§ Lord Gainfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have for the future of the national curriculum assessment and testing arrangements.
§ The Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment (Lord Henley)In January 1995 my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment asked the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA) to conduct a full review of national curriculum assessment and testing arrangements for 7, 11 and 14 year-olds.
SCAA's report on its wide ranging and thorough review is published today. It draws on teachers' comments, evaluation reports, evidence from Her Majesty's Inspectors and studies by teacher associations, LEAs and other organisations.
My right honourable friend accepts in full the recommendations made by SCAA concerning the future of the assessment programme. We announced earlier this month the availability of a new grant in 1996–97 to fund additional assessment training for the primary school teachers who need it most—those at Key Stage 2.
SCAA's review showed that most teachers want a period of stability. That is what we now intend. We shall introduce changes only if they will bring real improvements and if they will: maintain rigorous and reliable assessment for all 7, 11 and 14 year-olds; he consistent with the complementary roles of tests and teacher assessment; and take into account the Workload on teachers.
Some of SCAA's recommendations have already been or are being implemented to ensure that the benefits are available as soon as possible. For example, in the wake of our consultation last summer, SCAA has already set out for schools the 1996 assessment arrangements. But for the most part SCAA's review focuses on 1997 and beyond. The Secretary of State intends to carry out extensive consultation on her provisional decisions on these proposals and has today published a consultation document accordingly.
The Secretary of State has also announced today the national results of the 1995 assessments for 7, 11 and 14 year-olds and her decision to give greater access to schools' assessment results in order to raise standards, following our consultation in the autumn.
93WACopies of the Secretary of State's exchange of correspondence with Sir Ron Dearing about SCAA's review; the Government's consultation document; a letter from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector; and the National Curriculum assessment results of 7, 11 and 14-year-olds have been placed in the Library.