The current school accountability system is promoting an
increasingly entrenched culture of teaching to the test which is
undermining the provision of high-quality education for every
child and driving up teachers’ workload to an unsustainable
level, the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, has
argued.
The NASUWT has submitted its response to the DfE’s consultation
on its proposals to reform the system of assessment in primary
schools in England.
In its response, the NASUWT argues that the current high stakes
assessment system is skewing the curriculum and placing schools
under pressure to target resources at pupils who are at the
borderline of measures of attainment.
The Union has asserted that calls to replace the statutory end of
Key Stage assessments with a system of externally moderated
teacher assessment are profoundly misguided and risk simply
replacing one high-stakes form of assessment with another.
Instead, the NASUWT has called on the DfE to work with the Union
and other stakeholders to develop an alternative approach to
assessment and accountability which is based on evidence and
which genuinely supports schools to assist every pupil to achieve
their full potential.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT,
said:
“It is clear there is much more that needs to be done in terms of
making sure the national assessment system is fit for purpose and
inspires the trust and confidence of the public and the teaching
profession.
“The NASUWT has submitted a detailed response to the consultation
which calls for a more rounded evaluation of pupil progress and
school effectiveness to be implemented.
“However, such an approach will only be of benefit if it also
addresses the excessive teacher workload burdens associated with
the current assessment and accountability system which are
distracting teachers from focusing on meeting the needs of all
their pupils and which are driving teachers out of the
profession, ground down by stress and exhaustion.
“This also requires recognition that it is impossible to separate
assessment from the accountability regime in which it is located.
“If ministers are serious about reforming assessment in a way
which frees teachers up to teach then they must also review the
high stakes nature of the accountability system to ensure it
helps, rather than hampers, teachers to raise standards of
educational achievement.”
