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New curriculum to be 'rigorously assessed'
27/02/2009
Cabinet Secretary for Education Fiona Hyslop today challenged headteachers and others to work with the Scottish Government to agree a plan for a robust assessment system for the new Curriculum to enable her to take a decision as quickly as possible to switch off Scotland's old 5-14 assessment bank.
In a speech to the annual EIS headteachers' conference, Ms Hyslop also stressed that the present assessment bank should be used to confirm to teachers that their professional judgment is strong in gauging performance and not as a way of forcing children and young people through the levels as fast as possible for the sake of meeting targets.
Ms Hyslop said:
"The new Curriculum for Excellence needs to be strongly assessed and we need to send out a strong signal to teachers to take a leading role in shaping and taking forward assessment subject to national benchmarks.
"I am aware of the concerns about the continuing availability of the 5-14 National Assessment Bank when we are moving away from the present 5-14 curriculum and into the implementation phase of Curriculum for Excellence.
"Let me make my position very clear on this. It is my intention that the bank should be switched off as part of an agreed plan for delivering a revised assessment system. When we have a plan for a robust assessment system that supports learning and helps secure improved outcomes with timings for implementation of that system, the 5-14 bank will be switched off as part of that plan."
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning said she would not allow the Scottish assessment system to suffer in a similar way to the English system where there is evidence that the dropping of Sats for 14-year-olds has left an assessment gap.
Speaking of the aims of assessment, Ms Hyslop said:
"We owe it to our young people to develop their enthusiasm and motivation for learning. However we also need to ensure that pupils, parents and teachers have reliable information about a pupil's progress, particularly in developing literacy and numeracy skills. We therefore need a robust assessment system based on clear nationally agreed benchmarks. This does not mean an external exam in P7."
The Cabinet Secretary also told the audience that the full finalised experiences and outcomes for all curricular areas would be available on the Curriculum for Excellence website in the week commencing 30 March. Hard copies and fully interactive web versions will be available to all teachers in the week beginning 25 May.
She added that the results from the Ipsos MORI analysis on the Consultation on the Next Generation of National Qualifications in Scotland are also being published today. The Curriculum for Excellence Management Board is considering the results of the consultation in taking forward the next stages of work.
The Cabinet Secretary said:
"I intend to announce my decisions on the future shape of our National Qualifications system before the end of this academic year in order to give the SQA the necessary time to develop the qualifications and to give schools, colleges and other providers a clear basis on which to plan."
Responses to the Government's consultation on National Qualifications reveal general support for its plans to reform the country's qualifications system in line with Curriculum for Excellence, including proposals for new literacy and numeracy awards, and a new qualification to replace Standard Grades and Intermediates, according to research published today.
The consultation attracted a high response level - more than 1,800 individuals and organisations gave their views on the future of the National Qualifications. Ipsos MORI was commissioned by the Scottish Government to carry out analysis of these written responses, as well as associated consultation events and focus groups with key stakeholders, and to produce an independent report summarising this work.
The scrapping of Sats has left a considerable gulf in assessment in England and Wales, with the Westminster government piloting single level tests as a potential replacement, and even these have exposed teething troubles. We are not introducing Sats in Scotland. Therefore that situation will not arise here. We will be publishing in the near future an assessment framework to support Curriculum for Excellence, so that we can improve assessment practice and continue to support and build confidence in teachers' own ability to assess.
The report reflects the range of opinions which emerged from the consultation. Where percentages are given, these are only intended as a broad indication of the level of support for proposals from the written responses. No weighting was used.
The Curriculum for Excellence Management Board includes representatives from: Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, Scottish Qualifications Authority, Skills Development Scotland, Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, HMIE, Educational Institute of Scotland, Scotland's Colleges, Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland, Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, Learning and Teaching Scotland, The Deans of Education Faculties/Departments, School Leaders Scotland and Scottish Council of Independent Schools.