'Just
weighing a pig doesn’t fatten it’ is one saying that can lead to a very heated
discussion in educational circles. The suggestion is that frequent testing does
not necessarily lead to improved performance. In recent years, schools have
been required to test at certain times of a pupil’s school life and the purpose
has been to inform on pupil progress and assess the quality of teaching given
in each school. Those in favour of more assessment believe that this is an
important tool in keeping schools on their toes and meeting the expectations of
the service user (basically the parents). Those against it feel it just leads
to more teaching directed to pass exams and less attention to activities that
put the subject into a real-life context, or that allow students to investigate
areas that are off the main core syllabus and stimulate original thought.
We have gone
from very little statutory testing to more and more of it and this has
inevitably led to a swing back to a mid-position. Now, the Key Stage 3 SATs are
no more, and Key Stage 2 may follow the same way. At the same time, we now hear
of plans to ban the use of calculators by 11-year-olds in tests and tougher
tests for trainee teachers. Controversy continues to be attracted to the GCSE
and GCE ‘A level’ examinations, leading to a more demanding concept of linear
exams (with modules no longer considered to be a rigorous enough approach)
being adopted or at least recommended. This can be contrasted with current
ideas like Slow Teaching that are surfacing in the USA, which are a reaction to
the production-line style of teaching to the exam. In the midst of this ever-changing
framework, somehow, teachers carry on teaching and students continue to learn
but are we achieving the best use of scarcer resources?
Ofsted has
continued to be an important feature of how schools organise themselves,
monitor pupil progress and aim to achieve better student qualifications. Of
course, this is an organisation that is like Marmite – you love it or hate it.
It also has changed with time and, having achieved some successes, it is taking
a lighter touch in school inspections. Added to the mix are the new academies
and free schools, offering more freedom to tailor the content and style of
teaching to local preferences. Clearly, it would be confusing to have every
school doing its own thing and some overall uniformity is desirable – as has
been provided up to now by the National Curriculum.
The
Performance Tables have been produced by the Department for Education since
1994 and have provided challenge, bitterness and anxiety during much of this
time. There are many supporters and also those who think they have been a bad
thing. With time, the use of bald statistics on exam grades and pass levels is
being seen as only part of the equation; parents are becoming more
knowledgeable consumers in using data and taking other factors into account in
their choice of, and satisfaction with, schools.
So what can
be done to help parents prepare for likely changes in education from here on?
Teachers are professionals and will always be acting with the best interests of
their students in mind. Parents are vital participants in achieving the best
outcome for their children and should be supportive but questioning partners in
the process. So, while change may seem inconvenient and sometimes threatening,
it is also inevitable.
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LearnersCloud GCSE Resources
LearnersCloud are an online GCSE resource; students get access to comprehensive tutor-led
videos that complement the material they learn in-class. Learners watch easy-to-follow
clips related to their exam board and answer end-of-topic questions, in this
way they can prepare for lessons or revise for their exams to ensure they get
the GCSE
results they need.
LearnersCloud
video streaming and exam question apps are free to download, simply search ‘LearnersCloud’
in your app store.
