did your year 4 child do "standardised tests"? anyone know anything about them?

[hatwoman]

as ever my understanding of the school system is tenuous....anyone know what these tests might have been and where I can find out more information about them? thanks

[singersgirl]

Could well be NFER tests. Google NFER and you'll find out all about how they standardise them and what the standardised scores mean. You may even find a raw score/National Curriculum level correlation/

[primarymum]

They were probably Optional SATs tests ( optional in that schools do not have to hold them but many do!) They are similar to the Yr 2 and Yr 6 tests ( wich obvioulsy are NOt optional at the moment) and provide the teacher with a further method of assessing overall performance in Reading, writing and maths. They are usually completed in June/July although some schools complete them earlier in the school year too! There are optional tests for Yrs 3,4 and 5 and give levels between 2-5 depending on the papers taken

[monkeyfeathers]

My DS did optional SATs this year (year 4). He found the whole process quite stressful actually.

[Pyrocanthus]

My DD2 did the optional SATs too. She was also quite anxious about them, as DD1 was doing year 6 SATs, and she knew how much fuss the school had made over preparing for them. And some bright spark in year 4 started a playground rumour that your year 4 marks counted towards your year 6 levels.

We had a good talk about it all, but she worried more than DD1 did.

I don't think the optional SATs (or the real ones) are standardized, though.

[melissa75]

Our year 3 through 5's did the QCA tests as well as the year 5's did the optional SATS tests this year.

[Feenie]

What do you mean? QCA tests are optional SATS.

[Niecie]

DS1 also did the optional stats. They did them the week after the Yr6's did theirs.

It was no big deal for him. They were not even told they were going to do them until the week they took place and they weren't expected to do any extra work. Went straight over DS1's head.

It is a means of tracking their progress between Yr 2 and Yr 6, using the same band measurements. The average Yr 4 should have reached band 3 since it is expected that the Juniors progress by one band every two years.

They are teacher assessed so I suppose not standardised although I think there was a bit of moderation between the classes.

[Feenie]

They are standardised - in that they come with the same mark scheme that everyone else uses. It's easy to mark Maths and Reading, as the answers are either right or wrong. Writing would require some moderation, but most schools are used to levelling writing several times a year.

Teacher assessment refers to the judgement teachers make when levelling children, using not only the test results but many other sources of evidence such as everyday work - and as such is more reliable than a snapshot test result.

[lexcat]

DD (Y3) school does the standardised tests at the start of every year. DD first did them in Y1 most of the kids really don't worry about them and just see them as something you do when you start a new year. The school also do the SATs right the way through from Y2 to Y6. DD did her Y3 SATs and we have just had her levels printed in the end of term reports.