Thursday 22 January 2004

The Daugherty interim report on testing in Wales

Commenting on theDaugherty interim report on testing in Wales, Doug McAvoy, General Secretary ofthe National Union of Teachers, said:

I welcome ProfessorDaughertys commitment to ensure that assessment enhances teaching andchildrens learning. His review hasgone a long way in tackling the damaging, high-stakes nature of NationalCurriculum tests.

The NUT will examineclosely his proposals for skills tests.Currently schools feel constrained to use a vast array of commercialtests for checking childrens progress.That pressure on schools must be reduced and skills tests may be theanswer. What must not happen, however,is that skills tests simply become a replacement for the current discreditedNational Curriculum tests.

The Government inEngland cannot ignore the way in which the Wales Assembly Government and theDaugherty review have conducted themselves on assessment. In Wales there is a genuine and open debateon the purpose of assessment which all school communities in England arecurrently denied.

E N D S pr04.04

For furtherinformation contact the NUT Press office on 020 7380 4706