Teacher ratings 'bad for morale'

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly denies she is "teacher-bashing"

Plans to expose under-performing teachers by making schools publish details of pupils' achievements could damage staff morale, unions have said.

The proposal, a central part of an Education White Paper, will let parents use the data to complain to the school inspection service Ofsted.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly said the plan was not about "teacher-bashing".

The National Union of Teachers said the plan was "a nonsense" as a range of factors influenced pupils' performance.

If this is a way of getting rid of bad teachers and rewarding good teachers, this could be a good thing Conservative shadow education secretary David Cameron

National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers general secretary Chris Keates agreed focussing on failing schools could damage morale.

"There is a worrying implication that the government is simply laying all responsibility for the failure of a small number of schools at the door of teachers and head teachers and it's actually far more complicated than that."

Defending the plan, Ms Kelly said the UK now had "the best generation of teachers ever".

"This is not a question of clearing out teachers," she told Sky News.

"Teachers are working harder than ever before and the results show that."

'External support'

But she earlier told the Observer the plan would mean "if you have got a really poor French department, for instance, you will see that pupils between 12 and 13 aren't making sufficient progress in French".

"The school will need to do something about that department - change the teaching staff, upgrade their professional development, bring in external support."

Schools that failed to improve could be taken over by more successful neighbours, in a process known as "federation", she added.

Local authorities would also be given the power to replace the entire senior management and governing board of failing schools, Ms Kelly told the newspaper.

An estimated 500 schools were currently "coasting" or failing outright, she added.

Published annually, the "micro-level" performance data would be "an invaluable tool" making sure "leaders of the school system are aware of what is happening in every class, in every department, and indeed how well their school compares to neighbouring schools", Ms Kelly said.

Blair bureaucracy

Secondary Heads' Association general secretary John Dunford said he was "in favour of as much information as possible going to parents".

But teachers already used detailed pupil performance information to improve their schools.

Conservative shadow education secretary David Cameron said: "If this is a way of getting rid of bad teachers and rewarding good teachers, this could be a good thing.

"If, however, this is another layer of Blair bureaucracy which ties down teachers it will be bad for schools, parents and pupils."

The figures, collected by Ofsted inspectors, would also compare boys with girls, and children from different ethnic backgrounds.