Reading and writing skills to be reviewed every 2 years

Published on Wednesday 23 September 2009 22:00

STANDARDS of reading and writing in schools will be surveyed every two years, education secretary Fiona Hyslop has announced.

Speaking at the Scottish Learning Festival in Glasgow yesterday, Ms Hyslop also unveiled a "strategic vision" on how teachers will assess pupils, which critics labelled as "gobbledegook".

From 2011, alternate years of the Scottish Survey of Achievement, used to monitor school standards, will focus on how children are performing in literacy and numeracy.

Currently, the survey examines how a sample of pupils are performing across Scotland in a different subject each year.

However, Ms Hyslop, speaking at the Scottish Learning Festival in Glasgow yesterday, said literacy and numeracy are of such importance they deserve special attention.

She said: "The Scottish Survey of Achievement will not take place next year. Instead, we will work with teachers and partner organisations to undertake a small pilot project for a revised survey. This will ensure that the refocused survey in 2011 is aligned fully with Curriculum for Excellence and provides an overview of attainment in the key areas of literacy and numeracy."

The new curriculum will come into effect next August. As a result, the way standards are monitored and children's ability is assessed must be both changed.

Ms Hyslop also announced publication of the document on assessment, which she admitted would be followed by a more detailed framework in coming months.

She said: "The new assessment system will provide a broader and more challenging measure of attainment and a more rigorous approach to quality assurance. It will be based upon 'how much' and 'how well' learners have achieved."

She added:

"We cannot continue with a system where teachers feel a lack of confidence in each others – and in some cases – their own judgment of how pupils are performing."

Teachers welcomed it as a move away from a "tick box" mentality. Larry Flanagan, EIS education convener, said: "Such simplistic, target-driven methods of assessment have no place in the new, enriched learning experience for all pupils that the Curriculum for Excellence is helping to enable."

However, fears may emerge when the detail is published that hard and fast graded levels are watered down.

The document was dismissed by Labour as management speak and unhelpful to ensuring every child can read and write.

Rhona Brankin, Labour's education spokeswoman, said: "There is nothing in this paper that gives any assurance to parents that their child will be able to read at age 11. It's as simple as that.

"There is no assessment or test of reading before children leave primary school."

Literacy and numeracy has been a key target for this Scottish Government. Earlier this year Ms Hyslop announced tests for school leavers from 2013, but teachers warned by that time it may be too late to rectify any problems and the certificates could become badges of illiteracy.

QUESTION IRE

TEACHERS were critical of the education secretary's reluctance to take direct questions from the audience in the packed auditorium at the SECC in Glasgow yesterday.

Many expressed disappointment that Fiona Hyslop avoided questions from teachers, only answering pre-prepared questions.

One teacher, who did not want to be named, said: "There were some good questions asked last year.

"Obviously she didn't want to be put in that position again so that was disappointing."

John Dunnan, a secondary teacher in Glasgow, said: "It is possible she didn't want to answer direct questions as she did last year.

"I would have liked to have seen her doing that."

However, most reacted positively to the content of Ms Hyslop's speech at the Scottish Learning Festival.

Afterwards, Ghislaine Tait, a curriculum development officer from Stirling, said: "The information she gave out on assessment is what we are looking for."