Tests

From high-stakes testing to regular summative assessment, we look at the ever changing landscape of tests in primary schools, how to improve pupils' results, and track pupils' progress.

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  Attainment data - what every school leader needs to know

  SATs

  • Data expert James Pembroke drills down into how progress will be measured from KS1 assessments
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  Greater depth - how to spot it

  SATs

  • GDS is the holy grail of writing assessment, says Daisy Christodoulou - but what exactly does it look like?
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  Don’t focus on phonics

  Tests

  • The government’s dogmatic approach to teaching reading is not supported by the evidence, say Alice Bradbury and Dominic Wyse
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  Setting by ability – How it can affect pupils’ behaviour

  Tests

  • Eight out of 10 UK primary schools group children by ability but, says Professor Eirini Flouri, this can a harmful emotional effect on the low achievers...
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  Give Learning Skills a Competitive Edge

  Tests

  • "Memory is the first stage of learning”
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  Primary assessment – Too many approaches don’t provide informed actions

  Tests

  • Too many assessment approaches generate pretty graphs but don’t provide informed actions, says Joshua Perry...
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  There’s no room for statutory assessments in the midst of a pandemic

  SATs

  • Over 1,200 heads and senior leaders sign More Than A Score’s open letter calling for tests to be dropped in the time of COVID-19...
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  Should SATs go ahead in 2021?

  SATs

  • Matthew Kleiner-Mann discusses the pros and cons of SATs in a Covid-19 world...
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  Want to Improve Pupils’ Recall? Interrupt the Forgetting Process

  Tests

  • If we want to improve our pupils’ ability to recall information, we need to interrupt the process of forgetting says Jon Hutchinson
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  “We’re Obsessed with Seeds, but Ignore the Soil”

  Tests

  • England’s accountability system obsessively monitors our seeds of learning, while ignoring the soil that sustains them, says Jeremy Hannay...