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Matthew Evans

@head-teach.bsky.social
1.1K followers 168 following 258 posts

Educationalist, author of Leaders With Substance, co-author of The Next Big Thing in School Improvement, blogger, everything mountains. educontrarianblog.com open.substack.com/pub/100assessment

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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
matthewevanseducation.substack.com/p/a-sporting...
matthewevanseducation.substack.com
A Sporting Chance
Is Ofsted Inspecting Standards or School Effectiveness?
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If Ofsted is judging school standards, context is irrelevant. If it is judging school effectiveness, context is everything. The problem comes when they do the former but it is interpreted as the latter.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
matthewevanseducation.substack.com/p/assessing-...
matthewevanseducation.substack.com
Assessing schools
What can assessment theory teach us about how to inspect schools?
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
matthewevanseducation.substack.com/p/encounters...
matthewevanseducation.substack.com
Encounters with the Curriculum
Nuance over rhetoric in the ‘lost learning’ debate
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
#FridayFive 1. Another Girl, Another Planet. The Only Ones. 2. Charlotte Sometimes. The Cure. 3. Still Life. Suede. 4. Charmed Life. The Divine Comedy. 5. Jigsaw Falling Into Place. Radiohead.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Last week was the launch of the KS3 Alliance, a roots-up initiative to ‘sort out’ KS3. Of all the things which need our attention, assessment needs it the most: the Wild West of the school system. These are the questions we should be asking. substack.com/@matthewevan...
substack.com
Is our KS3 assessment any good?
The tests that every secondary school's KS3 assessment approach should pass.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
1. Do You Remember The First Time? Pulp 2. Brand New Friend. Lloyd Cole. 3. Begin the Buguine. Cole Porter. 4. London. The Smiths. 5. She’s Leaving Home. The Beatles. #FridayFive
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I’m enjoying this series of posts. Thanks @ensermark.bsky.social
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Reposted by Matthew Evans
C. Kirabo Jackson @kirabojackson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
If spending more on schools raises the earnings of the children who benefit, does it eventually make the whole economy richer? My new NBER paper examines this using school-finance reforms. 🧵 www.nber.org/papers/w35755
nber.org
The Macroeconomic Returns to School Finance Reforms: Micro-Calibrated Predictions Meet Causal Evidence
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
matthewevanseducation.substack.com/p/no-good-de...
matthewevanseducation.substack.com
No good deed goes unpunished
Making it easier to do the right thing
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
matthewevanseducation.substack.com/p/street-lev... #rED26 musings
matthewevanseducation.substack.com
Street-level inclusion
Should we be asking teachers to teach more inclusively?
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
matthewevanseducation.substack.com/p/no-good-de...
matthewevanseducation.substack.com
No good deed goes unpunished
Making it easier to do the right thing
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
matthewevanseducation.substack.com/p/street-lev... #rED26 musings
matthewevanseducation.substack.com
Street-level inclusion
Should we be asking teachers to teach more inclusively?
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
“If everyone just sat down, we could all have a nice time and be less tired.”
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
open.substack.com/pub/matthewe...
open.substack.com
Interventionist Gods
If education is a policy lever, what is at the other end of the lever?
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John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 07/08/2026
New from me: Britain’s graduate earnings premium is falling, cue “too many go to university!” But non-university outcomes are also bad, cue “we must reform vocational routes!” Both miss the point: people used to think education drove economic outcomes, but the economy drives educational outcomes.
Chart showing that US workers who are functionally illiterate earn roughly the same per hour as the average British worker
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Sara Alston @seainclusion.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
If you are a school struggling to get your head round the changes in KCSIE and their implic ations for schools, my blog may help. Also I have a webinar on August 24th at 11am, please join me at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1993776837... www.seainclusion.co.uk/post/kcsie-d...
eventbrite.co.uk
Copy of KCSIE 2026: Changes and possible actions for schools
The key changes and actions from KCSIE 2026. Everything you need to know to be ready and compliant in the new year.
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Mark McCourt @markmccourt.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
NEW BLOG: The Wrong End of the Telescope www.emaths.co.uk/blog/general...
A pupil stands at a crossroads between pathways labelled "Education" and "Training", symbolising the debate over whether schools exist primarily to cultivate broad human knowledge or prepare young people for employment.
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Matt Perks @dodiscimus.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
@igmansfield.bsky.social who is a supporter www.edrith.co.uk/p/burnhams-c... @samfr.bsky.social who is strongly anti samf.substack.com/p/burnhams-f... and @head-teach.bsky.social - can I describe that as tweaking what we've got? matthewevanseducation.substack.com/p/beating-th...
edrith.co.uk
Burnham's critics are wrong about his education reforms
We cannot continue to write off 1 in 3 of our children
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
“of some description” 🤣🤣🤣
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
New today. open.substack.com/pub/matthewe...
open.substack.com
Beating the Bell Curve
What can we actually do about the 'forgotten third' (rather than just keep fretting about it)?
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
“You’ve never looked as lost as this, sometimes it doesn’t even look like you.”
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
100% Assessment takes on the Wild West open.substack.com/pub/100asses... @profbeckyallen.bsky.social
open.substack.com
Is our KS3 assessment any good?
The tests that every secondary school's KS3 assessment approach should pass.
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Reposted by Matthew Evans
Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Like this from @timharford.ft.com on how inclusive design principles can often help all users, not those just seen as traditionally excluded www.ft.com/content/4d8e...
Subtitles help people who can't hear what the actors are saying - and it turns out that, for some gritty dramas, that is all of us. Web pages that are designed with screen readers for the blind in mind are typically better structured, simpler and friendlier for mobile devices. The Oxo kitchen appliance company was founded by a retired cookware entrepreneur whose wife had arthritis, but the chunky rubber handles are far more widely enjoyed. And of course, the dropped kerb may be life-changing for wheelchair users but it is pretty convenient for anyone pushing a pram.
The challenges faced by users who are unusually small, large, old or young, or who have disabilities, are, writes Epstein, "more extreme versions of the challenges that
many other users face"
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
New today open.substack.com/pub/matthewe...
open.substack.com
Why context matters more than ever
Anchoring young people in multiple, real-world contexts
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
An excellent blog post, Ruth. Thank you for highlighting this. I think the solution you miss is that we need less guidance in the first place. Policy via bureaucratic advice is a modern scourge.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
“Publishing guidance does not mean it has been read. Reading guidance does not mean it has been understood. Understanding guidance does not mean it has been translated into practice. Translating guidance into practice does not mean it has improved children’s lives.”
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Ruth Swailes @ruthswailes.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I don't know if the DFE still monitors my social media, but if they do, I think they should read my latest blog. ruthswailes.com/all-at-sea-the-hidden-burden-of-guidance/
ruthswailes.com
All at Sea: The Hidden Burden of Guidance - Ruth Swailes
There was a time when keeping up to date in education meant going to a headteacher briefing once a term and checking the LA newsletter each week. Any updates would be discussed with the relevant staff...
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Ah yeah. And Sixth Form. 🤩
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
There are only six categories plus met/not met for safeguarding, so how can this be correct?
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
1. Jeff Buckley. Lover, You Should’ve Come Over. 2. David Gilmore. Comfortably Numb. 3. Chaka Khan. Ain’t Nobody. 4. Frank Sinatra. My Way. 5. Roger Daltrey. Love, Reign O’er Me.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
New today. open.substack.com/pub/matthewe...
open.substack.com
Escaping the parochial
Schools are a rudimentary transmission mechanism for better explanations
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
New today grom 100% Assessment open.substack.com/pub/100asses...
open.substack.com
The use of context in assessment
Why an exam paper is not all that different to a practical task
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
New today! open.substack.com/pub/matthewe...
open.substack.com
The Hollow Plan
The importance of explanatory depth in school improvement planning
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Never too late, old timer
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I published a new book recently. Here is an extract. Free! Enjoy. open.substack.com/pub/matthewe...
open.substack.com
Making Sense of School
What is school for?
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
substack.com/@markenser1/...
substack.com
Mark Enser (@markenser1)
Reflecting on 10 Common SEN (Mis)Interventions from @Peps and Dr Jennifer Barker - and considering what it means for teachers on a Monday morning.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
It is that time of year again. wp.me/p6YJKN-pn
wp.me
The 7 inconvenient truths of school improvement planning
Call it what you will, the time to think about the school improvement plan has come around again, because God forbid we should be happy with what we have. ;-) Fitter, healthier, more productive&#82…
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
It’s got some competition
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
#FridayFive 1. End of a Century. Blur. 2. It’s the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine). REM. 3. A Forest. The Cure. 4. Nature Boy. David Bowie. 5. The Animals and Me. The Wonder Stuff.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
On the list. Christian has a fresh perspective on teaching. One of those people who doesn’t just follow the herd.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
The uneven distribution of children with high needs across schools is one of the central problems that need to be addressed in the system imo. x.com/tes/status/2...
x.com
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Mary Myatt @marymyatt.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Year 9 is where ambition goes to die in too many schools . Options are chosen, GCSEs are looming and the curriculum quietly thins out. Teachers know it, pupils feel it. And yet we treat it as inevitable, a structural feature of secondary education, as opposed to a design flaw
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Congratulations! I’m looking forward to reading.
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Christian Moore-Anderson @cmooreanderson.eurosky.social · 21/04/2026
Release day! The ebook & hardback are live. The first book for teachers based on *enactive* cognitive science, please consider leaving a review when you're done (it really helps). (Paperback readers: Amazon is having a glitch, so it's slightly delayed.) mybook.to/teachingmean...
The book cover for Teaching Meaning: What Works When Telling Isn't Enough.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
👇👇👇👇👇
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
I’ve published a new book! 🥳 It is pitched at new teachers. Short. Easy reading. Helps make sense of what goes on in schools. Check it out. share.google/hsTGxb7gkEFt...
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
New post. The ‘Grand Project’ of inclusion: rhetoric and reality. open.substack.com/pub/matthewe...
open.substack.com
Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen
Assuming the worst about the Inclusion Project may be the best place to start
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
My daughter started teaching this year, so I wrote it with her in mind.
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Matthew Evans @head-teach.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Thanks Nick
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