SATS results

Key Stages 1-2 and SATs advice

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Manana
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Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: SATS results

Post by Manana »

hermanmunster wrote:so what do they do with kids that don't take them?
They will still be assigned levels from teacher assessment.
sherry_d
Posts: 2083
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Maidstone

Re: SATS results

Post by sherry_d »

Almost all feeder comps here that DD's school feeds into are doing tests for setting and I presume these are CATs. It seems most of the comps in our patch have resorted to testing before the kids start in sept. It just makes me wonder what SATS are for, they have just only done them yet every school insist on their own testing.

Saying that I would still prefer some useful testing, last week there was an article about Wales which has abolished SATs and league tables, results have plummeted at GCSE costing at least a grade to each child. The argument they had was that while SATs and league tables may not all be good it creates competition amongst local schools as no one wants to be the bottom and in the end somehow benefits the children by the work they put in.

Still no word here about SATS results.
Impossible is Nothing.
hermanmunster
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Location: The Seaside

Re: SATS results

Post by hermanmunster »

Teachermum76 wrote:
hermanmunster wrote:so what do they do with kids that don't take them?
They will still be assigned levels from teacher assessment.
would that be the senior teachers?
I am curious as DD got given some "targets" in year 7 - but TBH they were all exceeded pretty quickly..
katel
Posts: 960
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:30 pm

Re: SATS results

Post by katel »

'It just makes me wonder what SATS are for'

Sats are for the very specific purpose of seeing whether the school has done it's job properly - and "added value" to each child. This is is why it is so disastrous when parents coach children for SATS - it does no good to the child and in some cases lets schools off the hook. Nothing alerts Ofsted like poor Value Added. And nothing distorts this like parents coaching and pushing and fretting about them
Tolstoy
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Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: SATS results

Post by Tolstoy »

Sherry do you have a link to that article as I would be interested to find out if that is the only reason for lowered standards. I believe they spend less on education as well, I know the Welsh primary my DC went to had far less funding than the English one they moved to.
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: SATS results

Post by mystery »

Back to Katel's comment about a 4a making it into the top set. I am not so sure. At a Kent non-selective I know of, where most children go to a grammar school if they can, a 4a child is unlikely to make it into the top set. So even less likely at a true comprehensive or a grammar school.

And regarding sets, I don't really know what the criteria are that the majority of schools use, but there are definitely comprehensives who follow the advice of the year 6 teacher.
sherry_d
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Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Maidstone

Re: SATS results

Post by sherry_d »

Tolstoy it was an article that John Humphrys did for the Times after the Radio 4 programe, its subscribed but found similar articles about what he found out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-13911537" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ished.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Impossible is Nothing.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: SATS results

Post by Tolstoy »

Thanks Sherry. Heard today that SATs are being scrapped?
[PISA says the abolition of SATs has also had a negative impact. Children in England are tested at seven, 11 and 14, but in Wales the tests for seven-year-olds were dropped in 2001 and the others were axed in 2004.

That doesn't make sense as my DS1 sat the key stage 1 tests, he is now only in y8. I think they stopped officially the following year when DS2 sat them but we were still given his results so schools were still using them.

Interesting that they put the blame on abolition of league tables but it is this that causes school to skew their results and leads to all that excessive SATs practice.
Last edited by Tolstoy on Tue Jul 19, 2011 12:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: SATS results

Post by mystery »

I thought they had already been scrapped, they've been called something else for a while haven't they? It's only here in the dark ages of EPE we still call them SATs isn't it?

Welsh spend less on Education ..... well that figures.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: SATS results

Post by mystery »

Lord Bew's proposals, published last month and now formally accepted by ministers, will mean that part of the externally-marked testing for English will stop from next year.

It will mean that next year there will be externally-marked tests in maths and reading.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

Publishing a greater range of data will be fairer for schools - schools should not be judged on one measure alone”

Michael Gove Education Secretary

The creative writing test will be replaced by a composition which will be marked in schools by teachers.

Teacher assessment will make up the "larger part" of the overall writing mark.

But the writing part of the English test is still likely to also include some external marking, says the education department.

There will be a pilot to develop a test in spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary.


So presumably the most subjective area is going to be marked at school, and the clearest cut bits are going to be externally marked. It will be just as "subjective" and variable as before for the creative bit I guess, but at least it will save some public money rather than paying external markers to do a variable job.

I'd better start finding out now what sort of stories the year 6 teacher likes!!
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