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| Tue 4 May 2004 |
Expert calls for radical rethink on education
ANDREW DENHOLM POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
THE Scottish Executive's education policy needs a radical shift in focus to concentrate on the earliest years of a child's life, a former Nobel prizewinner is expected to claim today.
James Heckman, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, will argue that learning difficulties emerge before a child goes to school and that taking action then will reap most rewards - particularly in dysfunctional families.
He will go on to call for the Scottish Executive to place a greater emphasis on "family policy", stating that families are more important than schools in shaping a child's future.
Prof Heckman, who is delivering the latest Fraser of Allender Institute lecture, also argues that much current thinking on the importance of improving school education by lowering class sizes is flawed because the quality of teaching is the most important factor.
It is also his view that current methods of financing students through higher education are not targeted enough.
"Scotland should seriously consider devising a more selective tuition policy by charging those who benefit most and providing relief for the small minority of bright but poor children," he is expected to say.
Last night, Wendy Alexander, the former minister for lifelong learning, welcomed Prof Heckman's comments.
She said the paper was an opportunity for Scotland to be at the forefront of educational development - starting with the forthcoming spending review.
"Our ambition for this paper is to say the evidence is overwhelming that the early years matter most - we have it in our power to fix it in Scotland and leapfrog rather than lag behind the rest of the UK in this spending review and should do so," she said.
"The principal conclusions of the paper indicate that families are major producers of skill, and dysfunctional families produce children with lower abilities and motivation.
"If resources are tight it is much more important to give everyone the best start in life rather than subsidise university fees and maintenance for those who would go anyway."
A spokesman for the Scottish Tories welcomed the focus on the importance of the early years, although he warned against too much state intervention.
"It is well known that how children are brought up in the early years can have a great impact, but the last thing that anyone needs is massive state interference," he said.
Fiona Hyslop, the SNP's education and lifelong learning spokeswoman, said: "There is a broad and respected body of opinion that believes that by raising the educational standards of the youngest pupils, we can improve their life-chances as they grow and develop.
"Prof Heckman has once again sent a clear message to the Executive that they need to think again in their focus on targets and concentrate instead on the children."
While ruling out any more direct intervention in family life, a spokeswoman for the Executive insisted that ministers were committed to driving up standards for all Scotland's children, in particular by closing the gap between the higher achievers and those who perform less well at school.
"We are providing all three- and four-year-olds with a nursery place and investing in programmes such as the Early Intervention Programme to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy levels in the early years," she said.
"We are also committed to improving access to education including £40 million investment over the next three years to improve adult numeracy and literacy.
"The focus of the Executive's lifelong learning strategy is to develop an effective workforce whose skills match the needs of employers."
In his lecture, to be delivered at Edinburgh's Sheraton Hotel, Prof Heckman is expected to state: "Recent research has demonstrated the importance of the early years in creating the abilities and motivations that affect learning and foster productivity.
"Cognitive and non-cognitive deficits emerge early, before schooling, and if uncorrected create low-skilled adults. A greater emphasis needs to be placed on family policy."
Prof Heckman believes studies of family intervention projects have shown that early problems can be rectified.
"The traditional approach to skill-formation policy focuses on schools, but families are just as important as, if not more important than, schools," he will say.
"The evidence from failed families points to possible benefits from interventions in them."
On schools, he states: "The evidence ... shows that education policies based on objective quality measures (class size, teacher salaries and the like) that receive most of the attention in public policy debates are unlikely to produce dramatic gains in Scottish educational achievement."
James Heckman, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, will argue that learning difficulties emerge before a child goes to school and that taking action then will reap most rewards - particularly in dysfunctional families.
He will go on to call for the Scottish Executive to place a greater emphasis on "family policy", stating that families are more important than schools in shaping a child's future.
Prof Heckman, who is delivering the latest Fraser of Allender Institute lecture, also argues that much current thinking on the importance of improving school education by lowering class sizes is flawed because the quality of teaching is the most important factor.
It is also his view that current methods of financing students through higher education are not targeted enough.
"Scotland should seriously consider devising a more selective tuition policy by charging those who benefit most and providing relief for the small minority of bright but poor children," he is expected to say.
Last night, Wendy Alexander, the former minister for lifelong learning, welcomed Prof Heckman's comments.
She said the paper was an opportunity for Scotland to be at the forefront of educational development - starting with the forthcoming spending review.
"Our ambition for this paper is to say the evidence is overwhelming that the early years matter most - we have it in our power to fix it in Scotland and leapfrog rather than lag behind the rest of the UK in this spending review and should do so," she said.
"The principal conclusions of the paper indicate that families are major producers of skill, and dysfunctional families produce children with lower abilities and motivation.
"If resources are tight it is much more important to give everyone the best start in life rather than subsidise university fees and maintenance for those who would go anyway."
A spokesman for the Scottish Tories welcomed the focus on the importance of the early years, although he warned against too much state intervention.
"It is well known that how children are brought up in the early years can have a great impact, but the last thing that anyone needs is massive state interference," he said.
Fiona Hyslop, the SNP's education and lifelong learning spokeswoman, said: "There is a broad and respected body of opinion that believes that by raising the educational standards of the youngest pupils, we can improve their life-chances as they grow and develop.
"Prof Heckman has once again sent a clear message to the Executive that they need to think again in their focus on targets and concentrate instead on the children."
While ruling out any more direct intervention in family life, a spokeswoman for the Executive insisted that ministers were committed to driving up standards for all Scotland's children, in particular by closing the gap between the higher achievers and those who perform less well at school.
"We are providing all three- and four-year-olds with a nursery place and investing in programmes such as the Early Intervention Programme to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy levels in the early years," she said.
"We are also committed to improving access to education including £40 million investment over the next three years to improve adult numeracy and literacy.
"The focus of the Executive's lifelong learning strategy is to develop an effective workforce whose skills match the needs of employers."
In his lecture, to be delivered at Edinburgh's Sheraton Hotel, Prof Heckman is expected to state: "Recent research has demonstrated the importance of the early years in creating the abilities and motivations that affect learning and foster productivity.
"Cognitive and non-cognitive deficits emerge early, before schooling, and if uncorrected create low-skilled adults. A greater emphasis needs to be placed on family policy."
Prof Heckman believes studies of family intervention projects have shown that early problems can be rectified.
"The traditional approach to skill-formation policy focuses on schools, but families are just as important as, if not more important than, schools," he will say.
"The evidence from failed families points to possible benefits from interventions in them."
On schools, he states: "The evidence ... shows that education policies based on objective quality measures (class size, teacher salaries and the like) that receive most of the attention in public policy debates are unlikely to produce dramatic gains in Scottish educational achievement."
This article:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=505602004