§ 10. Mr. Jacques ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what prospects there are for the assessment of added value in schools arising from the introduction of testing and the publication of performance tables.
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§ Mr. ForthWe are giving priority to the development of a reliable measure of value added by schools. The report by the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority taking this work forward has just been published and copies have been placed in the Library. My right hon. Friend has now commissioned the SCAA to undertake further developmental work.
§ 19. Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what proposals she has for making school performance tables a measure of value added.
§ Mr. ForthWe shall include value added in school performance tables as soon as reliable, easily understood measures are available. As the recent report by the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority recognised, such measures cannot be calculated until the same cohort of pupils has been reliably tested at different ages.