NICOLA Sturgeon has admitted that primary school league tables are set to become a feature of Scottish education, as she staked her personal reputation on her drive to improve attainment among children from poorer backgrounds.
The First Minister paved the way for the introduction of standardised assessments of primary school pupils during a major speech in Edinburgh, saying better and more reliable data was needed to assess performance in classrooms.
She said that the creation of league tables - a prominent part of the education system south of the border - was not the aim of the reforms but accepted that the creation of unofficial rankings would be a consequence of releasing information into the public domain.
The prospect of league tables drew concern from some opposition MSPs and Trade Unions, who said they serve to demoralise staff, parents and students.
Speaking at the Wester Hailes Education Centre, which serves one of the most deprived parts of Scotland and has achieved notable success in improving results, Ms Sturgeon said she was determined to eliminate the gulf between achievement between rich and poor children entirely, adding "let me be clear - I want to be judged on this."
She defended the SNP's record on education over the past eight years but described the current attainment gap as "significant and unacceptable" with progress "not far or fast enough." Currently, around four in ten students from the poorest parts of Scotland achieve at least one higher or equivalent, compared to eight out of 10 from the richest.
Speaking to journalists after the speech, she confirmed that data obtained through a new standardised 'National Improvement Framework' would be published. She added: "I'm not going to stop you guys - if we publish any information - trying to put it into league tables. But that's not the purpose for which we're doing it.
"The idea - particularly in the age of Freedom of Information - that you could gather information like that and not publish it would be not tenable. The programme for government will set out much more detail on how we're going to gather this information and how it will then be used."
She added: "If you're not, as First Minister, prepared to put your neck on the line over the education of our children, then what are you prepared [to put your neck on the line for?]... It really matters. I'm not saying in five years' time it will be job done, but I want to be judged on it. I'm going to be making sure the information is there to enable people to do that."
In her speech, Ms Sturgeon said 30 out of 32 councils use assessments for primary and lower secondary pupils, but that many used different systems making it hard to compare. A national system would "allow us to measure clearly where we're succeeding and where we need to do more," she said.
It was also announced that a further 57 schools in 14 local authority areas were set to benefit from a £100 million fund made available to drive classroom initiatives in deprived areas. It raised the number of schools being backed by the fund to more than 300, with many already using cash to hire new teachers.
It comes after Scottish Labour's new leader, Kezia Dugdale, accused the SNP of not taking the bold action necessary to improve standards, following eight years of the nationalists in power at Holyrood.
Responding to the attacks, Ms Sturgeon said: "I will not accept some of some of the criticisms of our record in education - I think our record on education is good and the evidence is there for that. But nor will I stand here and say it's good enough, because the young folk all over the country deserve better than that."
Labour said it welcomed the move towards a national framework. However the Scottish Liberal Democrats branded the framework a "sop to the Tories" that would pave the way for league tables.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the country’s largest teaching union, welcomed much of the First Minister's speech but was cautious over assessments.
Larry Flanagan, the union's General Secretary, said: "The EIS will be happy to engage in discussions regarding the best use of assessment data within the National Improvement Framework. However, we need to be cautious over placing too much emphasis on any single measure of performance – teachers use a range of assessment approaches to support their professional judgement, ensuring that assessment supports learning in the classroom."
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the fastest growing teachers’ union in Scotland, said: "The chief concern with these proposals is that they could lead to the introduction of league tables.
"League tables are a crude instrument which, rather than helping to raise standards, only serve to demoralise staff, parents and students and distract schools from their focus on providing high-quality learning for every child."
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