Half of English schools will boycott national tests...

Half of English schools

news.bbc.co.uk

Half of England's primary schools will boycott national tests due to be taken by 11-year-olds in just over a week, teaching unions claim.

National Union of Teachers general secretary Christine Blower was addressing members of the National Association of Head Teachers.

She said 50% of England's 17,000 schools would take part.

Results from the national tests - in English and maths - are used to make up the primary school league tables.

They also underpin reports by Ofsted inspectors.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 1-5-2010 by FeatheredSerpent]

Not sure what to make of this,is this a good or bad?Something inside me is telling me this isnt right,seems a silly way to get back at ofsted,will be an interesting day tomorrow i feel in the uk alot of parents will be very upset and why is it these things always come out of the blue? feel free to leave your comments,thankyou for your time

regards

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by FeatheredSerpent
Three years ago the Year 9 English NCT (SATS) tests were found to have a reading age of 14. In contrast the GCSE English exam papers were equivalent to age 11. (Examples here ) The NCT reading paper focused on Kafka.

There's a need for assessment...no arguments there. Unfortunately, the tests have become a focus that detracts from teaching. The results become a direct reflection on the school so Heads of Departments are under pressure to encourage 'teaching to the test.'

The boycott is a couple of years old now and supported by the major teaching unions.

reply to post by Kandinsky



Did they do this last year then?i got 4 children and this is the first time i have heard of something like this,i cant remember hearing anything about this last year,thankyou for your time

regards

First of all I applaud this; the state is really bad at creating an education program. This is actually one industry which should be privatized and subsidized by the tax payers -- in order to give teachers more freedom to focus on curriculum's that emphasize critical thinking above trivial facts, and instilling a sound (and scientific) methodology for solving problems.

As it stands now, kids are prepared in schools to live a life akin to a game show, where he who knows the most trivia gets the highest grades, but imagination, creativity, critical analysis, and academic freedom is quashed.


Second of all, I say bravo to the unions. In America, "union" is a four letter word, because the corporate state doesn't want people organizing on their own.. Go figure that people in America fight against their own freedom. That's how propagandized and dumbed down we are. Bravo to the GB teachers union for this.