Teachers snubbing SATs - BBC opinion

Dinomania

Dinomania

Dinomania

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"The national schools tests in English and maths - known as Sats - are a cornerstone of England's primary education system." - says the BBC.

Umm, since when? They came in when I was in year 6 and they're simply there for league tables and assessing schools. They are worthless to the child - exam stress isn't for 11-year-olds, IMO.

"The raw results from these tests are used to make the primary school league tables, which are pored over by many parents and provide the bedrock on which schools are judged by Ofsted inspectors." - BBC.

I dislike these very solid words used - cornerstone and bedrock - implying these are set-in-stone, un-movable systems.

Very biased reporting by the BBC there. I'm disappointed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/10102831.stm
 
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I was going to add to this thread but i think you've posted everything i wanted to say :).

Was never a fan of Sats and see no use for them at all. In fact i'm not a fan of how a lot of the education system works (exam wise etc.) to be honest but that's a rant for another day.
 
SATS are a tricky one, yes they do seem to be a bit of an inappropriate burden on young kids and the education system in general but I have yet to see a sensible counter proposal that allows for the moderated assesment of pupils progress so that informed decisions can be made about the state of a school and the teachers in it. Protesting and boycotting is all well and good but I would like to hear what the unions propose to put in place instead of the current setup.
 
Complete pile of ****. Thing is, when you take them th teachers make out as though it's important on your school success etc - in my opinion they should be optional to the student. Like the OP said, it's not fair that an 11/12yo should be put through exam stress unneccessarily.
 
Ah, possibly Balls has put the pressure on. But it's nevertheless rather stupid language to use for a test that's not been around very long.

Being as I'm going into teaching I tend to follow these things fairly closely. I liked the Lib Dem proposals for education, so I hope the Tories will let some of them through assuming the coalition goes ahead.

I was in the first year group which was the most tested ever. We had SATs at 11, 14, GCSE mid-term maths and science at 15, GCSEs of course at 16, A1s at 17 and A2s at 18. I think it has carried on like that for some time - but I applaud anything which might give teachers more freedom to just teach without following limiting curriculums/exam-board syllabi, and kids a chance to learn without the fear of failure being put up them every year.
 
I remember doing my SATS 14 years ago and my school made it look like to us if you didnt have good grades you would get no where in life.Seeing some of my friends stressed and in tears over meaningless exams which dont mean anything when you leave school and step out into the real world.UK has a problem of not letting kids be kids.
 
The problem with these is they disrupt the actual teaching of a subject, no general understanding, just months of teaching kids how to pass the exam :/
 
The whole education system needs massive reform, the trouble is most teachers don't actually want the sort of changes that would bring us up to a world class education system.
 
Dolph said:
The whole education system needs massive reform, the trouble is most teachers don't actually want the sort of changes that would bring us up to a world class education system.
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I'm not a teacher but one of my parents has been all his career (he is now head teacher of a very high-achieving school) and i do work in a school. Based on his and my colleagues attitudes towards the current education system i must disagree with your claim; they all want a change, it's just not up to them.
 
sara said:
Ah, possibly Balls has put the pressure on. But it's nevertheless rather stupid language to use for a test that's not been around very long.

Being as I'm going into teaching I tend to follow these things fairly closely. I liked the Lib Dem proposals for education, so I hope the Tories will let some of them through assuming the coalition goes ahead.

I was in the first year group which was the most tested ever. We had SATs at 11, 14, GCSE mid-term maths and science at 15, GCSEs of course at 16, A1s at 17 and A2s at 18. I think it has carried on like that for some time - but I applaud anything which might give teachers more freedom to just teach without following limiting curriculums/exam-board syllabi, and kids a chance to learn without the fear of failure being put up them every year.
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I quote your post in full because you are actually (going to be) involved in teaching and because I believe that it neatly expresses one aspect of this issue.

However, what it does not really address is how one can assess the performance of teachers, correct the deficiencies of poor teachers and get rid of them if they are unable to teach and inspire young people.

Exactly the same challenge exists with GPs and the Government have attempted (unsuccessfully) to address it with Appraisals, Revalidation and QOFs.


Improving standards in teaching (and General Practice) is an issue and it really has to be addressed. In a perfect world, it would be dealt with internally by teachers (and GPs) being more professional, honest, critical and less protective of one another's failures.


Incidentally, good luck with your teaching career - I really respect anyone who goes into teaching, does a good job and maintains their sanity and sense of humour - I hope that you will do all of these things :)
 
The tests were introduced by a democratically elected Tory government and maintained by a democratically elected Labour government. Teachers and the unions have no right to dictate national education policy and until a government chooses to abolish them the tests should continue. I think most parents appreciate having a system where they can easily tell how well a particular school performs.
 
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Stretch - I think parents would appreciate their children having a keener interest in learning rather than learning how to cram for tests.

stockhausen - I understand, it's difficult to find a non-disruptive way to assess teachers and teaching (as well as GPs, as you mention). OFSTED examinations are disruptive to teaching. Tests of students are disruptive to their understanding.

Clearly with less controls, there will be more freedom for the rubbish teachers to slack off even further - if OFSTED don't come round, obviously poor teaching isn't spotted, if exams aren't looked at, poor learning isn't spotted.

I back the idea of OFSTED visits not being as regular as they currently are, for already well-performing schools anyway. And in secondary schools I can see why SATs were scrapped as you can already get GCSE/A-Level league tables. I'm dubious about the KS2 SATs in primary school - it'd would be nice if there was a better way to track what's going on... if of course, we think primary schools really need such tracking.

I realise I'm going to have to deal with helicopter parents who hover around wanting to track everything and won't let little Johnny sit a detention because he's an angel at home, yada yada... It'll be an adventure, that's for sure...
 
I didn't even notice my Year 6 SATs, i don't see a problem with them, for us it was more a case of determining which group you would be put in at senior school.

Now Year 9 SATs were a waste of time.
 
sara said:
Stretch - I think parents would appreciate their children having a keener interest in learning rather than learning how to cram for tests.
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Precisely. Schools that foster a Childs interest in learning would get better SATS results.

My mother marks key stage three tests, and has also been a teacher for 30+ years. She didn’t agree with the test before she became a marker but after seeing the difference in results across schools she’s warmed to the idea. Some schools do it well, others don’t.

The tests aren’t abstract assessments designed to trip pupils and teachers up. They mealy demonstrate the teachers/schools ability to convey the useful information and techniques found in the core curriculum subjects they teach. Is that not a minimum requirement for any school?
 
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My sister - who is a Lead Teacher - is very for SATs. They are hihgly used as a metric.

Not least it sets the children up for a decade of exams.
 
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