School League Tables And Sats In School Scrapped
Primary school league tables are to be scrapped along with the SAT’s for 11 year Olds. Is this a retrograde step which could further mask the failings of our educational performance? Would the targets introduced in their place create a monster that will incite internal manipulation in our schools?
Although there will be rules, checks and balances, schools as in any experienced environment, will quickly understand the key issues and how to report the best fit data. The results could be flawed. Whereas good schools incorporate performance momentum to succeed, mediocre and failing schools could be tempted to manipulate performance figures to maximise results.
The new changes will have effect in 2011. SAT’s and externally marked exams tests will be replaced by teacher assessment. School, teacher and child performance being judged through teacher assessments could lead to manoeuvring. Not always the case. A school in one of the most deprived parts of the country is top of the primary league tables for added value. Almost half – 48% – of the pupils at Blue Bell Hill primary and nursery school in St Ann’s, inner-city Nottingham, are on free school meals and 47% have special needs.
Headteacher Jo Bradley explains the secret is in the “very, very demanding targets” teachers set for themselves and their pupils.”We constantly challenge the notion that children from a very deprived area can’t do their very best,” she says of her school that has been judged outstanding by Ofsted.
“Some of our children come into the school at a very low level of achievement. They live in an area with high crime rates.”
Performance implications do not just affect teachers bonus or investment it the school. House prices in good catchment areas could re-adjust if the performance of the school drops. The situation is fraught. Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of head teachers welcomes the move to teacher assessment. But Ed balls may not have gone far enough according to Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers. She is to ballot the 100,000 members to boycott the proposals, doing little to support the initiative.
One thing is for sure. Our educational performance is currently falling in the international scene. Despite £billions of additional funding being invested over the past years we need to get to the root of the problem and turn things around. This will inevitably need more that teacher assessment and targets.
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