CommonSpace columnist James McEnaney takes the first minister to task over standardised testing
IN a recent article for Bella Caledonia I referred to the latest publication from the EIS teaching union on the matter of standardised testing. This 'advice note' explains not only that standardised testing scores will not be collected, collated or published (a fact that the First Minister doesn’t seem to understand), but also suggests that not all children will be required to take the tests.
As I said at the time, the practical realities will be quite different, with central government forcing local authorities to demand that schools require teachers to impose the tests on their pupils.
Though there will be obvious and sensible exemptions for some children with complex additional support needs, there is no question that Nicola Sturgeon wants almost every five-year-old child in Scotland to be forced through a series of standardised tests.
Ruth Davidson – who, just for the record, has an atrociously poor grip on reality where education is concerned – was apparently not so sure. Yesterday, at First Minister’s Questions, she asked Nicola Sturgeon directly whether all children will be made to sit standardised tests.
Sturgeon’s response was, to be fair, unequivocal: "On the point about whether or not all pupils will be required to sit [standardised] assessments, let me make it absolutely clear: yes, they will be. That is my expectation and that is what I intend to see happen."
So the first minister is "clear", but she is also wrong, and I am able to make that statement absolutely unequivocally. Why? Because I have a two-year-old son.
When he is five years old he will start primary school and, at some point during his first year of schooling, it will be expected that he sits the standardised tests that Nicola Sturgeon is hell-bent on imposing. But it isn’t going to happen.
It’s this simple: there are no conceivable circumstances under which I will allow my son to be subjected to simplistic, stressful and ultimately pointless standardised tests, particularly when they are being imposed for political rather than educational reasons.
It’s this simple: there are no conceivable circumstances under which I will allow my son to be subjected to simplistic, stressful and ultimately pointless standardised tests.
If (and it is a huge if) the tests were to become truly diagnostic, could be used at the discretion of teaching professionals, and were entirely depoliticised then I might reconsider, but nothing we have seen thus far makes any of that seem likely.
And I am by no means alone. Since Sturgeon announced her plans in September I have spoken to parents from across Scotland (some of whom are also teachers) who have absolutely no intention of letting the government impose these tests on their children.
As things stand, however, the government’s position seems to be that parents should have no say, and that their children will be tested against their wishes. Why? Because that is the first minister’s "expectation", and Nicola knows best.
But is this really a road that Sturgeon is willing to go down? Having already lost a battle to teachers over the publication of test data, and while still facing unprecedented industrial action over her complete failure to tackle spiralling teacher workloads, is she seriously going to seek out conflict with parents as well?
And even if the answer to that question is yes, is there any mechanism by which she could impose her will on parents opposed to her plans? Short of legislative change that even the Tories might baulk at, the answer seems to be 'no'.
So my question, first minister, is this: will you accept that parents will have the right to withdraw their children from your standardised testing regime?
What’s more, the government will never actually know which children have or have not been withdrawn from standardised tests, given that they will only collect results on an anonymous, sampled basis.
So my question, first minister, is this: will you accept that parents will have the right to withdraw their children from your standardised testing regime?
It’s a simple yes or no.
I look forward to your response.
The CommonSpace opinion section is an open platform for anyone who wants to voice their views and does not represent the editorial position of CommonSpace itself. If you'd like to have a piece published, email CommonSpace editor Angela Haggerty at angela@common.scot
Picture courtesy of First Minister of Scotland
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