The texts behind the proposal are listed below. Most are referenced in the full text but some appear because they are widely quoted in publications related to Ofsted and Inspection. Short annotations follow some entries, and a link is given to longer critique for some.
Alexander, R (2006) Towards Dialogic Teaching: Rethinking classroom talk, 4th edition, Thirsk: Dialogos.
Aloisi, Cesare, and Peter Tymms. (2017) PISA trends, social changes, and education reforms. Educational Research and Evaluation, 23 (5-6): 180-220.
An Examination of PISA results over many years. One thing to come out of the work is just how stable the results are in OECD countries.
Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) The Future of Inspection accessed 18/1/25
Ball, S J, Maguire, M, and Braun, A (2012) How Schools Do Policy: Policy Enactments in secondary schools, London: Routledge
Bolden, D., & Tymms, P. (2020). Standards in education: Reforms, stagnation and the need to rethink. Oxford Review of Education, 46(6), 717-733.
A summary of the international evidence related to standards over time. Very slight changes are noted over the years and the implications are explored.
Bousted, M. (2020). Ofsted: A problem in search of a solution. In Forum 62(3) 433-443
Bousted, M (2022) Support Not Surveillance: How to solve the teacher retention crisis. Melton: John Catt
Campbell, D. T. (1969). Reforms as experiments. American Psychologist, 24(4), 409.
The great Donald Campbell argues that policy should not simply be introduced in one sudden bang but trialled before its widespread implementation.
Coffield, F (2016) Teachers as powerful, democratic professionals. In Higgins, S and Coffield, F (eds) John Dewey’s Democracy and Education: A British Tribute, London: UCL Press
Coffield, F (2017) Will the Leopard Change its Spots? A new model of inspection for Ofsted, London: UCL: IOE Press.
Coffield, F (2025) The Creative Art of Troublemaking in Education, London: Routledge
Coffield, F and Williamson, B (2011) From Exam Factories to Communities of Discovery: The democratic route. London: Institute of Education, University of London
Connor, H (2023) Ruth Perry: Prevention of future deaths report. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
Education Endowment Foundation EEF Toolkit Teaching and Learning Toolkit : EEF Accessed 22/12/24
Education Endowment Foundation reports EEF evaluation reports and research papers : EEF Accessed 22/12/24
Ehren, M. C., Gustafsson, J. E., Altrichter, H., Skedsmo, G., Kemethofer, D., & Huber, S. G. (2015). Comparing effects and side effects of different school inspection systems across Europe. Comparative education, 51(3), 375-400.
Ehren, M., Shackleton, N., Tymms, P., Jones, K., Anane, E., Gustafsson, J., & Greger, D. (2011). Impact of school inspections on teaching and learning. technical report EU-project.
Farquharson, C., McNally, S., & Tahir, I. (2022). Education inequalities. IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities, 16.
Fitz-gibbon, C (1998) Memorandum to House of Commons Education Sub-Committee, November. Online: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm19989/cmselect/cmeduemp/62/8111103.htm
Gilbert, C (2024) Independent learning review for Ofsted. Online: www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-big-listen-supporting documents.
Gillborn, D. (2024) White Lies: Racism, Education and Critical Race Theory. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/White-Lies-Racism-Education-and-Critical-Race-Theory/Gillborn/p/book/9780367511784
See pages pp. 163-66 for comments on inspection
Gov.uk (n.d.) National Audit Office Ofsted’s Inspection of Schools, Ofsted's inspection of schools - NAO report
Gov.uk (n.d.) About us Ofsted About us - Ofsted - GOV.UK
Hargreaves, D H (2012) A Self-improving School System: Towards maturity, Nottingham: National College for School Leadership.
Hutchinson, J (2016) School Inspection in England: Is there room for improvement? London: EPI
Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted (Icaso) (2024) Overview. London: Icaso
Institute for Government (2023) Performance Tracker. London: Institute for Government
Jones, K., and Tymms, P. (2014). Ofsted’s role in promoting school improvement: the mechanisms of the school inspection system in England. Oxford Review of Education, 40(3), 315-330.
MacBeath, J. (2006). School inspection & self-evaluation: Working with the new relationship. London: Routledge.
Matthews, P and Headon, M (2015) Multiple Gains: An independent evaluation of Challenge Partners' peer reviews of schools, London : Institute of Education Press
A useful account of an alternative inspection system. The essential conditions of success are given as: trust among equal partners that allows for reciprocal challenge; capable reviewers who are senior leaders from schools at some distance from the school being evaluated ; and peer reviews tailored to the needs of that school
Matthews, P. & Sammons, P., (2005) “Survival of the weakest: the differential improvement of schools causing concern in England”, London Review of Education 3(2), 159–176. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14748460500163989
This is an important paper as it purports to show the positive impact of putting school into special measures, the great importance of strong headship and emphasises the rise in standards. Unfortunately the paper is fundamentally flawed as it appears to be unaware of "regression to the mean", it also appears to be unaware of quantitative studies of headship and it naively accepts the raw data concerning standards. More details can be found in: Matthews and Sammons review.docx
Moitus, S and Kamppi, P (2020) Enhancement-led Evaluation at the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre, Helsinki: FINEEC. FINEEC201224.docx
NAHT (National Association of Head Teachers) (2024) Rethinking School Inspection, London: NAHT
National Education Union Ofsted and school inspection changes , National Education Union, accessed 22/12/24
NEU (National Education Union) Value Education :Replace Ofsted petition, NEU
O’Leary, M (2022) Rethinking teachers’ professional learning through unseen observation, Professional Development in Education, DOI: 10.1080/194415257. 2022.2125551
OECD (2013) Synergies for better learning: an international perspective on evaluation and assessment, Paris, OECD Publishing, 2013, 672 pp., ISBN 978-9-2641-9064-1
Perryman, J, Bradbury, A, Calvert, G and Kilian, K (2023) Beyond Ofsted Inquiry: Final Report, London: NEU
Tymms, P. and Merrell, C. (2007). Standards and quality in English primary schools over time: The national evidence. Cambridge, UK: Primary Review, University of Cambridge Faculty of Education.
A wide ranging assessment of academic standards over time including a description of what children know and can do at the start of schooling. It includes this sentence "Levels of reading have been more or less static since the 1950s"
Tymms, P. B. (1997) High stakes in Ofsted inspections. The Times Higher. 19th Dec, p 13
A tight statistical explanation of why the reforms to the inspection of Teacher Training was fundamentally flawed. High stakes in Ofsted inspections Dec 1997 .docx
UK Parliament: Ofsted and Government must rebuild trust and make major changes to school inspections, Education Committee says - Committees - UK Parliament accessed 18/1/25
Wood, E (2020) Learning, development and the early childhood curriculum: A critical discourse analysis of the Early Years Foundation Stage in England, Journal of Early Childhood Research, 18(3), 321-336.
Wood, E. (2019). Unbalanced and unbalancing acts in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a critical discourse analysis of policy-led evidence on teaching and play from the office for standards in education in England (Ofsted). Education 3-13, 47(7), 784-795.
Wood, P (2014) Teacher professionalism: Subverting the society of control, Forum, 56(2), 223-34