More testing in schools - is this the answer?

[shebird]

The Chief Inspector of Schools wants to bring back formal testing at 7 and 14. Will this really improve standards? Interested to hear what any teachers out there think of this?

www.assemblywales.org/13-039.pdf

learning.wales.gov.uk/docs/learningwales/publications/130208-learners-version-years-2-3-en.pdf

mamma I think end of year 4 assessment (not a test) is probably a good idea if children are changing schools, my friend's daughter is in a first school and so moves schools at the end of year 4. Other than that I'm not in favour of any kind of testing, assessment by teachers yes, but not tests.

Testing at 7 perhaps,

at 14 No! No! NO!

Y9 is the last year of childhood, leave it alone, let DCs arse about in the subjects they haven't chosen for GCSE

Let school keep the time for the Y9 outward bound activities that 40yearold parents still remember doing and their DC look forward to.

They are already tested at 7!!!

Children have been "formally" tested at the end of Year 2 every year since 1991 (they have NEVER been externally marked)

No, but the formal nature of the tests changed in about 2005, because, I believe DD2 was the last year who did very formal tests in a fixed day (when she had her arm in plaster!)

No the tests didn't change just the reporting of levels

mashabell do you also think children should learn Esperanto because it's easier for them?

I remember ITA - a local primary school used it and in the main hall there were stickers all over the place saying 'flor' and 'dor'. Pupils ended up years behind other schools because they were so confused.

mrz they seem to have test week every term, before parents evening or written report. But I have no idea how long the tests are compared to SATs.

We still have to report levels at KS3. Most schools use SATs papers, they're just not externally marked any more.

It's not like kids aren't tested at all at 14!

Straggle
I.t.a. was not a proper spelling reform. It was only meant to be used for one year in a research project, to test if more consistent spelling of English would make learning to read and write easier and faster. The study proved this conclusively. It took place 1963-4, 10 years after the House of Commons had passed a private members Spelling Reform Bill. The government did not pass it on to the Lords but agreed to research to study if spelling reform would make a difference.

Because some of the schools taking part were so impressed with the results, they decided to continue using i.t.a. after the research was finished - in the hope of making proper reform unnecessary. Using an easier system for just the first year of learning to read and write, but then switching to traditional spelling was insane.

Concerns about poor literacy standards have clearly been around for a long time. They will keep recurring for as long as English spelling is allowed to remain as chaotic as it is, probably with lots more of insane testing year after year.

Oh fgs give it a rest, Masha.

We must administer the official tests in KS1 noblegiraffe but report TA level

So we have phonics testing at the end of Y1, SATS in Y2 & Y6 and despite all this standards are falling. How would more tests help to raise standards?

Well the government raised the floor targets so schools that were achieving well last year are suddenly in danger of forced academisation

If you want a plant to thrive you don't keep digging it up to 'see how it is doing', I see children as similar!

Well, shebird, Michael Gove thinks it is possible for all schools to be above average, and he must be right, mustn't he?

And can we stop banging in about academisation (if there is such a word)

Most primary schools are Too Small for it to ever be on the cards.

(And all are Secondaries are already)

For most parents its a total red herring (and becoming an academy doesn't change anything anyway).

Most primary schools are Too Small for it to ever be on the cards.

sorry but not true

(and becoming an academy doesn't change anything anyway) also untrue

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25332808

"Targets were missed by 767 of more than 15,000 schools in which final-year pupils took national Sats tests.

That is more than the previous year, when the targets were less demanding - but comes against a backdrop of overall improving results."

www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/12/primary-schools-fail-maths-english-standards
"The floor standards we introduced were tougher and performance is improving."

news.tes.co.uk/news_blog/b/weblog/archive/2013/12/11/primary-league-tables-reveal-767-schools-below-floor-target.aspx

Starballbunny
(and becoming an academy doesn't change anything anyway).

It does if they find a way of excluding more pupils at the lower end of the ability range and get more middle-class parents to move into the catchment area. Getting a brand new building helps a bit too.

