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Assessment

SATs boycotted. League tables scuppered. Now what?

Over one in four schools boycotted the 2010 SATs, primary school league tables are in disarray and three major education unions are calling for assessment reform. The Government has to prioritise its review of Key Stage 2 tests, says Elyssa Campbell-Barr.

The joint NUT/NAHT boycott of SATs in May was a huge success. Across England, at almost 26 per cent of primary schools pupils did not sit the Key Stage 2 tests, creating big gaps in this year’s league tables. In some local authorities, so many schools boycotted the tests that the tables – a narrow and often inaccurate means of comparing school performance – could not be compiled at all.

Both unions would like to thank the thousands of teachers, school leaders, governors, parents and pupils who supported the boycott, despite enormous political pressure to proceed with the tests. Many more members told us they wanted to boycott SATs, but felt that notice was given too late. The timescales were tight, but the UK’s restrictive trade union laws prevented us from balloting members any earlier.

Unions call for assessment reform

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, has admitted there are “flaws with the current testing system” but has announced dates for the 2011 Key Stage 2 SATs. The coalition Government’s joint policy document, published shortly after the SATs boycott, promises: “We will reform league tables” and “will review how Key Stage 2 tests operate in future”.

The NUT and NAHT are calling on the new Government to ensure this review is carried out promptly, and is fully independent and comprehensive. We believe it should cover all areas of school accountability, looking at all the possibilities for pupil assessment and evaluating schools, questioning the value of league tables, and considering the impact of Ofsted inspections.

A third major teaching union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) has now joined the call for a thorough review of national curriculum testing. In June the NUT and ATL published a joint document, Make Assessment Measure Up, which argues that, rather than driving up standards, SATs cause additional stress for pupils, teachers and parents and are neither reliable nor broad enough to genuinely evaluate schools’ performance.

The NUT, ATL and NAHT are not against assessment. We simply believe the current testing arrangements need reform. We want meaningful assessment throughout school life; accurate assessment that focuses on what children can do, and what they need to learn next, rather than stigmatising them as failures for things they can’t do.

The Government should acknowledge that SATs do not assess children’s achievement across the curriculum, and that teachers can provide parents with the most accurate and rounded picture of their child’s progress. It’s absurd that such a narrow set of tests is used to evaluate schools’ ‘success’.

Make Assessment Measure Up proposes that assessment of pupils should focus on enhancing learning, not on evaluating schools. Other forms of evaluation can be used to judge institutional effectiveness, while sample tests could help evaluate the education service as a whole. Sample tests have replaced SATs at the end of Key Stage 3, and in Key Stage 2 science, so why not Key Stage 2 English and maths?

The replacement of the current national testing at Key Stage 2 by moderated teacher assessment, together with sample testing, would benefit pupils, parents, the Government, and teachers. It would save up to £20m a year, have greater statistical validity, and free teachers and pupils from the tyranny of the current high-stakes system, which narrows the curriculum and causes huge amounts of stress.

Wales and Northern Ireland scrapped SATs several years ago, and Scotland never had them. Evidence from these countries, and from academics, is compelling. The NUT, and our colleagues in the ATL and NAHT, would be pleased to work with the Government to achieve a system that would be better for teachers, parents, pupils and communities. We urge Michael Gove to carry out his promised review without delay – and to listen carefully to the views of the teaching profession.

Read more about the NUT’s campaign for assessment reform and download Make Assessment Measure Up at www.teachers.org.uk/assessment.