There are to be concentrated Ofsted inspections in areas said to have the worst-performing schools in England, the watchdog is due to announce.
Chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw is expected to outline the plans later.
Inspections will be brought forward in six regions where he says standards are too low. He believes the performance gap between some areas is unacceptable.
It is thought the first area to be targeted will be Derby. The other areas have not yet been named.
At an education conference in Sheffield, it is expected that Sir Michael will say that schools in under-performing areas that are due to be inspected in the next six months will be checked within the same week.
'Regrettable decision'Such concentrated inspections will be held in all targeted areas in the next few months.
Ofsted identified several areas as under-performing in its annual report last November, saying these were places where too few schools were classed as either good or outstanding.
The areas included Coventry, Derby and Doncaster.
Inspectors will descend on targeted areas in a set week and heads will be asked whether they are getting enough support from their local council.
If Ofsted is not satisfied, it plans to go into town halls to inspect school improvement services for the first time, it is understood, although this change will require consultation.
Councils say they agree improvements are needed in some areas, but that their powers are hampered by bureaucracy and have been restricted by the increasing numbers of schools becoming academies, which are semi-independent and seen as outside of council control.
They say most of the powers they have to intervene in under-performing schools can be used only once Ofsted has put a school into a "failing" category.
The Association of Directors of Children's Services says the decision to bring in new inspections of council's school improvement services "without notice" is "regrettable and unsound".
'Stark inequalities'Andrew Webb, from the association, said: "Schools of all types have developed their own approaches to improvement and some make only minimal use of the local authority services on offer, others use them wholeheartedly.
"So, whilst ADCS welcomes the chance for schools to provide feedback on the support they receive from local authorities, this may reflect a very small part of the local picture, particularly where schools make maximum use of their independence."
In November Ofsted launched a league table ranking local authorities according to inspectors' ratings of schools.
At the time Sir Michael said the inequalities for local children were "stark."
In some areas, there was a less than 50% chance of a good or outstanding school, he said, compared with more than 90% in others.
Ofsted's annual report also said schools in England were getting better, with 70% of schools now rated good or outstanding compared with 64% five years ago.
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