Exams and testing
Too much testing has hit school standards, 28 Feb 2008
“Government control of the curriculum and its assessment strongly increased during the period from 1988 to 2007, especially after 1997. The evidence on the impact of the various initiatives on standards of pupil attainment is at best equivocal and at worst negative.” So says a report by Dr Dominic Wise, lecturer in primary and early years education at Cambridge University. While test scores have risen since the mid-19902, this has been achieved at the expense of children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum and by the diversion of considerable teaching time to test preparation.”
School stress hits new peak as exams loom, 20 May 2007
Our children are the most tested in the world, and schools are having to hire ever more counsellors to help them. Thousands of pupils are suffering from unprecedented levels of ‘exam stress’ according to experts dealing with the fallout from the UK’s testing culture. Unprecedented numbers of psychologists are now having to help pupils deal with the emotional strain - which can lead to sleepless nights, eating disorders and other illnesses.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/may/20/sats.schools
Toddler Testing, 5 Apr 2006
The progress toddlers in England are making in literacy and numeracy could be monitored from this autumn, under plans for an early years “curriculum”. The Department for Education has published an “action plan” setting out the details of its plans to reform early years education. There will be no assessments, ministers say - though there will be “goals”. More detailed plans are due in September, building on the review of the teaching of reading using phonics.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4878942.stm
End school league tables, 2 Dec 2005
There have been renewed calls for an end to school league tables in England - even from those who have done well. Education unions have called for their abolition. The government says they are valuable for parents and will stay. But the head of the school that topped the primary tables this year said they were “unfair and unjust” and she would not use them to choose a school. The tables show results in the national curriculum tests were better this year in 53% of schools but worse in 45%. In 229 schools out of more than 13,500, all the final-year pupils reached the standard the government expects.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4491680.stm
Can Testing Really Raise Educational Standards? 11 June 2002
Policymakers and educationists around the world are interested in using assessment to try to raise standards; but only in the UK, or, to be more accurate, England, has the focus become so narrow, intense and counter-productive.