Members of new DfE commission

DfE has announced the members of a new teacher-led commission set up to help primary schools as they move away from the ‘vague and imprecise’ system of levels for assessment. The new commission will identify and share best practice in assessment with schools across the country and ensure they have information to make informed choices about effective assessment systems. The commission will highlight the great work that is already being done in many schools and will help to foster innovation and success in assessment practice more widely.

Chairman of the commission - John McIntosh CBE

John McIntosh CBE is a former headmaster of the London Oratory School and has served as a member of the Health Education Council, the National Curriculum Council, the Teachers’ Standards Review, the Teaching Agency advisory group and the National College for School Leadership advisory board. He was a member of the DfE advisory committee for the national curriculum review and has been an external expert on free schools interview panels since 2012.

Other members of the commission

Shahed Ahmed OBE

Shahed Ahmed is Headteacher of Elmhurst Primary School and a national leader of education. He was involved in the development of the phonics screening check and was on the DfE advisory group for the new national curriculum. Elmurst Primary is a teaching school and maths hub.

Daisy Christodoulou

Daisy Christodoulou is Research and Development Manager at the charity Ark, and before that worked as an English teacher in 2 London secondary schools. She is the author of ‘Seven myths about education’.

Professor Robert Coe

Robert Coe is Professor in the School of Education at Durham University and Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM). CEM has provided assessment and monitoring systems to thousands of schools since 1983.

Sam Freedman

Sam Freedman is the Director of Research, Evaluation and Impact at Teach First. He was previously a senior policy adviser for schools at DfE between 2010 and 2013. He is a trustee of a number of charities, including the Teacher Development Trust and The Brilliant Club, as well as a school governor.

Mark Neild

Mark Neild is Acting Headteacher of Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form in Norwich, the UK’s first maths and science sixth form. He advised the government on the development of the new maths curriculum.

Natalie Packer

Natalie Packer is an independent special educational needs (SEN) consultant and an associate consultant to NASEN. She was an adviser to Achievement for All (AfA) during the AfA pilot. She is also the author of ‘The perfect SENCO’.

Dame Alison Peacock

Alison Peacock is Executive Headteacher of The Wroxham Teaching School. She has sat on a number of assessment panels, including the expert panel to create the core principles of asssessment. She was also a member of the NAHT commission for primary assessment that was set up to consider and develop principles for good assessment for schools to use once levels were removed. She is co-author of ‘Creating learning without limits’.