Amanda Spielman will today announce planned new inspection judgment headings, as she suggests some teachers have been reduced to “data managers”.
According to the BBC, Spielman will tell the Schools NorthEast summit that the current inspection model has led to “excessive workload” in some schools.
She will set out plans to replace the current “pupils outcomes” heading with a new “quality of education” measure, the BBC reported.
The three other new planned judgments are “personal development”, “behaviour and attitudes”, and “schools’ leadership and management”.
As well as “outcomes for learners”, the inspectorate currently judges schools based on “effectiveness of leadership and management”, “quality of teaching, learning and assessment”, and “personal development, behaviour and welfare”.
Spielman will say: “For a long time, our inspections have looked hardest at outcomes, placing too much weight on test and exam results when we consider the overall effectiveness of schools.
“The cumulative impact of performance tables and inspections, and the consequences that are hung on them, has increased the pressure on school leaders, teachers and indirectly on pupils to deliver perfect data above all else.
“But we know that focusing too narrowly on test and exam results can often leave little time or energy for hard thinking about the curriculum, and in fact can sometimes end up making a casualty of it.
“The bottom line is that we must make sure that we, as an inspectorate, complement rather than intensify performance data.”
Schools Week has reported how Ofsted’s previously revealed plans to focus on curriculum has led to concerns the inspectorate is overreaching its remit.
A consultation on the new framework will be launched in January, with a planned September roll out.
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