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The UK Parliament’s education committee warned that the Standard Assessment Task (SAT) may have an impact on children’s mental health and the quality of education.
The SAT is a test designed to check a student’s progress in the National Curriculum. It can also affect a school’s performance assessment, which can be seen in the league tables that The Department for Education (DfE) releases annually.
As a result, schools and teachers adjust their curriculum specifically for the test to make sure their students perform well. Members of Parliament claimed that the annual league tables need to be overhauled because the well-being of the students and the teachers are being neglected.
A new system where schools are to be ranked based on a three-year average instead of individual year results has also been proposed. This is to avoid the teachers’ tendency to only focus on subjects included in the test. A report suggests that if the stakes are lowered, teaching and learning will be more balanced.
Meanwhile, some educators have been pushing to have the SATs abolished. They argue that SATs are not an accurate measurement of achievement because it encourages students to cram. It can also expose them to the risk of experiencing failure at an early age.
Standardized tests have been a long-standing issue among educators. However, most education committees insist that it is necessary. The United States, for example, has tests like National Assessment of Educational Progress (NEPA) and the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).
On the other hand, Finland has been noted for not using standardized tests as a tool for measuring performance, yet their education system is hailed as one of the best in the world.