§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research his Department has evaluated on the extent to which the results of National Curriculum tests in English at Key Stage 3 can be used to predict a pupil's achievement in GCSE English examinations. [28793]
§ Mr. ByersThe Department commissioned a major national project on value added in 1994 which reported last year. The project found that the National Curriculum tests in English at Key Stage 3 were highly related to achievement in GCSE English examinations, but that the average test level across the three core subjects at Key Stage 3 was the best basis for predicting achievement in GCSE English examinations. A copy of the final report is available in the Library.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the agencies commissioned by the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority to evaluate arrangements for statutory assessment at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 in 1997; what was the cost of each evaluation; when the evaluation reports were(a) made available to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and (b) published; and in what ways the evaluation reports have informed arrangements for statutory assessment in 1998, including the content of the tests and arrangements for marking. [28849]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe School Curriculum and Assessment Authority commissioned the following evaluations of the 1997 Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 assessment arrangements:
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Agency Focus of evaluation Institute of Education, University of London Key Stage 1 assessment arrangements University of Nottingham Key Stage 2 assessment arrangements Social & Market Strategic Research Ltd. Key Stage 3 assessment arrangements National Foundation for Education Research Key Stage 1 English
Agency Focus of evaluation CFAS, University of Manchester Key Stage 1 and 3 mathematics National Foundation for Education Research Key Stage 2 English MAK2, University of Leeds Key Stage 2 mathematics CRIPSAT, University of Liverpool Key Stage 2 science University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate Key Stage 3 English and science Total budgetary provision in 1997–98 was £270,000. The contracts for evaluation work are tendered annually and the value of individual contracts is therefore commercially sensitive. The evaluation reports were submitted to QCA in September 1997. The six Key Stage subject reports will be published this month and the three Key Stage general reports in March. The evaluations have helped QCA to identify areas of the tests, marking and administrative arrangements which could be strengthened in 1998.