Lord Bew published his final report on the Government-commissioned review of Key Stage 2 assessment and accountability on 23 June 2011. The full report can be viewed here.

The report recommends that:

• The current writing test should be replaced by teacher assessment of writing, which should have the greatest weighting in the overall writing judgement.
• There should be a spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary test as part of writing.
• Maths should continue to be externally tested.
• Reading tests should continue but should be revised over time to focus more on "accuracy, fluency and comprehension".
• Science should continue to be teacher assessed with a sample test to monitor national standards.
• Three-year rolling averages should be introduced to give a rounded picture of a school's performance in the league tables.
• There should be a greater emphasis on the progress of pupils. Any overall judgement of a school by the Government, local authorities or Ofsted should give at least as much weighting to progress as attainment.
• Teacher assessment judgements should continue in English, maths and science, and should be submitted before test results are announced.
  

The report's recommendations are a step in the right direction. Whilst stopping short of recommending an assessment system based entirely on teacher assessment, which would have conflicted with the Government's remit for the review, Lord Bew has made it clear that Government should trust the professionalism of teachers far more and should ensure that its accountability mechanisms are fair for all schools and do not have "unintended consequences" on teaching and learning.

Listening to the NUT

The NUT's statement on Key Stage 2 assessment and accountability, which it produced jointly with NAHT and ATL, has clearly been influential. It is referred to in Lord Bew's report several times and is directly linked to the review's recommendations on:

• greater use of summative teacher assessment to provide a more rounded and balanced picture of each pupil's attainment;
• investment in moderation and professional development;
• greater trust in and empowerment of the profession in a core teaching activity, assessment; and
• greater account of the whole school's achievements, rather than an over-focus on test results, for all accountability measures.

In fact, if it had not been for the NUT's previous action with NAHT on the SATs, the review may never have happened. As the final report says:

"In spring 2010 NAHT and NUT balloted their members on action to boycott the delivery of end of Key Stage 2 National Curriculum Tests. They argued that it was not appropriate to use a single week of externally-marked tests to hold schools publicly accountable... The considerable strength of feeling demonstrated by this action contributed directly to this Review being established."

Next Steps

The Government is currently considering its response to the recommendations made by Lord Bew. As part of this process, the NUT will be urging it to address some of its key concerns about the proposals, in particular:

• the recommendation to limit summative teacher assessment to writing only;
• the introduction of a new writing test for grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary skills;
• the possible introduction of a new reading test which would, like the Year 1 phonics screening check, focus on "accuracy" and "fluency";
• the continued dominance of accountability as the rationale for retaining the maths and reading SATs;
• the inclusion of additional measures in the school league tables and the retention of the headline attainment indicator, rather than their abolition; and
• in the longer term, the potential introduction of year-based testing arising from the National Curriculum review which is currently underway.

Information about the Government's response to Lord Bew's report, and the NUT's reaction to it, will be available here as it becomes available. Keep up to date with future announcements from the NUT by making www.teachers.org.uk your home page.

10 reasons why SATs should go
10 reasons why league tables should go
Making Assessment Measure Up (NUT/ATL)
Statement by the NUT and NAHT

For assessment reform campaign materials and resources, please click here.