Sats tests shift more to teacher assessment

This news was buried.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14186263

The SATS writing test will now be marked by teachers in schools

But according to the BBC web site:

'The creative writing test will be replaced by a composition which will be marked in schools by teachers.

Teacher assessment will make up the "larger part" of the overall writing mark.

But the writing part of the English test is still likely to also include some external marking, says the education department.

There will be a pilot to develop a test in spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary' (Oh dear).

In terms of school accountability, league table results will include a rolling three-year average, which is intended to present a more rounded picture, rather than a single snapshot of one year.

More on the 3K

Here are the Phonics programmes that have ('not') been 'approved' by government so far. These are the programmes that have provided a self-assessment of what their programmes contain.
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/pedagogy/a0010235/publishers

'Primary schools will be able to claim up to £3,000, if they match that funding, to spend on materials which meet the Department for Education’s criteria for an effective phonics programme.

A list of approved resources – including phonics products for teachers and pupils and training for teachers – will be published by the Department by September although some products and training will be available by the end of June. Schools will decide which of the resources will help them to deliver high-quality phonics teaching for their pupils and will be able to buy products and training with the match-funding any time up to March 2013'.


Please note that the procurement of approved products and training for the catalogue is a separate process from the arrangements for publishers’ self-assessments of their phonics programmes. The list of self-assessed programmes on the Department’s website is not an ‘approved’ list and the programmes in the list are not automatically eligible for match-funding. Schools should not, therefore, assume that the list in the catalogue of approved products will be the same as the self-assessed list already on the website.

Self-Assessed List

'All self-assessments that appear on the site have been scrutinised by independent evaluators to make sure they provide an accurate reflection of the products they represent. Settings and schools should note that this does not constitute an endorsement of the products themselves and should not be regarded as a list of approved programmes or resources.

Full programmes:
•Phonics International – Debbie Hepplewhite
•Read Write Inc – Oxford University Press
•Sound Discovery – Synthetic Phonics Ltd
•Jolly Phonics – Jolly Learning Ltd
•Floppy’s Phonics Sounds and Letters – Oxford University Press
•Phonics Bug – Pearson
•Letters & Sounds – DfE
•Sounds-Write – Sounds-Write Ltd

Supplementary resources:
•Project X phonics – Oxford University Press
•Songbirds – Oxford University Press
•Read Write Inc. Fresh Start – Oxford University Press
•Bug Club – Pearson
•Reading Corner Phonics – Hachette Children’s Books'

I recognise many of the names associated with these schemes, don't you? Can I buy shares? ; )

Schools 'pushed into phonics by financial incentives'

The BBC web site has this report

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14029897

It says: 'Schools in England are being given financial incentives by the government to use certain phonics materials to teach reading, MPs have said.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education said matched funding was directing schools towards a "small range of products".

It also warns this way of teaching reading by blending sounds can "switch off" children from a love of books'.

It goes on:

The report, by the independent cross-party group of MPs, says: "For cash-strapped schools the incentive to take advantage of the matched funding offered for phonics products and training will push them in the direction of synthetic phonics."

"The message appears to be that if educational professionals want to take advantage of matched funding, they have to buy from only a small range of products and only from one source.

"The financial incentive will be very strong and will be hard to ignore for many cash-strapped schools."

The report says: "This is in contrast to many teachers' experience that a broad-ranging approach to literacy, alongside one-to-one tuition is most effective."

It says: "There should be no government prescription of resources, and funding should be given directly to the professionals to deal with their school's literacy issues, for example, targeted support for a wide range of programmes that have been proven to work such as Reading Recovery."

It also argues that schools should have a whole-school approach to reading, in which teachers and parents are encouraged to work together

Chris Riddell: click the picture to read the caption

Financial Times (30 June) commented:

“A 48-hour Greek general strike over austerity measures, coupled with running battles between police and stone-throwing youths, will surprise few. But today's one-day stoppage by up to 750,000 teachers, lecturers and civil servants in Britain, over reforms to public sector pensions, raises fears that trade union militancy is suddenly being reawakened in a nation where it has long been dormant.

“The dispute creates a serious test for David Cameron's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. The situation may – so far – be nothing like as difficult as in the 1970s heyday of militancy, which culminated in a 'winter of discontent' that brought the Thatcher government to power. Nonetheless, it threatens to become the biggest labour struggle for a generation, the outcome of which could define the state of industrial relations in the globe's fifth-biggest economy for years to come.”

Francis Gilbert on Teacher Training

Good piece by Francis Gilbert in the Observer about the importance of retaining the essential link with Universities for teacher training. Thanks Francis! http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/17/teacher-training-education-university

CLPE Poetry Prize

The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) has asked me to judge their poetry prize. I did this last year with John Agard who had won the previous year. I will be judging this year's competition with the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. As you might imagine, I'm thrilled.

I'll be sitting in a room with the Poet Laureate, Margaret Meek (Chair) and others discussing poetry written for children. Bliss.

I want to recommend 'Little Red Hood' by Marjolaine Leray. It was originally published in French. It's a quick read, but with plenty of depth. It's an intriguing take on the traditional tale. The illustrations (in pencil) are superb.

Phonics Dawn

Dame Tickell has written a response to newspaper headlines that her report into the EYFS appeared to suggest that phonics was not all that learning to read was about

'I have not recommended that phonics should be downgraded. Phonics is one of the most robust and recognised ways of helping children to learn to read and write. My report clearly highlights the importance of children starting school ready and able to learn, and I set out in the reading and writing goals the phonic development children should have reached by the age of five.'

The Times Educational supplement reported: 'In contrast to the Government’s promotion of phonics, reception teachers should use a wide range of approaches when preparing children to read, a review of the early-years foundation stage (EYFS) published this week recommended. Dame Clare Tickell, who led the review, has recommended that assessing five-year-olds on their ability with phonics should be scrapped. Instead, children should be tested only on how good they are at reading. The proposals appear to be a stark contradiction of Government plans to introduce a test of children’s phonics skills in Year 1 as a stand-alone skill. Ministers are pressing ahead with the plans, despite opposition from teaching unions'.

What do experts really think about phonics? Anyone would think that people were afraid in some way to suggest that teaching phonics alone is not the answer. Ken Goodman in his book 'Phonics Phacts' and other writings has always said there is a place for grapho-phonics reading cues, but that semantic and syntactic cues must be taught and learned at the same time. Before we become hooked on phonics it is important to read the research. Visit the United Kingdom Literacy Association's web site. You can find the phacts there.