A quarter-century journey through England’s primary school assessment system
Written By: Author(s): Jon Barr
5 min read
Coming to terms with teaching first national curriculum: reflections and conclusions
When I first entered my Year 1 class as a probationary teacher in 1991, I found a profession coming to terms with teaching England’s first national curriculum.
1991
In the school I joined, the quality of teaching that children were experiencing in all subjects was idiosyncratic and fractured – in mathematics, for example, every child was on different pages of a workbook or, in many cases, different workbooks.
In my second year, as the new subject leader for mathematics, I made it my mission to bring some structure to our teaching. I wrote a scheme of work that included a progression of knowledge and skills, and teachers began to plan what mathematics children learned.
1995
I then took on the role of assessment leader at the school and, from 1995, I worked with teachers to explore the National Curriculum level descriptors. For many teachers, the notion of assessing where children were to inform their next teaching and pupils’ learning was a revelation, while others found it
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This article was published in March 2018 and reflects the terminology and understanding of research and evidence in use at the time. Some terms and conclusions may no longer align with current standards. We encourage readers to approach the content with an understanding of this context.
References
- Christodoulou, Daisy (2016) Making Good Progress? The Future of Assessment for Learning Oxford University Press.
- Department For Education (2008) resources available on the 24th July 2017.
- Department for Education (2011) How do pupils progress during Key Stages 2 and 3? Research Report DFE-RR096.
- De Waal, Anastasia (2009) Education in England: Policy vs. Impact. CIVITAS.
- Howson, John (2012) It doesn’t add up Education Issue 457.
- Jerrim, John and Shure, Nikki (2016) Achievement of 15-Year Olds in England: PISA 2015 National Report UCL Institute of Education Reference: Department for Education DFE-RR630.
- Mourshed, Mona; Chijioke, Chinezi and Barber, Michael (2010) How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better McKinsey and Co.
- NFER (2017) Refocusing Assessment resource guide available on the 26th July 2017.
- Oates, Tim (2010) Could do Better: Using international comparisons to refine the national Curriculum in England Cambridge: University of England.
- Peacock, Alison (2016) Assessment for Learning without Limits McGraw Hill.
- Peal, Robert (2014) Progressively Worse: The burden of bad ideas in British schools. CIVITAS.
- Pembroke, James (2015) The Progress Myth Blog post available on the 26th July 2017.
- Webb, Rosemary and Vulliamy, Graham (2006) The impact of New Labour’s education policies on classroom practice at KS2 Education Journal 1st November 2006.
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