Blogs by Tom Burkard

22 April 2013 - Public Services

Tom Burkard is a Visiting Professor of Education Policy at the University of Derby. He is the co-author of the Sound Foundations reading and spelling programmes, which are rapidly gaining recognition as the most cost-effective means of preventing reading failure.We count ourselves among the staunchest of Michael Gove's supporters: after all, his ...

07 February 2013 - Public Services

Tom Burkard is a Visiting Professor of Education Policy at the University of Derby. He is the co-author of the Sound Foundations reading and spelling programmes, which are rapidly gaining recognition as the most cost-effective means of preventing reading failure.Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove's U-turn on the EBacc is nothing ...

02 January 2013 - 2013 Policy Resolutions

With the new year here, six authors connected with the CPS outline a policy resolution they would like to see adopted by the government in 2013. Today, CPS education expert Tom Burkard writes on the Special Needs racket and how to best serve pupils. Previously, Professor Jeremy Jennings wrote on scaling back ...

28 November 2012 - Public Services

Tom Burkard is a Visiting Professor of Education Policy at the University of Derby. He is the co-author of the Sound Foundations reading and spelling programmes, which are rapidly gaining recognition as the most cost-effective means of preventing reading failure.If Sir Michael Barber and Pearson International are right, Britain's schools have made ...

30 October 2012 - Public Services

Tom Burkard is a Visiting Professor of Education Policy at the University of Derby. He is the co-author of the Sound Foundations reading and spelling programmes, which are rapidly gaining recognition as the most cost-effective means of preventing reading failure.John McIntosh, the former head of London Oratory, is a key member of ...

01 October 2012 - Public Services

Tom Burkard is a Visiting Professor of Education Policy at the University of Derby.  He is the co-author of the Sound Foundations reading and spelling programmes, which are rapidly gaining recognition as the most cost-effective means of preventing reading failure.Teaching unions are baying for blood over the 6+ phonics test - only ...

20 September 2012 - Public Services

Tom Burkard is a Visiting Professor of Education Policy at the University of Derby.  He is the co-author of the Sound Foundations reading and spelling programmes, which are rapidly gaining recognition as the most cost-effective means of preventing reading failure.Ofsted chief Michael Wilshaw has taken schools to task for spending the 'pupil ...

13 August 2012 - Social Policy

CPS Education Expert Tom Burkard explains why calls for investment in education for economic benefit often ignore the reality of vocational education. In the West, professional educators—what Chris Woodhead refers to as 'the blob'--share a set of assumptions completely at odds with Michael Gove and the reformers.  You simply cannot square ...

10 July 2012 - Social Policy

Tom Burkard, CPS education expert and author of 'Troops to Teachers' in 2008, reacts to the Shadow Education and Defence Secretary's call for Labour to adopt military academies. The Centre for Policy Studies first introduced the 'Troops to Teachers' concept to the UK in Feb 2008, and it was immediately endorsed by ...

22 June 2012 - Public Services

Nick Clegg has vowed to block the re-introduction of O-levels and CSEs. According to a Lib-Dem spokesman, " We are very, very hostile to something that looks like it is going to return to the two-tier system of the past". On cue, leaders of our teaching unions have joined the cry ...

23 May 2012 - Social Policy

It's hard to say whether Nick Clegg was playing to the gallery, or whether he honestly believes that universities should give preference to pupils from state schools.  If the Daily Telegraph poll is any indication, this kind of gesture politics won't even win over his Lib Dem constituents—over 88% agreed ...

28 December 2011 - 2012 Policy Resolutions

In the tenth of the CPS' 'UK Policy Resolutions for 2012' series, Tom Burkard, a CPS Research Fellow on Education Policy, explains how the Government could improve reading ability for young children. Yesterday, in the ninth in the series , Yorick Wilks looked at reforms to reinforce privacy and identity ...

28 July 2011 - General

Following David Cameron's Nov 2010 announcement that he considers it his duty to make us all happy, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell has just announced that all Whitehall Departments will be instructed to consider the implications for people's happiness when drafting new policies. Children will now ...