Overall, it makes not a smidgen of differnce, because learning to read and write English remains as difficult as it has been for the past 300 years and children in the bottom quarter of the ability range find it too hard and take too long to do so and so can't learn much of anything else.

Labour changed the SATs tests for 11-yr-olds in 1998 and got an immediate 7% 'improvement' in results. This lot have made them a bit harder again and this year only 75% reached the 'expected' level again.

The rate of functional illiteracy continues to hover around 20%, as it has done for the past 65 years, no matter how tests or teaching methods change. And it will stay there for as long as English spelling is allowed be as learner-unfriendly as it is. And i will keep repeating this until people take a closer look at really stupid spellings like and begin to think about amending them:
Blow, blown, bow x 2 [bo/bou], bowl, brow, brown, brownie, browse, clown, cow, coward, crow, crowd, crown, down, drown, drowse, eider-down, flow, flower, flown, frown, glow, gown, grow, growl, grown, growth, how, howl, know, knowledge [nollege], known, low, mow, mown, now, owe, owl, own, powder, power, prowl, row x 2 [ro/rou], rowan, rowdy, scowl, show, shower, shown, slow, snow, sow x 2 [so, sou], sown, stow, throw, thrown, tow, toward [tuward], towel, tower, town, vow, vowel, wow.

Arghhhhhhhh!!!!!

Every school I have ever worked in has done "optional" SATS in the summer as well as various tests during the year. Children are tested plenty.

Feenie
Arghhhhhhhh!!!!!
That's a very appropriate reaction to the many stupid inconsistencies of English spelling which make learning to read and write exceptionally difficult and cause endless testing too.

Here is another hair-raising lot:
Already, appeal, appear, area, beach, beacon, bead, beak, beam, bean, bear, beard, beast, beat, beauty, beaver, beneath, bleach, bleak, bleat, bread, breadth, break, breakfast, breast, breath, breathe, cease, cheap, cheat, clean, cleanliness, cleanse, clear, colleague, conceal, congeal, creak, cream, crease, create, creature, dead, deaf, deal, dealt, dean, dear, death, decrease, defeat, disease, dread, dream, dreamt, dreary, each, eager, eagle, ear, earl, early, earn, earnest, earth, ease, Easter, east, eat, eaves, endeavour, fear, feast, feat, feather, feature, flea, freak, gear, gleam, glean, grease, great, head, heal, health, heap, hear, heard, heart, hearth, heat, heath, heathen, heather, heave, heaven, heavy, hydrangea, increase, instead, jealous, jeans, knead, laureate, leach, lead x 2 [leed, led], leaf, league, leak, lean, leant, leap, leapt, learn, lease, leash, least, leather, leave, linear, meadow, meagre, meal, mean, meant, measles, measure, meat, near, neat, nuclear, ordeal, pageant, peace, peach, peak, peal, peanut, pear, pearl, peas, peasant, peat, pheasant, plea, plead, pleasant, please, pleasure, pleat, preach, queasy, reach, read x 2 [leed, led], ready, real, reality, really, realm, reap, rear, reason, rehearse, release, repeat, retreat, reveal, scream, sea, seal, seam, sear, search, season, seat, sheaf, shear, sheath, smear, sneak, speak, spear, spread, squeak, squeal, squeamish, steady, steak, steal, stealthy, steam, streak, stream, swear, sweat, tea, teach, teak, team, tears x 2 [teers, tairs], tease, theatre, thread, threat, treacherous, treacle, treadmill, treason, treasure, treat, treaty, veal, weak, wealth, wean, weapon, wear, weary, weasel, weather, weave, wheat, wreak, wreath, year, yearn, yeast, zeal, zealous.

Mashabell - your spelling is very good for someone who dislikes English spelling . Isn't it lucky for us that despite the hideous complexity of English, so many people in the world choose to learn it and use it? Maybe it is only hugely difficult for natives?

I wonder how much endless testing is required to learn thousands of Chinese characters?

I reckon English is the best language for stealing words from other languages in a way that hardly anyone using them realises they come from another language, really. That makes it most versatile and exciting, and its spelling quite invigorating...