EDUCATION LEAGUE TABLES
This is the first time for two years that exam results tables have been published by the Scottish Executive.
Last year, the results never made it to the printers because of the well-documented fiasco at the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
So this year, the Executive has issued the results for both the 2000 and 2001 exams - along with those for 1999 again, because they publish three years' worth each time.
The results show there are still wide variations in pupil performance between local authority areas.
Taking the number of pupils passing three or more Highers as an indicator, the national average this year is 22% .
The top performing council in this category is East Renfrewshire, with 39%.
Yet in neighbouring Glasgow City Council, only 13% of pupils reached the same standards.
Glasgow claims that the league tables are a very crude indicator of school performance and fail to take into account important factors such as the social and economic circumstances of many areas of the city - a point echoed by the EIS, Scotland's largest teaching union.
Perhaps more interesting than what the results tables show us is what they fail to say.
Even the Scottish Executive says the results are only one way of measuring a school's performance.
In England this year, 200 schools piloted a new system giving "value added" information showing how much progress pupils have made.
The Scottish Executive has no plans to follow suit.
Instead, from next year Scotland's schools will be asked to measure their performance in five priority areas:
- Achievement and Attainment
- Framework for Learning
- Inclusion and Equality
- Values and Citizenship
- Learning for Life.
However, this information will not necessarily be published as an extra column next to the annual exam results. It is seen more as a guide for schools to set targets than for parents to measure success.
While these results tables do give us an indication of how individual schools and local authorities are performing, the statistics are by no means perfect.
For example, Grantown Grammar School in the Highlands would appear to be the top performing school at Standard Grade with a seemingly impossible 177% of pupils achieving five or more passes at Level 4 or better.
The explanation: Problems at the Scottish Qualifications Authority last year meant that information on some pupils was entered into the wrong year group.
Again, at Morgan Academy in Dundee, the statistics have been skewed by a fire that destroyed some pupils' coursework.
The statistics also fail to account fully for those pupils who have joined a school after S4.
The Executive has designed the tables to follow the progress of the year group, so that they give an indication of the achievement of pupils who stay on until S5 and S6.
But from these tables, there is no clear way of telling exactly how many pupils joined and left the year group after the start of S4.
So while parents and pupils may be tempted to see how their school fits in to the bigger picture, they should not be too concerned if it doesn't rank near the top.
After all, a good education involves much more than just passing exams.
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