at classroom, at school, at authority and at national level.
• Celebrates and rewards achievement and excellence at all levels.
• Supports and challenges those yet to achieve the standards of the best.
• Focuses on improvement through raising standards at all levels.
• Supports, develops and values our teaching profession who are the key to standards and quality.
• Encourages the full participation of parents, informing them fully of all that matters to their child's education and balancing their rights and responsibilities.
• Ensures that schools act as a focus for and in the community they serve.
• Sets out a transparent framework for public accountability for schools.
• Makes the best use of resources - allocated in accordance with need and related to the achievement of defined outcomes.

28. To achieve these outcomes is a major challenge. Teachers, parents and schools must work together to achieve them and never accept second best for our children. Our collective future in the increasingly complex world of the information age will depend on their skills, aptitudes and experiences gained in school, and more widely, throughout their development. The potential in each child is clear everyone has a collective duty to realise it.