Study on quality measures suggests Ofsted grades may be too broad

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Category: Media

BBC News Online, Judith Burns, 20/03/2012

Research carried out by Oxford University suggests that Ofsted’s grading system is too broad to provide parents with a detailed measure of the quality of childcare provision.

“Ofsted grades cannot necessarily be relied upon as a complete measure of quality, and may need to be completed by other measures,” said Sandra Mathers, lead researcher from Oxford’s Department of Education.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17438473

Also see:

Ofsted childcare ratings ‘unreliable measure of quality’
Children and Young People Now, 20/03/2012, Janaki Mahadevan
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Childcare_and_Early_Years/article/1122957/Ofsted-childcare-ratings-unreliable-measure-quality/

Ofsted grades should not be only way of measuring quality
Nursery World, 20/03/2012, Catherine Gaunt
http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/rss/1123092/Ofsted-grades-not-measuring-quality/

Don’t rely on Ofsted says Daycare Trust’s new childcare checklist
Huffington Post UK, 20/03/2012
Research involving Oxford University and the charity Daycare Trust, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, compared Ofsted inspections with other quality assessments such as the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). Sandra Mathers, lead researcher, from Oxford’s education department, said: “Ofsted grades cannot necessarily be relied upon as a complete measure of quality, and may need to be completed by other measures.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/20/parents-childcare-checklist-dont-rely-ofsted_n_1366564.html

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