News Review and Commentary

POOR RESULTS FORCE GOVERNMENT RETHINK ON PROGRESS TESTS

5/12/2008 6:57:00 AM

The Guardian 9 May

 New national level tests for primary and secondary pupils are to be changed after only one in 10 passed one exam. Schools involved in the pilot to test children "when ready", as decided by their teachers, and in "single levels", rather than at the end of the key stage, produced unexpectedly low results from the first set of exams taken in December. According to information obtained by the Times Education Supplement, the government is to alter the tests to give pupils more time to complete the higher level sections. Procedures will also be tightened to make sure the right students sit the tests. More than 400 schools are taking part in the two-year "Making Good Progress" pilot project. Ministers have said the tests will replace national curriculum tests - or Sats - from 2010. Fewer than 10% passed the level 6 reading test first trialled in December, with a slightly higher pass rate in writing and maths. The government postponed publication of the results in January because they were disappointing and a full evaluation is not expected until the Autumn. Letters from the National Assessment Agency (NAA) to the Department for Children, Schools and Families obtained by the TES confirm that agency officials believed some schools entered pupils for the tests incorrectly. In some cases, pupils were entered against teachers' advice.Guardian

Curriculum / Quality Assurance

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