Call to end testing 'obsession'

BBC NEWS | Education | Call to end testing 'obsession'

Finally, some degree of sanity gets reported in the press. The BBC highlighted remarks of Desmond Hammond as he argued for the ending of the "Testing obsession" in British schools. Here is some of what the BBC reported:

"Desmond Hamilton, president of the National Association of Head Teachers, also demanded that no class should exceed 30 pupils in size.

"Personalised teaching - not "tests for tots" - was needed, he told the NAHT's annual conference in Harrogate.

"Ministers say tests are essential for raising standards.

"Dr Hamilton told conference delegates: "There are no mistakes in schools, only lessons to be learnt.

""We are knowledge creators. What we do often remains invisible and intangible.

""Yet government has a continuing obsession with leaving no person under-tested.

""Those for whom classroom visits are occasional photo opportunities often reflect most enthusiasm for testing regimes - not classroom teachers."

"Dr Hamilton's call for smaller class sizes comes after government figures showed the number of five to seven-year-olds taught in groups of more than 30 pupils - the legal limit - had risen from 740 to 910 in a year. "

Technorati : NCLB, assessment, class, critical pedagogy, culture, curriculum, education, instruction, learning, policy, politics, power, race, standards, stress, teaching, testing