Monday 5 November 2007

Primary Review

According to the TES, here are the main findings of the Primary Review:

  • No conclusive evidence that testing raises standards. Well dur... Anyone could have told you that!
  • No real change in pupils' reading abilities since 1952, despite the £500million National Literacy Strategy. This really makes me angry. That was £500million of our money really well spent then. All the hard work to improve the standards of education has been wasted then, apparently. Did they even have evidence from the 1950s anyway?
  • Current assessment regime criticised as 'inadequate', leaving out crucial curriculum areas and offering unreliable information. So once again, the government have ploughed cash into Maths and English and neglected the standards of the foundation subjects.
  • Pupils' learning experiences being narrowed by testing. But overall they get a 'good deal' from schools and get on well with their classmates. Dear God, how much money did they spend on this Primary Review? I would happily have pointed this out to them for much less...
  • International evidence says primaries have improved over the past 12 years in science and maths, but evidence in English is more patchy.

I just find this Review frustrating. Why can't a review ever pat schools on the back and say 'well done'? I guess this just wouldn't be interesting.

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