Inspecting the Inspectorate : OFSTED under Scrutiny (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills)

"Inspecting the Inspectorate" presents a broad variety of informed perspectives in response to the question: 'what is currently working in Ofsted's school inspections and what is not?'. The views range from those of a practising school inspector, to the head teacher of a primary school deemed by Ofsted to be 'outstanding'; the head teacher of a struggling school; an academic specialist on systems of school inspection; the general secretary of a teachers' union; a parent who led an action group to protest against the Ofsted judgement their child's school received; a senior reporter for the "Times Educational Supplement"; a representative from the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship; and, the former "Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools" under Ofsted's predecessor, "Her Majesty's Inspectorate". This collection of essays sets out the weaknesses in the current school inspection regime and the changes urgently required if Ofsted is to contribute to raising educational standards.