Improving Scottish Education

Union bosses say closing the attainment gap in schools can only happen with additional resources.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday announced plans to bring back standardised testing in primaries and at S3 level.

The EIS has welcomed the announcement but says additional teachers and a reduced workload are urgently needed.

General Secretary Larry Flanagan said, “This EIS is encouraged to see that the First Minister has been listening to the EIS, and others, and is not advocating a return to the failed high-stakes testing regime of the past, which the EIS would have opposed resolutely. The Scottish Government’s intention to create a Scottish-designed bank of standardised tests to support teacher’s professional judgement would appear to be designed to build on the ethos of Curriculum for Excellence rather than undermining it. It is essential, however, that the mistakes of the past are not repeated and that safeguards are put in place to avoid the misuse of data generated through the proposed assessment changes.”
 
Mr Flanagan continued, “Tests which are diagnostic in nature can be a useful tool to support teacher’s judgement in assessing pupil progress. We know, however, that most local authorities in Scotland – 30 out of 32 councils –currently utilise standardised tests to some degree so they are clearly not a cure-all for raising attainment. That can best be achieved by lowering class sizes, improving pupil-teacher ratios, and tackling the blight of poverty amongst school-age children.”
 
Mr Flanagan added, “The EIS will continue to engage constructively with the Scottish Government and others to pursue a shared agenda around closing the attainment gap and ensuring a high-quality learning experience for the young people in our schools.”

Meanwhile, children's charities have also been responding to the announcements.

Neil Mathers, Save the Children’s head of Scotland said: “Save the Children strongly support the First Minister’s ambition to ‘close the attainment gap completely’ and to put that goal at the heart of the programme for government in 2015-16. We wholeheartedly agree that ‘tackling inequalities must start early’.
 
"Save the Children want to see ambitious solutions that go ‘beyond the school gates’ that recognise and encourage the vital role that families play in their children’s learning. With extra focus and investment, schools and communities can support families to overcome these disadvantages.
 
"For those families who will benefit from extra free hours of early learning and childcare, the announcements will be welcome, but a focus on quality is the missing element in the debate.
 
"Save the Children want to see greater investment in increasing the quality of early learning and childcare services. To close the attainment gap a child needs to start school not just equipped with a school bag and pencil case, but having benefited from rich early learning opportunities that will enable them to thrive in the classroom.
 
"The National Improvement Framework should focus on guiding schools, teachers and parents to identify issues early, act quickly and put the best provision in place to ensure that children find school a supportive environment.
 
"A bold commitment to getting all children reading well by the end of primary school is further needed if the First Minister is to be successful in closing the attainment gap. We know that 1 in 5 children from poor families in Scotland leaves primary school unable to read well. This isn’t good enough for Scotland’s children - without strong reading skills, too many children fall behind and may never catch up”.