PoliTiCAl vieWPoiNT
Any gardener will tell you that you shouldn’t keep pulling up a plant to see how it’s growing.
mP michael fallon says the same principle applies with testing our children in schools
a
t last, the government does something
v
schools in the same area are performing.
Read all Michael
sensible. scrapping tests for 14 but we don’t need to test children nationally every
Fallon’s previous
year olds is something i thoroughly
articles and post your
year. i would go further and scrap tests at 7, and also the
welcome: parents and teachers will be
comments...
as level at 17. that would halve the current burden.
cheering.
onlinevine.co.uk/fallon
there would then be more time in sixth form for minor
we have too many tests. our children are tested at 7, subjects and extra-curricular stuff like plays and music
11, 14, 16, 17 and 18. any gardener will tell you that
Scrapping tests
before a levels.
you shouldn’t keep pulling up the plant to see how it’s and let’s have tests we can rely on. it’s absurd that
growing. for 14 year olds you can pass gCse french without being able to speak
some of this was the fault of the last Conservative
is something
it at all. the exam boards have a lot to answer for;
government. when Kenneth Clarke and i arrived at the over the years they have diluted exams with multiple
department of education, testing and curriculum were I welcome. choice answers, excessive coursework and continuous
already elaborately detailed in the 1988 reform act. we
I would go
assessment. we need to know whether our children
tried to cut it all back. really do know their subjects.
successive ministers have simply added to the mess. further and worse still, we’ve seen almost miraculous grade
and politicians are really the wrong people to decide
scrap tests
“inflation”. So many pupils now get grade A that they’ve
how children should be tested. had to invent the a* grade above it, both at gCse and
let’s be clear – some testing is essential. older readers at 7 and also a level. it’s getting quite hard actually to fail an exam.
will remember regular pencil and paper tests every few
weeks. it’s important that schools check progress and
the AS levels
in fact, i would take testing and marking out of the
hands of ministers and their agencies altogether. we
that parents know how their children are getting on. at 17. That should put the exam boards back where they originally
the teachers’ unions opposed all tests, and any
publication of the results. in some areas pupils’ scores
would halve the
belonged – under the supervision of the universities.
the only way to protect standards is to entrust them
were locked away in the Education Director’s office. current burden to the academics and teachers who specialise in their
even today, teachers complain about league tables subjects. let’s put them back in charge of public exams,
ranking local schools, as if parents shouldn’t know how
www.michaelfallonmp.org.uk and cut back the testing in our schools.
vine November 2008
onlinevine.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48