British School Assessment

England the British School Assessment System

     As a substitute teacher I see many things students deal with and go through in a day of education, and many of those things are not so exciting. For example, during state testing season many students get very frantic and concerned. When a student doesn’t do so well on testing it tends to take pieces of confidence away each time. In Texas, students are tested several times within each school year and are also given an exit exam for each grade starting in grade 3. This causes teachers to spend way too much time teaching to the state test. I feel that if students are taught the basics and are made strong in them, than they can take any test. This has always been my personal philosophy concerning testing. Students should be assessed at the beginning of the school year in order to see what level they are on and then once again towards to end of each school year. This testing should be an in house test, not one for the state. State testing should be given only once per school year at the very end of the year and whether a child passes to the next grade should not be riding on passing the state test. With this type of policy students can work stress free and keep a focus on mastering their skills and really learning needed material.

     I researched the school assessment system for the British, because I have many British friends, I have always been interested in the culture, and it is no longer uncommon to see a British person in your neighborhood stores, and they are on the television shows and news casting more often than in years before. With so much connection, but no one ever talks about how the British daily function is carried out.

     According to the department of Education UK, the education system is divided into sections. The early years, ages 3-4, the Primary Education 4-11, Secondary Education ages 11-18, and Tertiary Education age 18+. The Early years, which is also called Foundation Stage is age 5. The Key Stage 1 (KS1) task and testing during year two which is usually age 7. Key Stage 2 (KS2) National curriculum test in English & Mathematics taken at the end of year 6 usually age 11. Key Stage 3 (KS3) teacher assessment & judgments at the end of KS3 usually age 14. As an educational assessment, a phonics screening check of phonics decoding is done. The assessment tests consist of 40 words and half of these words are real words and the other half are non-words. Year 1 children will read these words to a teacher from 4-9 minutes per student. The students are introduced to the test during the reception years up to the end of year 2 when the first test is taken.  As they see it, a high quality phonics understanding will give children a solid base on which to build as they progress through their educational experiences. Their beliefs are that when students have mastered the phonics skills it is expected that they will develop a love for reading. The check assessment is designed to confirm whether the students have grasped the full essentials of phonics decoding for good reading skills. Their policy is that any student who does not pass the phonics assessments will be tutored discreetly as to not cause attention or embarrassment to the students. The children are worked with until they have mastered the skills needed for reading success and future school success. Parents are trained in order to come in and help with the after school tutoring, or work-shop sessions. Stage 2 curriculum test of English, Mathematics, and science to test student’s knowledge and understanding are taken at the end of year 6 by age 11. The teacher’s assessment and judgments are reported to the Standards Testing Agency (STA) and parents. It seems that the children are respectfully and diligently worked with until they have gained complete strength in the basics for a solid foundation.