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'Phase out' national school tests 'Phase out' national school tests
(about 7 hours later)
Blanket national tests at the ages of seven, 11 and 14 could be phased out, the head of the schools exams authority in England has suggested. Samples of pupils could be tested to check standards in England rather than all seven, 11 and 14-year-olds, the head of the exams authority has said.
Ken Boston said a small sample of pupils could take the tests instead to monitor national standards. Ken Boston told The Times this could be combined with progress tests for individual children, now being piloted.
This could be combined with "progress testing" methods for individual children, he told The Times.
The government said it did not plan to scrap national testing, adding that the regime encouraged pupils to progress.The government said it did not plan to scrap national testing, adding that the regime encouraged pupils to progress.
Critics have said testing creates too much work for teachers and makes class work too narrowly focussed. Critics say the present system creates too much work for teachers and class work is too narrowly focused on tests.
SamplingSampling
Mr Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), said "finer grain" results would be achieved using the sampling technique. Dr Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), said "finer grain" results would be achieved using the sampling technique over a number of years.
The tests are sat by all children in England at ages seven, 11 and 14. The results form the basis of school league tables. The tests are sat by all children in England at ages 11 and 14, with a combination of tests and teacher assessments at age seven.
Mr Boston told the newspaper: "Using the same paper on a sampling basis for 10 years can give a finer-grain result than you get now. The results of the older pupils' tests form the basis of some of the school league tables.
"At the moment tests as they are should stay, but when progress tests come in, with information on pupil performance being available throughout the Key Stage, we could look at getting the national information in another way." Dr Boston told the newspaper: "Using the same paper on a sampling basis for 10 years can give a finer-grain result than you get now.
"At the moment tests as they are should stay, but when progress tests come in, with information on pupil performance being available throughout the key stage, we could look at getting the national information in another way."
Dr Boston was due to speak publicly later as the QCA publishes its annual review - though was not expected to refer to this idea in his speech.
Similar approaches to testing are used elsewhere. Scotland, for example, now has an annual Survey of Achievement, replacing the 5-14 national tests.
A sample of pupils from primary three to S2 takes part, the results showing whether pupils are reaching expected standards for their age in literacy and numeracy.
The Scottish Executive calls it "a new, more robust system for measuring pupils' performance".
New qualificationsNew qualifications
A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said it was consulting on proposals for children to take more tests as soon as they were ready rather than at the end of a long Key Stage. A spokesman for England's Department for Education and Skills said it was consulting on proposals for children to take more tests as soon as they were ready rather than at the end of a long key stage.
He added: "Many good schools already use optional national tests in Year 5 or enter pupils for Key Stage 3 tests a year early."He added: "Many good schools already use optional national tests in Year 5 or enter pupils for Key Stage 3 tests a year early."
Mr Boston has also suggested that employers such as British Airways and Marks and Spencer should be allowed to offer recognised qualifications. What we have at the moment is an indicator of how good people are at taking tests John Dunford, ASCL
He said such in-house business training for staff could help to close the skills gap. Head teachers welcomed suggestions that the national school tests for every child could be phased out, saying they had advocated this for several years.
Mr Boston said he envisaged a system where BA offered a qualification in airline passenger handling. The Association of School and College Leaders said such a system would stop teachers drilling pupils to pass the tests because the results could not be used to rank schools in league tables.
He said: "Altogether business spends £33bn annually on training. The submerged mass of the iceberg is unregulated." John Dunford, ASCL general secretary, said: "This method is more reliable than national tests because teachers do not teach to the test. "What we have at the moment is an indicator of how good people are at taking tests.
Mr Boston is due to speak later as the QCA publishes its annual review. "And because these are high stakes tests, that can give a false picture of the real progress of the national education system."