Friday 18 September 2009

EO Press Release - Badman calls for urgent help to get more evidence....

Press Release Friday 18th September 2009
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Today at 10:00
Report’s Author Makes Urgent Request for Evidence to Back His Conclusions
Home educators today reacted in astonishment to news that DCSF had sent out a letter
from Graham Badman, author of the contentious Report on the Review of Elective Home
Education in England1, appealing for assistance in finding more evidence to provide to
the forthcoming select committee inquiry into the Review.
In a suprising admission, the covering letter from DCSF2 admits that the evidence on
which the 28 recomendations were based was a “small sample” and that they needed
to show “more statistically rigorous” information to the Inquiry. Results from Freedom
of Information requests made by home educators has shown that only 25 out of 152
local authorities responded to the earlier request.
Ann Newstead, Spokesperson for Education Otherwise (EO) said “time is running out
for Graham Badman since the Select Committee will be scrutinising the conduct of the
review next month”
Despite acknowledging the poor basis for the Recommendations, the letter still asserts
that the data that had been collected provided “persausive evidence for change”.
Fiona Nicholson, Chair of EO’s Government Policy Group said “Our position remains that
the Badman Review was not given sufficient time to consider the issues and hence
reached hasty and disproportionate conclusions. We welcome the scrutiny of the Select
Committee”

With any luck the press will pick this up.  He wants more "statisticallly rigiorus" evidence... another way of saying the evidence he used to form his recommendations was not robust.  I really hope the Select Committee throw the report out as "Ball-locks".

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