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In May, the influential House of Commons select committee for children, schools and families published its keenly-awaited report into pupil assessment.
Teaching: the GTC magazine, summer 2008
They took evidence from across the education spectrum and government, including GTC evidence which they quote extensively. The committee’s findings – reached unanimously, by MPs from all main political parties – were unequivocal.
We support the Select Committee. Government is due to respond this term and we’ll be watching their response.
A single set of tests cannot validly achieve all of the purposes for which they are being used, which range from tracking individual pupil progress to whole-school accountability.
If test results were instead used for closely-defined purposes, schools would be freed from the imperative to pursue test results at all costs to the detriment of other aspects of education.
The Government should also reform performance tables to include a wider variety of measures of school performance and present this information in amore accessible way. Teacher assessment should have greater prominence. Forms of assessment that are designed to promote personalised learning should not be part of the accountability regime.
To read the full report, follow the link to the select committee home page.
We agree that national tests are being used for too many purposes and that children are losing out as a result. The present system damages creativity in the classroom and restricts access to a balanced, well-rounded curriculum.
We need a system that supports children’s learning first and foremost. Effective approaches to pupil learning should be developed through teachers’ professionalism and judgement and should involve pupils becoming active participants in their own learning.
Teachers should be able to use their own assessment skills more extensively, with support for their own learning in this area. It is important that schools are accountable – particularly to parents and pupils but also to the taxpayer and the local community.
We need betterways of giving parents information about the progress of their child and the performance of the school. The way that national tests feed into high-stakes league tables puts the reputation of the school on the line in ways that are excessive and unfair.
Keith Bartley, Chief Executive, GTC says:
‘The Government would reap a much-needed harvest of goodwill if it responded positively to this report. The select committee’s proposals would release children and teachers from the shackles of a system that is simply not fit for purpose.’
