Academies and performance related pay will only have “minimal” impact, leading academic warns
The report, published by Pearson on 16 June 2015, says that governments around the world have focused on fixes which have been expensive and ineffective at improving student learning. Hattie outlines some of these fixes as performance related pay, new school buildings, more assessment and greater choice of schools, which he claims “distract us from implementing policies that can make a significant difference”.
The report reads: “There is a remarkable hunger to create charter schools, for-profit schools, lighthouse schools, free schools, academies, public-private schools… But, given that the variance in student achievement between schools is small relative to variance within schools, it is folly to believe that a solution lies in different forms of schools.
“…there is evidence there is a slight increase in achievement in these schools in the short term, but the long-term effects lead to no differences… within a year or so the ‘different’ school becomes just another school, with all the usual issues that confront all schools.”
Hattie also also criticises performance pay models in the report, saying that it is “difficult to find a performance-pay model that has made much, if any, difference to student learning” and that they often cause higher stress levels for teachers, which can cause them to lose enthusiasm.
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