AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE CURRENT TESTING REGIME
Sunday, 29 March 2009
The pressure placed on schools by the high stakes nature of the testing regime ensures that teachers teach to the test, and the curriculum is narrowed for pupils in the upper primary years to such a degree that we are in danger of permanently destroying and desire in our children to learn and to see learning as a lifelong pursuit.
Schools that are actively developing creativity, thinking skills, independent learning and enjoyment are faced with a dichotomy. The headteacher cannot afford to ignore demands of the Government, Ofsted (and now SIPs) to artificially inflate SATs scores year on year. The claim that ‘you are only as good as your last results’ has never been more true! Where heads and their staff have belief in what constitutes a proper education for their pupils, they carry out a dangerous balancing act between coaching for tests and providing an inspirational curriculum. A poor cohort in either English or Maths can bring a school to its knees in a situation when short-term data analysis is the only success criterion. The sudden and unexplained demise of the Key Stage Three testing process (including the Single Level Test pilot at KS3) has destroyed any justification for continuing with KS2 SATs in their present form.
The statistical comparisons being drawn between Foundation Stage Profile, KS1 SATs and KS2 SATs are totally flawed. The essence of reliable data analysis rests on comparing like with like. The FSP is based on a totally different set of criteria to the KS1 and KS2 data sets. The idea of pupils making two levels progress is far better than threshold assessment but the baseline must be secure.
Huge claims are being made for the APP Grids (Assessing Pupil Progress - Maths Reading Writing) in terms of improving and securing accuracy in assessment. The APP grids may well be a better way of recording assessment (open to argument) but they do not provide any different criteria to those currently within the National Curriculum and the Strategies.
AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE CURRENT TESTING REGIME:
CHANGES TO THE ASSESSMENT STAGES
1. Extend the Foundation Stage (EYFS) to include Year 1 and allow schools to continue the ‘Learning Journey’ to meet the individual developmental and ability needs of young pupils.
2. Reclassify Years 2 to 6 as the Primary Stage. KS1 is an anachronism that gets in the way of progress for pupils.
REPLACEMENT OF SATS BY TEACHER ASSESSMENT
Simplify the FSP into an ongoing assessment across the EYFS curriculum, and develop it into a guide to a pupil’s potential.
Establish Teacher Assessment as the main tool for monitoring progress of pupils in Years 2 to 6.
This could be on a termly basis, and should be supported by effective moderation processes which relate to local and national benchmarks.
TESTS WHICH SUPPORT ONGOING FORMATIVE TEACHER ASSESSMENT
Use Single Level Testing as a supporting tool for Teacher Assessment throughout the Primary Stage.
Tests should be available for a school to use when they judge that a pupil is secure within a level with a maximum set on how many tests a pupil may sit in one year.
These should be marked internally with moderation arrangements, and a sample marked externally to ensure consistency.
Cognitive Ability Testing could be used to ensure that pupils are encouraged to reach their true potential if a school felt that this was a useful support to teacher assessment.
TARGETS
Retain the Progress Targets for pupils e.g. 4 levels between Foundation and Primary. Accept that pupils do not progress on a straight diagonal line, but that the trend should be generally upwards.
Ofsted
Restructure the inspection process for all schools to provide a service which challenges schools to achieve the best possible outcomes for pupils AND supports them in achieving this.
Ensure that the inspection teams have time to appreciate and value the wider role of the school in providing an all-round education for its pupils and inspiring in them a lifelong love of learning.
Schools that are actively developing creativity, thinking skills, independent learning and enjoyment are faced with a dichotomy. The headteacher cannot afford to ignore demands of the Government, Ofsted (and now SIPs) to artificially inflate SATs scores year on year. The claim that ‘you are only as good as your last results’ has never been more true! Where heads and their staff have belief in what constitutes a proper education for their pupils, they carry out a dangerous balancing act between coaching for tests and providing an inspirational curriculum. A poor cohort in either English or Maths can bring a school to its knees in a situation when short-term data analysis is the only success criterion. The sudden and unexplained demise of the Key Stage Three testing process (including the Single Level Test pilot at KS3) has destroyed any justification for continuing with KS2 SATs in their present form.
The statistical comparisons being drawn between Foundation Stage Profile, KS1 SATs and KS2 SATs are totally flawed. The essence of reliable data analysis rests on comparing like with like. The FSP is based on a totally different set of criteria to the KS1 and KS2 data sets. The idea of pupils making two levels progress is far better than threshold assessment but the baseline must be secure.
Huge claims are being made for the APP Grids (Assessing Pupil Progress - Maths Reading Writing) in terms of improving and securing accuracy in assessment. The APP grids may well be a better way of recording assessment (open to argument) but they do not provide any different criteria to those currently within the National Curriculum and the Strategies.
AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE CURRENT TESTING REGIME:
CHANGES TO THE ASSESSMENT STAGES
1. Extend the Foundation Stage (EYFS) to include Year 1 and allow schools to continue the ‘Learning Journey’ to meet the individual developmental and ability needs of young pupils.
2. Reclassify Years 2 to 6 as the Primary Stage. KS1 is an anachronism that gets in the way of progress for pupils.
REPLACEMENT OF SATS BY TEACHER ASSESSMENT
Simplify the FSP into an ongoing assessment across the EYFS curriculum, and develop it into a guide to a pupil’s potential.
Establish Teacher Assessment as the main tool for monitoring progress of pupils in Years 2 to 6.
This could be on a termly basis, and should be supported by effective moderation processes which relate to local and national benchmarks.
TESTS WHICH SUPPORT ONGOING FORMATIVE TEACHER ASSESSMENT
Use Single Level Testing as a supporting tool for Teacher Assessment throughout the Primary Stage.
Tests should be available for a school to use when they judge that a pupil is secure within a level with a maximum set on how many tests a pupil may sit in one year.
These should be marked internally with moderation arrangements, and a sample marked externally to ensure consistency.
Cognitive Ability Testing could be used to ensure that pupils are encouraged to reach their true potential if a school felt that this was a useful support to teacher assessment.
TARGETS
Retain the Progress Targets for pupils e.g. 4 levels between Foundation and Primary. Accept that pupils do not progress on a straight diagonal line, but that the trend should be generally upwards.
Ofsted
Restructure the inspection process for all schools to provide a service which challenges schools to achieve the best possible outcomes for pupils AND supports them in achieving this.
Ensure that the inspection teams have time to appreciate and value the wider role of the school in providing an all-round education for its pupils and inspiring in them a lifelong love of learning.