Fascinating piece, looking beyond correlations and delving into some of the potential causal mechanisms at play

So much going on in this excerpt from Blunkett’s diaries: alliances & coalitions; strategic narratives; negotiation & trade-offs; the influence of personal experience on powerful actors; policy windows/multiple streams; &, the sheer frustration of “drilling through the hard boards”

INSET season is just round the corner - so @teachertapp.bsky.social are spotlighting this handy research @profbeckyallen.bsky.social, Iain Ford and I worked on to provide some hard evidence on what’s going on with CPD… teachertapp.com/uk/publicati...

Given all the talk of SEND reform in England at moment, I’m delighted to be the PI on this newly funded @centreedusyst.bsky.social work in partnership with @ioe.bsky.social, supported by @nuffieldfoundation.org. Fascinating to learn about other countries’ approaches + the genesis of their reforms

How can politicians make the case for educational equity in an age of populism? Just stumbled across this blog - written nearly 5 years ago. Still feels very relevant. Featuring @jonathansimons.bsky.social and others... cfey.org/2020/12/gene...

Amazing anecdote about the Pope interceding in the debate on grant maintained schools in the 1980s

These two know where we keep the mealworms…

Absolute honour to chair this panel of superstars @royalsociety.org yesterday, including @duncanastle.bsky.social & @tamsinford.bsky.social

Massive pleasure to visit Melbourn VC last week. Highlights included chatting to a pupil about the “reasonable” & “fair” way consistent behaviour expectations & sanctions had been brought in &hearing Head Rachel’s skyhigh ambitions for future. Congrats to all www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-n...

Finally sent the last chapter of my book to the editor his morning. Here lie the remains of a frenzied search for a conclusion.

In my latest podcast, @loicmnzs.bsky.social explained why his new @ippr.org / @ambitioninstitute.bsky.social report (co-authored with Marie Hamer) aims to expand and improve the training available to teachers and leaders. Listen to the full episode here: insideyoured.com

1/2 Spending review includes money for ofsted to introduce MAT inspection. Ofsted might not be the most popular place to spend money so fair play to them for biting the bullet on this….

Excellent food for thought on the latest ED:SK podcast with @tom-richmond.com‬, @loicmnzs.bsky.social & @avneem.bsky.social Do we need to rethink how we train teachers and leaders in schools? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

Could this in today's @schoolsweek.bsky.social be hinting at something like the persistent disadvantage premium - as recommended by @edupolicyinst.bsky.social and @ippr.org / @thedifferenceed.bsky.social?

“The idea that the child limit has achieved totemic status among potential Lab-Reform switchers in the Red Wall is for the birds” >> time to end the two child cap. Well said @eddorrell.bsky.social for @labourlist.bsky.social labourlist.org/2025/05/two-...

💡 New report from @ippr.bsky.social @ambitioninstitute.bsky.social on developing professional development at scale for better retention (& tackling inequalities) Useful report @loicmnzs.bsky.social & Marie Hamer! #CPD #Schools #Teachers #Education #Ambition #DfE

In light of my recent @ippr.bsky.social @ambitioninstitute.bsky.social report 'A System that Empowers' it's great to see this new, free CPD Leadership Reflection Tool, from @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social tdtrust.org

If @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social’s vision was ‘decent standards for most’, she could pursue the same strategy governments have opted for over the past couple of decades: clear expectations, tight oversight and firm intervention - but it’s not. So what should she do? schoolsweek.co.uk/labour-must-...

This an important read 👇 Bold yet balanced pushes to challenge government to lead this work, with a real emphasis on a) increasing the choice schools have in PD providers, but also b) emphasising the role of capacity building for schools and trusts to develop their own, well-contextualised PD offer.

Across the OECD teachers participate in 62 hrs of professional devlpmnt a year on average but the median in England is only 21-30. England shouldn't just keep pace with these benchmarks it should lead the way Here's how: www.ippr.org/articles/a-s... @ippr.bsky.social @ambitioninstitute.bsky.social

New findings from a natural experiment in Pakistan suggest that 4-8yr olds found it easier to pick up literacy outside of school, than social & emotional skills. Paper by Nadia Siddiqui et al. www.researchgate.net/publication/...

‘We cannot raise standards without raising the expertise of our teachers and school leaders.’ Some great research promoting the power of investing in our workforce highlighting the positive impact this has particularly for our most disadvantaged

Great piece from @eleanorbusby.bsky.social in @the-independent.com about today’s @ippr.bsky.social @ambitioninstitute.bsky.social report “A System that Empowers” on the future of teacher professional development www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Could better professional development help tackle the teacher retention crisis? Lots to ponder in this interesting new report from Loic and Marie.

