| [Education For Tomorrow: No 102, 2009] Scrap SATs — a timely campaign The National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the National Association of Head Teachers’ (NAHT) joint campaign on assessment scored a further success last term with positive results in both the NUT indicative ballot and the NAHT questionnaire. This reflects a growing consensus amongst primary teachers and head teachers in England, not only that the current end of key stage two tests (SATs) are wrong and should be abolished and that unions can and should take action to make this happen, but also that there is a realistic chance of success. The case against SATs is clear. Not only are they inaccurate and unreliable (even according to the governments own figures), but their impact in terms of the curriculum is now widely acknowledged. The effect of SATs upon the primary school curriculum is two-fold. Firstly, the fact that SATs assess only core subjects (now only English and Maths) means that an inordinate amount of curriculum time is given over to these subjects, especially in years five and six. Whilst an emphasis on English and Maths can be justified in terms of the their general importance in educational terms, the current fixation with results has pushed this to unreasonable limits and beyond. This curriculum time has to come from somewhere and, in many schools, it is creative subjects and sports which have suffered most. The NUT/NAHT joint conference on assessment heard reports from teachers of subjects such as art and PE being cancelled entirely in the term leading up to SATs or even for the whole of year six. Skewed curriculum This is not the end of the story. Even within these core subjects, areas such as problem solving, appreciation of writing and poetry are sidelined in favour of technical skills which will pick up marks in tests, formulaic writing and question spotting. What results is a curriculum skewed towards the mundane, predictable and measurable. And the effects of this are not class neutral either. Class is still the largest single determinant of school 'success' as defined under the current system. Consequently, those schools serving working class communities are most likely to be under pressure to improve results. This is further compounded by the government's continued use of 'naming and shaming' policies as a stick with which to beat schools which fail to live up to arbitrary 'floor targets'. The net effect of this is that working class students, particularly those living in deprived areas with high levels of unemployment, are fed a reduced curriculum in the name of 'standards'. Punitive and inaccurate Combine this with the use of SATs to rate schools in terms of performance so parents can exercise choice. Add to this a market system where funding is determined on the basis of the number of students you can attract; where local authorities have less and less of a role in terms of planning education, or even plugging gaps with support services, and you have a punitive system of testing which has gone way out of control. This is without even touching on the effects on teachers and head teachers, whose professional practice is unfairly judged on the basis of inaccurate data and unrealistic targets. Broad-based campaign needed However, the present situation holds out some hope. The positive response of teachers and head teachers to their unions' joint call for action, combined with the overwhelming support shown by parents and governors and the recent statement from the Department for Children Schools and Families that testing arrangements ‘are not set in stone’, suggest that the time is right to push our case. If it is to be successful it will mean building a much broader base of support, among parents and governors, the general public, and also amongst teachers and head teachers. The work must begin in earnest to ensure that 2010 is the year that a united campaign defeats SATs for once and for all. Gawain Little |