The government is set appoint Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, to lead its curriculum and assessment review, Schools Week understands.
Francis took over the top EEF job in 2020 from Sir Kevan Collins, who is now school standards advisor to the new government.
Labour has committed to a review to “modernise” the school curriculum, working with school staff, parents and employers.
It is expected Francis’ appointment will be announced today or tomorrow, with further details on the review possible.
Francis was previously director at the University College London’s Institute of Education. Her research focused on social identities and educational inequalities.
The EEF is a charity set up with a Department for Education grant and trials different evidence-based resources to find out what will work in schools.
In 2022, it was re-endowed with a grant of £137 million to put it on a “long-term footing”. Former education secretary Nadhim Zahawi described EEF as “independent evidence guardians in the system”.
Francis received a CBE in the 2022 new year’s honours for services to education.
At the time, she said: “Leadership in this sector has been an honour, as I witness the collective dedication of those working in education to giving young people the best start in life. It’s a privilege to play a part in supporting this shared mission.”
Her role at the EEF allowed her to “combine my passions for developing research excellence and evidence-led practice in support of improved outcomes for socially-disadvantaged pupils, and to lead an incredibly talented, mission-driven team”.
Francis previously urged ministers to “focus on evidence not ideology” when plans were being mulled for new grammar schools under Liz Truss’s government.
Interesting selection of friends, ‘new boss, same as the old boss’? Even more interesting as DFE already had 10 years of longitudinal data supplied,on contract to the DFE, by my research centre at the School of Education, University of Manchester. Because those data, across 10 years, evidenced the massive skewing of taught time to the ‘tested subjects’ and therefore a disproportionate reduction of non-tested subjects, the DFE simply sat on the data. Finally, I was invited to a UK government Education Select Committee to present the data and the resultant restricted curriculum profile. No action again. Those data are still available if Dr Francis is interested?
I really hope we look at good practice from other countries. Start with Early Years and Key Stage 1 and reduce the subject content – instead focus on what children need to become successful learners: physical, social and language development. Don’t misunderstand this as just playing. Maths, reading and writing also have their place but unpick what the key knowledge and skills are.