Still just good or bad...

End league tables, say governors: "End league tables, say governors Tests Children sit tests at 11 and 14 which form the basis of league tables School governors are calling for an end to the current system of league tables and national tests in England. The National Governors' Association (NGA) said the tables held information that was too narrow and misrepresented what happened in schools.

Instead it wants schools to be given a grade based on comparisons with others in similar circumstances, and tests that check individual pupils' progress."

An interesting one which relates to the ideas of 'effectiveness' discussed by Ball (1995) - here you can see one measure of success is being replaced as it misrepresents what is 'good' about schools. It's replacement? Another form of grading system. Schools are still cast in the roles of good or bad. They might have changed their approach, but there's an underlying assumption of what the problem is and how to measure / fix it.

Reference:

Ball, S. J. (1995) ‘Intellectuals or technicians? The urgent role of theory in educational studies’, British Journal of Educational studies, Vol. 43, No.3, 1995, pp.255-71, Blackwell