SATS tests in primary schools

[GabbyLoggon]

England...I heard a rivetting debate on BBC radio 4 about SATS tests (a big political issue.)

The teachers were all against Sats , one parent was very much in favour; because her
children did well at the tests.

One examiner expalained " I walk into a classroom, the teacher says in full hearing of the class. "The slow learners are over there and the quick learners over here."

The examiner said this would mark children as failures from a very early age.
It seemed a bit of a crude system for youngsters .....but the kids that did well at it would like it. (That applies to everything.)
the radio 4 programme rang true. Unless you know better. cheers

Gaby - What programme was that? Sounds interesting.

Ok I found it. Reality Check (on the iplayer 8pm yesterday). Worth a listen. Michael Rosen is the one who talks about the 'slow learners' and the 'quick learners'. He also talks about 'the narrowing effect' on learning of SATs.

Thanks Gabby

They don't tell the children their SATS results and they are not 'marked as failures'. The 'success' or 'failure' applies to the school (and by extension the teachers) in the form of published league tables. Only a very poor/stupid teacher would ever use the phrase 'slow learners' in earshot of children or examiners.

There is a narrowing effect on the curriculum of using SATS and there will be a better scheme, no doubt, in the pipeline. But it is a vast improvement on the past when there was no good way of comparing school performance on a like for like basis.

"They don't tell the children their SATS results and they are not 'marked as failures'. The 'success' or 'failure' applies to the school (and by extension the teachers) in the form of published league tables."

Chil - that's how SATs are meant to work. The radio programme tells a different story. Worth a listen.

Btw - The 'slow learner' quote was not directly related to SATs and was overheard by the Author Michael Rosen - not an examiner.

Correction, I understand children do know their SATs results but they are still not branded as 'failures' if they score low. There are no restrictions on the next stage of their education as a result of their SATS score, unlike in the days of the 11+ when a particular score determined the quality of secondary education. The biggest restriction will be their location.

Chil - There wasn't a suggestion the SATs test resulted in 'branding' a child a failure. The concern was about restricting the education and learning of primary children.

And SATs were also claimed to result in a 'de-skilling' of teachers. Alternative testing methods were also discussed.

Our OP was the one that mentioned that it would 'mark children as failures from an early age'. That's just daft.

As the proud owner of a Year 5 soon to be Year 6 kid I think that the curriculum is not as restrictive as is often made out. You have to be careful with Rosen because he has his own agenda. The teachers do not appear de-skilled in the least... I'm sure they'd like more of a free rein (true of any job) but they seem to take an imaginative approach in tailoring the lesson material to hit the current requirements. It's also quite advanced/interesting stuff they're doing - they are tackling subjects that I remember first meeting at secondary school, for example.

"Our OP was the one that mentioned that it would 'mark children as failures from an early age'. That's just daft."

Which is why I listened to the programme for myself .