18th November 2015 1:00
By Blue Tutors
Education secretary Nicky Morgan has announced plans to reintroduce national tests for seven year olds. Citing the need to introduce robust methods to measure progress in schools, Morgan said that schools needed to be held accountable for student attainment at that level. Under the present system, children in year two are assessed by their teachers, which the government has said is an unreliable method of tracking progress. The department for education intends to introduce a national test which will allow them to assess the performance of schools at key stage 1.
The original proposals for formal testing at Key Stage 1 were introduced in 2004, but abandoned after concerns were raised that the tests would put too much pressure on children and teachers. Further criticism has been levied at the proposal on the grounds that schools will feel the need to concentrate on getting results in order to maintain their position in league tables, rather than focussing on children’s education. The education secretary said that the department for education would be working with head teachers in order to ensure that the tests are introduced smoothly. She announced that they would be consulting with teaching staff and unions in a bid to ensure that schools are held to account, whilst receiving credit for progress.
The new system would require pupils to be assessed in their phonics ability when they begin school and at the end of year one, and then given a formal test in year two and year six. The system is designed to ensure that schools are helping pupils to progress, and to check that pupils are not falling behind. The proposals have been met with alarm from head teachers and unions, who say that the government has not addressed the issue of the damage the testing would do to children, in addition to teachers and parents. The National Association of Head Teachers called the proposals a “clumsy” attempt to manage the education system through league tables instead of investing in resources that make a real difference.