Shifting national tests for 11-year-olds from the second week in May to “the middle of June” was recommended by the Government’s expert group on assessment last week and accepted by ministers who plan to introduce the change from 2010. They believe it will prevent primary teachers from reducing their emphasis on maths and English in the second half of the summer term, leaving pupils “under prepared and out of practice” for secondary school.

But because the exact new Sats date has yet to be fixed, schools that want to take pupils on residential activity weeks in the summer term and are now being expected to pay deposits, do not know whether to confirm their bookings. There are also fears that some could miss out altogether because the window between Sats and the end of term, when most schools want to book the trips, will now be so much shorter.

The change threatens another of the expert group’s recommendations – the primary graduation certificate designed to recognise Year 6 pupils’ achievements across a broad range of areas. The experts wanted it to “highlight the child’s strengths before he or she progresses to secondary school”. But, according to the group, the biggest measure of their academic achievements – Sats results – “will not be available before the start of the autumn term”.

Janis Burdin, head of Moss Side Primary School in Leyland, Lancashire, marks her pupils’ achievements with a special leavers assembly, but she will no longer be able to give out academic awards if the Sats results come out the following term. She is also unhappy that she will have less time to ask for re-marks and will not be with pupils when their results arrive. If someone has not done as well as expected we will reassure them and where they have done very well we will share their elation,” she said. “But that will all be lost.”

Many primaries take pupils away on activity weeks after the Sats. JCA, a company that organises such trips for hundreds of schools, has already been contacted by several worried about what will happen next year. Janie Burt, managing directorof JCA, said: “It is not clear what is happening regarding the timetable for Sats and most schools like to book 12-18 months in advance, so this could prevent many having the opportunity to take their Year 6 group away.”

The results showed record numbers of children achieving the expected level in English, maths and the two subjects combined. Science results remained stable with 88 per cent of 11-year-olds reaching the expected level.

The final, revised national figures showed that:

• 73 per cent of children left primary school having reached the expected level in English and maths, compared with 53 per cent in 1997;
• A record 81 per cent achieved Level 4 at English, a 1 percentage point rise from 2007;
• 79 per cent reached the expected level in maths compared to 77 per cent in 2007;
• Figures for science remain stable with almost nine out of 10 students reaching level four in the subject; and,
• 87 per cent of pupils reached the expected level in Reading while 68 per cent achieved Level 4 for writing.

Leagues tables, including some discussion on each area is available on the Telegraph website.

The report found that primary responsibility for this summer's failures fell at the feet of ETS Europe.  It said:

The QCA was blamed for failing to identify relevant information regarding ETS's reputation and track record, which has previously been brought into question in the US.  The report said:

In a statement responding to Lord Sutherland’s independent inquiry, Ed Balls said:

Lord Sutherland's full report can be read here: http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc0809/hc00/0062/0062.asp

The Guardian however is reporting that a spokeswoman for the DCSF said speculation that the scheme was to be extended to primaries was "nonsense".  "We are not moving to a National Challenge for primary schools," she said.

As my friend put it today – ‘the government are having a larrrrf’

The new School Report Cards (The DCSF use this site as an example of what the new cards are based on) are part of wider changes to strengthen schools’ accountability to parents and the public, raise school standards, and reform pupil testing and assessment. The Government will set out detailed proposals on report cards for consultation with schools, parents and the public by the end of this year, leading to a White Paper in spring 2009.

Ed Balls said that externally marked Key Stage 2 tests were critically important and would continue as the key source of information for parents and the public about standards in primary schools – with ‘single level’ tests remaining a potential alternative for tests at age 11 in the future.

He announced that he was ending schools’ requirement to run national tests for 14 year olds, with immediate effect. The current compulsory national tests at the end of Key Stage 3 will be replaced by improved classroom assessment by teachers and frequent reporting to parents in years 7, 8 and 9, with a stronger focus on one-to-one tuition and catch up support for children in the first years of secondary school.
A new expert group, made up of headteachers and education professionals, will advise on the details of the new arrangements. The group will also advise Government on the introduction of national-level sampling at Key Stage 3 so that the performance of the education system as a whole can still be monitored by the public, year on year.

