SATs. - Doubled Up

Whilst I rejoice at the scrapping of SATs tests at the age of 14 and the fact that there will be emphasis on teacher assessment instead, I can’t help but feel bitter that this has come as a result of a major cock-up in the marking, rather than listening to the people who have until now been forced to carry out these tests. Nor is there any acknowledgement of the fact that, the more children have been tested in this country, the worse their levels of literacy and numeracy have become.

I also wonder where Mr Balls gets the idea that the Key Stage 2 tests are ‘critically important’. Critically important to whom? To the kids who have the stress of sitting them? To the teachers who coach the children towards them, despite knowing that this is less effective education than teaching them something more valuable? To the parents who judge a school on the basis of its position in a league table, at the expense of looking at the all round education that school provides? Or to the jobsworths in government who feel the need to keep control over anyone who works in the public sector?