Let's create a system of responsibility and applied competence, rather that theory dumping followed by exams for 'retention'. This would be way more fun, fair, and meaningful.
How would this actually be implemented? Would students have the whole day to test? What happens to those who finish early? I would think there would be some motivation for students to finish sooner so they can be done with it. Wouldn’t the exam still have time limits if the school day is finite?
I think you have an interesting idea but I would like to hear more about how this is feasible given what public K-12 education is today.
If they need the whole day, sure - but would that not say something about whether the exam itself is perhaps an inaccurate or meaningless test of knowledge or understanding or skill? I doubt a useful exam would ever need that.
I’ve only worked with a small pool of students, but I’m not sure many would be inclined to zip through a test just to get it over and done with. They know they matter, and they want to do well. Perhaps we could set a minimum time, rather than a time limit, to increase the chances children will complete them.
Agree with this! I think untamed exams would solve some of the stress issue too, for all children!
I guess for it to be untimed you'd maybe have to do one SATs exam per day? Would it also work having unlimited breaks too? For all children.
Personally I'd get rid of SATs in primary school. I think teachers and the wider class team know enough about each pupil to grade them roughly.
I'm not sure what it's like where you live too but where I live, the secondary schools spend the first chunk of Y7 doing baseline assessments so they don't really use the SATs results for anything. It seems as if they're used to show how 'good' the primary school its.
You know, I've never given this any thought before now, but what you're saying makes total sense. Even extending the time so questions could be answered over a day rather than in an hour could be so helpful to so many. Perhaps this is why I was always better at coursework!
The best compliment a writer can receive is ‘you know, you made me think’ and that’s exactly what you’ve said. Thank you Charlotte - it’s an interesting debate, and I’d love to see some change.
I was talking with our Year 6 teacher through the week and said that I think I would struggle to do the reading test in the time because I read quite slowly.
A dyslexia diagnosis can be very difficult to get (along with many other things) as some professionals are disputing its existence. We had some training a few years ago and there was a real question mark over it in our LA. Personally I think there are children I've taught who clearly present like this, but I'm not the professional qualified to make that call.
I liked the way the KS1 SATS were based partly on teacher assessment and partly on the test. I felt this was much fairer as different children perform better in different situations. I was a strange child and actually liked tests and exams but mainly because I could just get on without any distractions or interruptions, but for others they were a real cause of stress and anxiety, in the same way a presentation would be for me.
I wish they would just scrap them for primary altogether. It's too much pressure for all concerned. Children grow up too fast anyway and they need to just have time to be children and, radical thought, even enjoy primary school before they head off to secondary.
I totally agree with scrapping them. Thankfully, that’s started for Year 2 - and I have hope it’ll happen for Year 6 one day, but I’m split on whether it’ll really happen.
Thank you for your insights, Sarah. I’ve still only had a very narrow experience of teaching, so seeing you pop up with your thoughts really broadens my perspective.
Ah thank you Jack! Your comment has really made me smile after one of "those" weeks.
I work in Early Years and have done for a long time now but I worked right through the primary phases before that. We have a very play based "in the moment" curriculum and we are, in my opinion, very fortunate to have a Head who supports that and likes to have continuous provision in KS1 too. It's an unpopular opinion, but personally I'd have that all the way through primary. Children just need to be children and have time to play and explore. Life and responsibilities come soon enough.
As Einstein said, "Play is the highest form of research."
Or we could just get rid of them all together.
Let's create a system of responsibility and applied competence, rather that theory dumping followed by exams for 'retention'. This would be way more fun, fair, and meaningful.
That would be plan A 😂 - but if we can’t, this is my proposal for plan B. Thanks for your input, Ryan. Another one for team ‘scrap exams’!
How would this actually be implemented? Would students have the whole day to test? What happens to those who finish early? I would think there would be some motivation for students to finish sooner so they can be done with it. Wouldn’t the exam still have time limits if the school day is finite?
I think you have an interesting idea but I would like to hear more about how this is feasible given what public K-12 education is today.
If they need the whole day, sure - but would that not say something about whether the exam itself is perhaps an inaccurate or meaningless test of knowledge or understanding or skill? I doubt a useful exam would ever need that.
I’ve only worked with a small pool of students, but I’m not sure many would be inclined to zip through a test just to get it over and done with. They know they matter, and they want to do well. Perhaps we could set a minimum time, rather than a time limit, to increase the chances children will complete them.
I was a relatively poor exam doer. The ADD was a huge hurdle.
So much to consider that isn’t being done in exams at the moment - especially around individual differences.
Agree with this! I think untamed exams would solve some of the stress issue too, for all children!
I guess for it to be untimed you'd maybe have to do one SATs exam per day? Would it also work having unlimited breaks too? For all children.
Personally I'd get rid of SATs in primary school. I think teachers and the wider class team know enough about each pupil to grade them roughly.
I'm not sure what it's like where you live too but where I live, the secondary schools spend the first chunk of Y7 doing baseline assessments so they don't really use the SATs results for anything. It seems as if they're used to show how 'good' the primary school its.
Oh god, the fact that secondary schools don’t do anything with the SATs results - just another reason we don’t need them 😂
You know, I've never given this any thought before now, but what you're saying makes total sense. Even extending the time so questions could be answered over a day rather than in an hour could be so helpful to so many. Perhaps this is why I was always better at coursework!
The best compliment a writer can receive is ‘you know, you made me think’ and that’s exactly what you’ve said. Thank you Charlotte - it’s an interesting debate, and I’d love to see some change.
I was talking with our Year 6 teacher through the week and said that I think I would struggle to do the reading test in the time because I read quite slowly.
A dyslexia diagnosis can be very difficult to get (along with many other things) as some professionals are disputing its existence. We had some training a few years ago and there was a real question mark over it in our LA. Personally I think there are children I've taught who clearly present like this, but I'm not the professional qualified to make that call.
I liked the way the KS1 SATS were based partly on teacher assessment and partly on the test. I felt this was much fairer as different children perform better in different situations. I was a strange child and actually liked tests and exams but mainly because I could just get on without any distractions or interruptions, but for others they were a real cause of stress and anxiety, in the same way a presentation would be for me.
I wish they would just scrap them for primary altogether. It's too much pressure for all concerned. Children grow up too fast anyway and they need to just have time to be children and, radical thought, even enjoy primary school before they head off to secondary.
I totally agree with scrapping them. Thankfully, that’s started for Year 2 - and I have hope it’ll happen for Year 6 one day, but I’m split on whether it’ll really happen.
Thank you for your insights, Sarah. I’ve still only had a very narrow experience of teaching, so seeing you pop up with your thoughts really broadens my perspective.
Ah thank you Jack! Your comment has really made me smile after one of "those" weeks.
I work in Early Years and have done for a long time now but I worked right through the primary phases before that. We have a very play based "in the moment" curriculum and we are, in my opinion, very fortunate to have a Head who supports that and likes to have continuous provision in KS1 too. It's an unpopular opinion, but personally I'd have that all the way through primary. Children just need to be children and have time to play and explore. Life and responsibilities come soon enough.
As Einstein said, "Play is the highest form of research."