Investment in professional expertise would unleash a powerful cycle of improvement, empowering teachers to provide the education our children deserve. My new @ippr.bsky.social report with Ambition Institute sets out a blueprint for a professional development entitlement www.ippr.org/articles/a-s...

I know these things are complicated & I dont know the answers, but watching the impact the last weeks’ events have had & will continue to have, on my trans friends has been horrid, so Im going to head to one of the protests this afternoon. There has to be a less brutal way to navigate these tensions

Great profile of my @ippr.bsky.social colleague @avneem.bsky.social in today's @schoolsweek.bsky.social - and another teaser for next week's big report with Ambition Institute on what next for Labour's teacher professional development entitlement...

“The key to delivering the govt’s priorities in educatn is to invest in the people who will deliver that change” Sneak preview in @schoolsweek.bsky.social of my next @ippr.bsky.social report, with Marie Hamer & @ambitioninstitute.bsky.social , out later this month… schoolsweek.co.uk/the-spending...

Brutal and scary picture of how teenage girls are feeling ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2025/04/the-...

Come and work with @samfr.bsky.social, Lucy Crehan, Patrick Wall, and I at @centreedusyst.bsky.social and help us transform the quality of international evidence available to education policy makers. Please share! www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/41...

Come and work with Lucy Crehan, Sam Freedman, Patrick Wall, and I at the Centre for Education Systems and help us transform the quality of international evidence available to education policy makers. Please share! www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/41...

I spoke to Jacob Rees-Mogg on GB News last night about this week’s @ippr.bsky.social & @thedifferenceed.bsky.social report & why it’s time to release SEND support from behind bureaucratic barriers, so children can get the help they need- when they need it Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewRw...

THREAD:🧵 Highlights from today’s Who’s Losing Learning report from @thedifferenceed.bsky.social & @ippr.bsky.social which I helped author: 1. Cuts to pupil premium should be reversed to introduce a “persistently disadvantaged” premium supporting recruitment&retention in disadvantaged schools

🧑‍🏫 | NEW REPORT: Since the pandemic, huge numbers of children have never returned to school, are being excluded, or are mysteriously absent. Our report with @thedifferenceed.bsky.social sets out a 10-point plan to tackle the attendance crisis. Read here: www.ippr.org/articles/who...

It’s been an honour to be involved in this work during my time @ippr.bsky.social, & to have helped author next week’s report, highlighted in @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social’s speech @ascl-uk.bsky.social conference today. Looking forward to hearing people’s thoughts on our big recommendations next week…

Stellar long-read from @benansell.bsky.social “We can create, not merely study, the reality we live in.” open.substack.com/pub/benansel...

What is knowledge architecture and why does it matter in both curriculum and assessment design? Really helpful post! open.substack.com/pub/100asses...

Do I know anyone working in education policy in France? Or do you know someone you could put me in touch with? (Apparently my passport doesn’t come with a fully populated contacts’ database.) Thank ya!

A pleasure to visit Ang Mo Kio secondary in Singapore on Monday, and to meet with a lovely bunch of staff & students. Thank you so much to all of you for welcoming me! (Pretty cool to be able to take a little stroll in the jungle afterwards too…) 🇸🇬 🏫

Now online ft. @loicmnzs.bsky.social! "Legacy is so important to many elites that taking time to deal with interviewees’ data in a personalized consultative way...can constitute a form of reciprocity between researchers and their research subject" doi.org/10.1017/S104...

New paper from me on the challenges and pleasures of interviewing policy makers - out this week in Political Science & Politics! Read in full here #OpenAccess here www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

My response to @schoolsweek.bsky.social story noting that private schools routinely put up their fees without any public outcry: “I don’t quite understand why they should be so much more in uproar when it’s to raise money to support ordinary working families.” schoolsweek.co.uk/is-vat-on-fe...

Out today in the journal Political Science & Politics! My new methodological paper on 'elite interviewing' as an 'in-betweener'. Read in full here #OpenAccess here cambridge.org/core/journal...

Great news!

Blimey. Local politics is getting spicey in my neck of the woods!

Blimey. Local politics is getting spicey in my neck of the woods!

Absolutely agree with @loicmnzs.bsky.social that ‘these tough decisions need to pave the way for something stronger,more coherent and more strategic that makes the most of existing capacity and expertise’

Carving the traditional Christmas lunch. Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄 🏔️ 🌟

That’s clearly what it says: “towns need… indoor climbing… for… a great future”.

In which Tim Leunig points out that good local climbing centres are basically the key to building the thriving towns England needs. …(at least that’s how I interpreted it ) open.substack.com/pub/timleuni...