education - action against sats
WORKERS, JUNE 2003 ISSUE
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) in Northampton has begun a campaign (see picture, above) to gather support from parents, teachers and students to scrap the SATs tests children take at 7, 11 and 14.
Children in England are the most tested and reported on in Europe and a child will take up to 105 national tests during their first 11 years.
The union believes that tests are not helping children to learn and that the test results which are published in league tables put teachers under pressure to teach to the tests, at the expense of the rest of the curriculum. The NUT voted at its annual conference in Easter to campaign for a national boycott of the tests. Teachers argue that they use their own assessments and tests to help to assess progress and so they can adapt their teaching to childrenšs needs. Head teachers agree.
Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary, has announced that targets for Key Stage 2 will be dropped and that changes to the testing regime will be needed. However, many teachers feel this does not go far enough, and the NUT will press ahead with a ballot on action over the tests.