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The General Teaching Council for England (GTC) supports conclusions of the Select Committee report on assessment and testing.
The General Teaching Council for England today (Tuesday 13 May 2008) backs the principal conclusions and recommendations on testing and assessment published by the Select Committee for Children, Schools and Families.
The GTC strongly endorses a key finding of the Select Committee report that the current assessment system is attempting to serve too many purposes. In the process it is damaging creativity in the classroom and restricting children’s access to a balanced, well-rounded curriculum.
Commenting on the report, GTC Chief Executive, Keith Bartley says:
‘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.
‘National tests are being used for too many purposes and children are losing out as a result. It is important that schools are accountable – particularly to parents and pupils but also to the taxpayer and the local community. But the way that national tests feed into high stakes league tables puts the reputation of the school and the head teacher on the line in ways that are excessive and unfair.
‘Teachers’ own assessment skills should be used more extensively and we need to find much better and more meaningful ways of giving parents the information they need about their own child’s progress and the overall performance of the school.
‘There is such a strong consensus within the education community and beyond on this issue and this has been well captured by the Select Committee report. The Government would reap a huge harvest of goodwill by responding positively to this report and releasing children and teachers from the shackles of a system that is simply not fit for purpose.’
