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Latest Blog Posts
- Ofsted : unreliable, destructive, beyond repair December 5, 2019
- PISA: no victory for Michael Gove December 4, 2019
- Every learner matters and matters equally December 2, 2019
- No joke – a brutal class war December 1, 2019
- Child poverty – Conservative rule December 1, 2019
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Categories
Category Archives: Accountability
Ofsted : unreliable, destructive, beyond repair
Ofsted is clearly beyond repair, and the Election provides an opportunity to close it for good. This will help to stop the mass exodus of teachers from England’s schools. It will help schools concentrate on what really matters: children’s education … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability
Tagged accountability pressures, disadvantage, inspection, Ofsted
Life after SATs – a world to win
It is hardly surprising that the prospect of ending SATs has worried some parents and teachers. After all, younger teachers, and most parents, have always lived under their shadow. SATs are part of the landscape. It’s hard to imagine what … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Uncategorized
Tagged accountability pressures, assessment alternatives, testing
Are SATs closing the poverty gap?
Based on an elaborate formula invented by his officials, schools minister Nick Gibb is “proud we’re closing the gap between rich and poor pupils.” A more straightforward measure shows that nothing has changed. Last summer 54% of children eligible for free … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Social Justice
Tagged accountability pressures, disadvantage, National Curriculum, poverty
Primary school tests and children’s mental health
One study after another has shown the damage being caused by SATs to children’s mental health. In a survey by the ATL (now part of the National Education Union) in 2016, 89% thought that testing and exams were the biggest cause … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Uncategorized
Tagged accountability pressures, Ofsted, politicians, testing
Stop these tests, protect the children
Following Michael Gove’s revision of the National Curriculum, the Government deliberately set out to make tests harder. The result was predictable. In their first year, the new KS2 SATs failed half of England’s children in at least one subject (Reading, … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability
Tagged accountability pressures, assessment alternatives, testing
Without SATs the sky won’t fall in!
The National Education Union’s first conference in April voted to ballot on boycotting SATs. The next day, Jeremy Corbyn promised that a future Labour government would abolish them along with the proposed baseline test. This has caused excitement but also … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability
Tagged assessment alternatives, testing
Demoralisation and failure: what are we doing to children?
In the open letter which a hundred education professors and lecturers wrote to Michael Gove in 2013, and which hit the front pages of national newspapers, the government was clearly warned about what the new curriculum would do. The lists … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Uncategorized
Tagged accountability pressures, disadvantage, National Curriculum, testing