The SAT key stage 3 system recently imploded in a spectacular fashion taking the hopes of 1.2m children with it. Despite effective teaching resources, Britain paid £156m to contractor ETS to handle the marking of key stage 3 SAT’s over a five year period. The initial shock from the amount of the fee was quickly followed by fury that the exam marking process had failed, the contractor sacked and a partial refund demanded.

And now the fight. Understandably due to the size of the contract ETS has lodged a counter claim. They say that the National Assessment Agency ( NAA), a division of The Qualification Agency (QCA), withheld information, delayed decisions and changed the terms of the contract.

You couldn’t write the script!  But more importantly we have government departments that seem either remote or so aloof of the facts they appear to fly in the face of common sense and the views of the professionals involved.  How can a body such as of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) be completely ignored?  This august body has the brief to develop policies, proposals, ideals and solutions based on years of hands on experience.  They identified a solution to the current crisis five years ago. And appear ignored.

The ASCL stated that SAT’s can only be a fair judgment of a child’s ability if this were assessed over the whole syllabus. The ASCL deemed a wide range of questions and activities more relevant than a short test. It would also overcome the “Teach to Test” syndrome that has infiltrated the teaching role to “big up” the results – on which teachers and schools are judged. The ASCL concept introduced the role of Chartered Assessor, drawn from experienced teachers externally accredited in a similar way as other chartered professionals. A child’s performance would be based on the accumulation of marks over long period rather than a single test. The assessors would control, advise, review and measure the performance of school grade through liaison with the school at ages 7, 11 and 14 years old.

These assessments would be more accurate, providing a fairer outcome for the students who applied themselves over the whole course.  This approach is modelled on universities’ assessment of degrees.  The system could be introduced at Key Stage 3, key stage 4 SAT’s. It could be extended to handle GCSE’s where secondary schools currently spend £700m per annum on examinations.  The ASCL believe this could be halved through the new approach.  But there would be a further benefit; the chartered status would give teachers a qualification to aspire to.  A chartered assessor (Teacher) would gain professional recognition as a just as a chartered engineer or accountant.  An authoritative voice from a recognized professional able to advice the system and also provide a career progression that might help stem the flow of experienced teachers leaving the job. This new career path would offer an additional route to seniority rather than the Head teacher role that many are unwillingly to take.

The scheme would introduce a practical solution for child and school.  It would also overcome the sometimes crass judgements made by government departments who maybe a little too remote from the coal face.

Perhaps the Schools Secretary position in the cabinet should only be appointed from a “time served teacher.”  All too often this vital position is occupied by a minister with 18 months tenancy in a role with implications over the lifetime of a child.

In the meantime the new academic year kicks off with a new key stage 3 syllabus, changes to GCSE’s, “A” levels and the introduction of 14 to 19 diplomas.  Some say this will induce a meltdown caused by too much happening all at once.  Be afraid, be very afraid!

Alistair Owens is not a teacher but believes that teachers are largely ignored in developing the solutions to many of the problems that beset our educational system. He writes regularly for a teaching resources and educational games web site www.keen2learn.co.uk

"The current system is not set in stone.  We are looking currently at a way in which we could assess progress child by child with individual level tests where the tests would be chosen in a way which was right for the child, rather than everybody doing the same test on the same day.  For 2009, we are going to do the same kind of tests as in previous years before the problems with ETS, but for the long term I am really keen to get this right, to listen."

The BBC have a further article where they ponder what might replace the SATs.  Interesting, if not disappointing reading, for teachers.

Let’s hope that finally some sense is coming to the Government and teachers will finally be trusted to assess children themselves!

"In the long term, appointing a new administrator for these tests is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

The Welsh Assembly have already scrapped the tests and they have not been used in Scotland since devolution.  The Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee concluded the national testing system in English schools was being misused to the detriment of children’s education.

Ed Balls however is insistent that as long as a new contract is in place by November there is time enough for the same national tests to be run and managed in the summer of 2009. He said:

"The wrong thing for us to do would be to suspend the tests in 2009.  We think that continuing on with externally evaluated national tests is important for parents, schools and education."

We can only wait and see – will next year hold any changes?