Thread by @HuntingEnglish

*THREAD on 'SATs ban'*

1. As the ‘ban SATs’ debate rumbles on, I was interested to see @RosieDBennett piece in @thetimes criticising idea to ban SATs, with the @PTE_Campaign arguing poorer children would suffer from the banning of SATS: bit.ly/2KQfFT6. (Thread 1 to 11)

2. Now, the debate over disadvantaged pupils being negatively impacted by a banning of SATs saw political heavyweights arguing, with @AngelaRayner demanding "evidence over ideology", which struck me as a good place to start actually looking at some of the evidence.

3. The major claim that teacher assessment (which is seen by some as the alternative to SATs) is biased against disadvantaged pupils can be substantiated by Harlen (2004): bit.ly/2UOv0rZ. It shows that teacher assessment can be unconsciously biased against boys (due to

4. behaviour), as well as pupils with SEND. Another large scale study by Malouff & Thorsteinsson (2016) shows teachers can be biased in their grading by race & poor prior performance - whilst successful middle-class pupils may benefit from 'halo effects': bit.ly/2GuHlca.

5. Campbell (2015) once more shows biases against disadvantaged pupils: bit.ly/2zIjmTR. We have some warrant to say that disadvantaged pupils may suffer if standardised SATs test were removed, which is of course a worry. That isn't to say there are no issues with SATs.

6. SATs are not without problems: @ProfCoe neatly captures some of the issues with such standardised assessments here: bit.ly/2GysvBA. @Ofstednews have indicated a focus on the SATs has narrowed the KS2 curriculum: bit.ly/2yf81tx. Many of the people

7. who have signed the Times letter would likely argue that a narrowing of the curriculum at KS2 (pushing out science, history, the arts etc.) would actually hamper disadvantaged pupils the most. Are we clear? Well, no. Let's get to the real issue: parents see tests as stressful

8. for their children; teachers see the high stakes implications of such tests as stressful. That is a lot of voters who don't like SATs. And so politicians make an easy-win announcement. But the evidence would indicate that standardised tests are probably the fairest method,

9. with informed teacher assessment being a good thing, if stripped of high stakes pressures & supported with quality training (Harlen again: bit.ly/2IyyrN0). Harlen & Coe indicate that pervasive 'all tests are bad' view is wrong, but that teacher assessment is valuable.

10. Let's return to the plight of disadvantaged pupils & consider the school factor that is most impactful: teachers. We have one of the most inexperienced teaching professions in the OECD (bit.ly/2GzV0yR). They're overworked, undertrained & leaving the classroom.

11. Changing from SATs to some teacher assessment model won't have graduates & ex-teachers running back through the school gates. We need to address the wider issues in the system. We need to reform high stakes accountability & how SATs data is used & properly invest in teachers.