John Clare, education editor of the Daily Telegraph, has observed the effect that 10 education secretaries have had on the nation’s schools. As Ruth Kelly takes over the position, he tells her, in an open letter, exactly how he feels she could do the job for the greatest benefit…

Concentrate your resources on inner-city schools that are getting to grips with their problems by appointing single-minded, energetic heads who are determined to ensure that no pupil leaves without a potentially marketable qualification.

You’ll find an army of “educationists” queueing to shake your hand and bend your ear. Pay most of them no heed. They’ll want you to scrap tests, league tables and any other vestige of accountability, reintroduce “creativity” and return schools to the dark ages of the Seventies, which is from where most of them hail.

There are only four people I’d urge you to pay attention to: Sir Cyril Taylor, of the Specialist Schools Trust, who knows how to make comprehensive schools work; Barry Sheerman, chairman of the Commons education committee, who has a shrewd understanding of how the entire system works; Alan Ryan, the warden of New College, Oxford, who is more clear-eyed about higher education than any vice-chancellor; and Dr Martin Stephen, the high master of St Paul’s, who knows exactly what makes the independent sector tick.

Link: Telegraph | Education | You could make such a difference.