CONFLICTING insults flew as more details emerged about the Scottish Government’s plans for national testing of primary pupils this week.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was branded “Thatcherite” for shunting the education system towards league tables, but was also accused of a “significant climbdown” over the same policy.
The reason for this confusion appears to stem from the political imperative of appearing agenda-setting when making announcements and the practical realities of delivering a workable policy once time has elapsed.
Thus when Ms Sturgeon first mooted the idea as part of her drive to close the attainment gap between rich and poor the bold narrative was of new national assessments sat by all pupils at key stages of their development with the resulting data available publicly.
When asked last year whether the publication of test data would lead to the creation of league tables - a toxic subject in the world of education - Ms Sturgeon accepted the creation of unofficial rankings would be a consequence of releasing information into the public domain.
However, as she unveiled the new National Improvement Framework in Glasgow on Wednesday it became clear the Scottish Government no longer intends to publish the results of the tests - hence the accusation of a "climbdown" from Scottish Labour.
In addition, when asked if the new tests would be mandatory for all pupils a Scottish Government spokesman said they would not be enforced by legislation and parents could opt out if they wished, although the expectation is councils will sign up to them.
What the Scottish Government intends to publish instead of the test data, after considerable pressure from the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union, is the levels of attainment pupils reach under existing Curriculum for Excellence levels which are decided by teachers, albeit with help from any standardised assessments.
In fact this is a much more sensible approach from the Scottish Government than publishing the raw assessment scores because it reduces the importance of the test and makes the unwelcome practice of “teaching to the test” much more unlikely.
Passing a test does not necessarily mean a child is well educated, but if passing the test is deemed the key benchmark then it becomes the most important focus for teachers.
However, the fact the Scottish Government now intends to publish the existing CfE levels will make it much easier to create league tables - leading to the “Thatcherite” accusation from the Scottish Liberal Democrats and a significant degree of lingering uncertainty in schools.
Another report published by the Scottish Government on the same day as the framework announcement serves as a timely reminder of why getting this policy right is so important.
Academics from Durham and York universities found Scottish pupils from the least deprived areas were 14 months ahead of their disadvantaged peers when they come to primary school. There is no confusion over how unacceptable that is in modern Scotland.
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