Research Ed 2017

This was the fifth national Research Ed conference, and in my mind they’ve started becoming a bit like FA Cup Finals or Christmas – recurring events that start to blur into one. “Oh, South Hampstead – was that the one where Ben Riley from Deans for Impact visited and it all kicked off about grammars?” “No, that was Capital City 2016 – South Hampstead 2015 was the one where Eric Kalenze visited and where James Murphy taught us the Maori word for green.” Etc. Looking back at my notes from 2013, I find that Ben Goldacre warned then against the ‘energy-zappers’ who will criticise everything you do – too true.

• The title of my talk was: Improving assessment: the key to education reform.
• You can download my slides here: Research Ed 2017
• The livestream is here.
• If you’re interested in finding out more about comparative judgement, one of the things I talked about, then there are still a few places left on our London training day later this week.

As ever, it is inspiring to meet so many people who are so committed and excited about the cause of research in education, and to be able to talk and share ideas with them. I always come away from these conferences with my mind buzzing with new ideas. Research Ed has only been around for four years, but I cannot imagine the world of education without it. Here’s to many more brilliant conferences.