My dear Stanetta has dragged herself from under a pile of SATs revision to put her blogging shoes on. Not surprising her main gripe is SATs.
I'm a fan of measuring that which can be measured. Knowing where a child is in their educational development I'm sure is very useful. However, these tests are being used to measure the schools and the teachers. I have even heard that the results are used to stream children in their secondary schools and in some fee-paying schools the results or predicted results are used to screen applicants.
And so, instead of being an objective measurement, SATs have become a pressurised event that children prepare for and dread upto a year in advance.
My biggest complaint is that the barrage of mock tests and revision periods take 11 year-olds away from wider learning. And they don't have the energy left to blog as often as I would like them to.
I'm reminded of the "Observer Effect". The act of testing children's education affects children's education.
By the way, "The Observer effect" is not to be confused with the tendency for Sunday newspapers to spawn more and more supplements with less and less interest and value.
No comments:
Post a Comment