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Three further interim reports from the Primary Review have been published today. The reports, from the research survey strand, were produced as part of the Review's overall investigation into primary education in England. (2 Nov 2007)
Commissioned from academic specialists and grounded in some 240 sources of published evidence, both official and independent, the reports raise questions about standards of pupil achievement in English primary schools over recent years, about how English primary pupils compare with those from other countries, and about the national and international tests on which evidence about standards has been based.
GTC Chief Executive Keith Bartley says, 'The GTC welcomes these new reports from the Primary Review, which offer important recommendations for practical changes in policy that would benefit pupil learning.
'I would particularly highlight the recommendations that we move towards more valid forms of assessment based on teachers’ judgements and that we move to a system of sample testing, learning from the successful practice of other countries including New Zealand, France and other parts of the UK. Sampling would ensure that we do monitor standards over time, but without the unnecessary and distorting effects created by universal testing of every child. The space created would liberate time to focus on much more comprehensive methods of assessing the performance and attainment of pupils, going beyond the very narrow learning content currently captured rather unreliably by the Key Stage One and Two tests.'
The Primary Review was launched in October 2006 as a wide-ranging independent enquiry into the condition and future of primary education in England. It is supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and based at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education. The Review is directed by Professor Robin Alexander. The Review has ten themes and four strands of evidence (submissions, community and national soundings, surveys of published research, and searches of official data). The full report is available at www.primaryreview.org.uk
