Is six too young to test?
Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has announced a new reading test for Year 1 pupils – which he claims will be impossible to drill for and will be a true gauge of a child’s reading skills. What do you think about these plans?
- 50% said Six is too young to test
- 10% said Testing this early will help us pick up pupils who are struggling
- 36% said We assess pupils all of the time – this is no different
- 4% said I don’t know enough about it to have a view
Comments
said on 10 March 2012
We keep talking about young children learning through play and yet testing is reaching obscene proportions. Of course children can be drilled so that they succeed in these tests. I really do not understand what the mad rush is to stuff children with this formal learning , skirting over essential language and play activities which will allow those children to develop into self motivated learners.
said on 18 February 2012
Depends what happens to the results
said on 16 February 2012
Children develop at different rates and especially during the earlier years. It is inappropriate to test all children at the end of Year 1. Inevitably it will cause concerns for parents if their child does not 'pass' the test. Whilst the check is intended to highlight struggled readers and be used formatively to provide support for them in Year 2, results published in the Department for Education's own feedback from the pilot suggest that, according to teachers who are already delivering a rigorous phonics programme, the test did not accurately assess those who are likely to be defined as struggling 'readers' (e.g. EAL, SEN learners and those with speech and language difficulties). In the feedback, over half of the respondents stated that the check 'did not accurately assess these children'. We must then ask the question, if the test is failing to achieve one of its main purposes, is it wise to plough ahead and deliver the test anyway?
said on 5 February 2012
the time it takes to administer takes away valuable time when you could actually be teaching the children
said on 4 February 2012
We use Read Write Inc Reading so our Year 1 children are tested regularly as they are ready to move to next level. Also using phonics only to test does not provide a true gauge of children's reading ability. More able children move beyond using phonics skills as they develop other strategies - and what about comprehension and understanding. Good teachers/schools should already know the struggling pupils and have interventions in place to support this before the end of Year 1.
said on 22 September 2011
Let our children have fun in their early years. Too much too soon will not enhance learning.
said on 25 August 2011
It will only be helpful if we are provided with resources and allowed to use appropriate methods for the children affected.
said on 24 June 2011
We assess pupils all the time and this allows us to pick up any pupils who are struggling. It just takes time away from teaching activities that can be fun and useful for the children.
said on 14 June 2011
Should go back to spelling tests every week like in the dinosaur days. Childrens spelling today is terrible and will only get worse as time goes on. "Sums" should be up there with spelling. I am amazed at how many teachers cannot spell.
said on 4 March 2011
The importance is not when to test but why the test is done and what the results are used for. The key is to use a method which supports any child at whatever age reading is being taught. Only a truly phonetic method like the Sound Reading System should be used at whatever age formal teaching starts at school. Any test should be based on testing phonic knowledge at age 6 and not on high frequency words.
said on 2 March 2011
just ask their teacher which children need extra support. cheaper and more reliable.
said on 24 February 2011
As we are assessing children's reading, without the use of a test, all the time why is this test necessary? It won't tell us anything we don't know already.
said on 17 January 2011
I teach year 1 and find assessment so helpful for grouping for differentiation and picking up areas of strength and weakness. I do not enjoy the assessment process and find that in KS1 it's a long process but it is needed! Reading is difficult to assess as there are so many elements to it, I'd like to see a good, reliable reading assessment especially as having that Year 1 baseline is helpful as the children move through school.
said on 15 January 2011
just another rod for which to beat us I think!
said on 14 January 2011
Depends on the formality of the test if it's like the SAT where everyone does it at the same time and with the same time limit then no I don't agree. If it's more informal, ie 1:1 or small groups, it would depend on it's time effectiveness and usefulness.
said on 10 January 2011
Providing it is quick and easily administered I've no objection
said on 4 January 2011
it can be tested refering their level of knowledge.
said on 1 January 2011
This is a very silly idea. Children will be drilled to pass the test and something, probably a more important something, will fall by the wayside.
said on 16 December 2010
This is neither a reading test nor a true assessment. It does not assess a child's comprehension, fluency, oral language or the strategies he/she use to make sense of what they read. It will lead to a further narrowing of the focussed learning opportunities which should be given to children, especially the 20% who traditionally struggle in our schools nationally. These children need a personalised learning curriculum instead of the one-size fits all that this test will inevitably produce. They also need far more time in the day to just read and write in an enjoyable and increasingly independent way. I believe the present system in our schools does not allow for this. I wsh I could wave a magic wand and transform the present over-loaded, micro-managed curriculum that teachers are burdened with and return to an education system that trusts teachers as professionals who want to do the very best for every child in their classroom.
Anon said on 25 May 2012
This is not a reading test it is a phonic decoding test. Reading requires understanding of what is read.