Ofsted inspections are burdensome and disruptive. Schools struggle to keep up with the sheer volume of government initiatives. We've all heard the criticisms before - but they are about to be verified by an international study attacking England's schools inspection system.

Next month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), will publish a comparison of school leadership in 22 of the 30 developed countries within its remit.

A draft copy of Improving School Leadership, seen by Times Educational Supplement (May 23), claims that Ofsted inspections place “considerable strain” on head teachers and other staff and can “turn the school upside down”. It recognises concerns about Ofsted's “name-and-shame” approach to publishing reports. Negative perceptions created by a bad Ofsted report or bad exam league table ranking can send a school into a vicious downward spiral, it adds.

The report also criticises the sheer number of government initiatives that schools are expected to implement.

Sorry record on patient notes

Over a million patients a year are seen by NHS clinicians who have not been privy to their medical records

BACKGROUND

• Profit before public interest

• Driven to sustain improvement

• A poor report for inspections

Related Internet Links

• Public sector jobs

• Snakes & Ladders

Ofsted defended itself against the claims, saying that the report is based on inspections held in 2005. A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families says: “It is right that parents have the information available to them as just one factor in deciding which school is right for their child, and right that pupils are able to measure themselves against a national standard.”

Perhaps elements of the report will make pleasant reading for England's head teachers - they are praised for their “systemic leadership”. They may also draw comfort because their counterparts across OECD lands seem to grapple with similar challenges. According to TES, school leaders in many countries are overburdened and underpaid, with “few people lining up for their jobs”.

Essay filter sets marks

Go ahead and cheat, but don't expect to be rewarded. This message was recently sent to some masters degree students at the University of Hertfordshire, when a lecturer marked assignments partly according to what proportion seemed to be plagiarised.

Steve Bennett, from the School of Computer Science, put students' work through plagiarism detection software. He then gave an “authenticity score” that fed into overall marks. In Times Higher Education (May 22), he asks: “Instead of curbing copying, shouldn't we seek to cultivate authentic self-expression in students?” Jude Carroll, a plagiarism expert from Oxford Brookes University, seems to agree. “This sounds like a really positive approach,” she says.

Lukewarm reception for skills Bill

Government plans to force councils to intervene in failing schools have met with a cool response from education professionals, Local Government Chronicle (May 22) reports.

The Education and Skills Bill calls on councils to act at schools where fewer than 30 per cent of pupils achieve fewer than five GCSE grades A to C, including English and mathematics. Caroline Abrahams, the Local Government Association programme director for children and young people, says it would be wrong to categorise the 638 schools that do not meet the target as failing. “Some have very high value-added scores,” she says.

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