tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post7211923947865907332..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: How to fail children: A review of the 2018 KS1 SATs test in readingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-30168433189446895922018-06-12T00:57:51.623+01:002018-06-12T00:57:51.623+01:00"Or is it there just to trick the kids so tha..."Or is it there just to trick the kids so that they answer this question wrongly?"<br /><br />I've done test-writing. I can tell you Dad's comment is there precisely to create a third wrong answer. And yes, it's often impossible to create three wrong answers without some terrible writing, especially at lower years/grades where you can't add too many words or complex concepts.Waltonhttp://www.waltonburns.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-61560730139525396392018-06-09T20:29:15.564+01:002018-06-09T20:29:15.564+01:00In order to get onto the PGCE in the first place y...In order to get onto the PGCE in the first place you have to do tests in literacy and numeracy (computer based, multiple choice). The literacy one was very similar to this one you posted, in quality of design and content. Not one of my cohort had a good word to say for them. The drop outs from the school-based course I was on were the most highly qualified entrants to the course, those with high expectations of education and plenty of experience of learning. Teachers nowadays are not being taught to teach but to train.Leilahttp://www.megaphonewrite.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-53816932251806694972018-06-09T20:20:58.588+01:002018-06-09T20:20:58.588+01:00It's so, so, so awful. I had to start my PGCE ...It's so, so, so awful. I had to start my PGCE year (happily abandoned, partly due to finding out how abysmal things like this are) by teaching this awful tripe. I cringe even now for the poor kids who suffered through it. My lessons were rated highly though. Teaching drivel well = teaching well, apparently. Leilahttp://www.megaphonewrite.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-85025293407952357162018-06-09T11:17:52.145+01:002018-06-09T11:17:52.145+01:00It should NOT be multiple choice! That is just to ...It should NOT be multiple choice! That is just to make it easy to mark.<br /><br />The rubric for the first question should read: "How was Bryn feeling?" With many possible answers.Mary Hoffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-66512405835146196812018-06-09T11:12:26.535+01:002018-06-09T11:12:26.535+01:00This is a really important post . It makes me so a...This is a really important post . It makes me so angry that children will feel failures if they do not pass, and yet it seems rigged so that the most thoughtful readers will fail. It is AWFUL. Like Susan Price, I always did really badly on comprehension tests for the same reasons she gives. Why haven't we improved , and how can we get across to the public that it is not the children who are failing but the system. By writing and sharing posts like this, I suppose. Thank you for writing it. Anne Boothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17160915179685300264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-61574220669150752562018-06-09T10:25:30.374+01:002018-06-09T10:25:30.374+01:00I am so glad to see such this sensible analysis of...I am so glad to see such this sensible analysis of a test that, as far as a child's schooling goes, is considered highly important. <br /><br />Parents will be given their child's results butI'm fairly sure most won't see the test-paper itself and so never know what a poor, dull and muddled text theirc hild faces. nor the totally confusing questions Year 2 readers have to tick. <br /><br />Although some parents, as teaching staff, may see the papers, they may not have time to study the paper/booklet before handing it out - or when collecting it back in for speedy marking.<br /><br />Grim stuff indeed.Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-86970330190867065032018-06-09T09:47:56.287+01:002018-06-09T09:47:56.287+01:00Who designs this nonsense?????Who designs this nonsense?????catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08189081688973141295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-35366509991964884522018-06-09T09:08:28.573+01:002018-06-09T09:08:28.573+01:00Good to know that things are just as bad in Austra...Good to know that things are just as bad in Australia, Sue! Not.<br /><br />I always loathed these kinds of 'comprehension' tests. I was a bright, very bookish, very literate child, consistently ahead of my class in reading skills. But could I answer one of these tests correctly? Could I *%£*!<br /><br />I remember concluding at about the age of 14 -- so much older than 7 -- that if you gave the bleeding obvious answer, like 'excited' above, it was wrong. If you thought about it deeply and gave a not obvious answer, since that was obviously what the test-setter was after, it was wrong. If your answer was ironic, funny, glib, sarcastic, deliberately wrong -- they were all wrong. I loathed these tests because they seemed designed to make you feel stupid. (I did like reading all the set passages, though, which were from 'Under Milk Wood,' 'Cider With Rosie,' and the like.)<br /><br />Many times, when given the 'correct' answer, I read back through the set passage and tried to work out how on earth the correct answer could possibly be the answer to the question. My own answer was supposed to show that I comprehended the passage, wasn't it? - I comprehended it. Many times I could only conclude that the person setting the questions didn't.<br /><br />It's not good to find that these incomprehension exercises are still as bad and are now being inflicted on 7 year olds.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-22684937873630400982018-06-09T07:58:17.279+01:002018-06-09T07:58:17.279+01:00We have tests here along the same lines, in Year 3...We have tests here along the same lines, in Year 3,5, 7 and 9. Just as useless! And they place school results on line, so parents can decide that this or that school is no good. So, of course, you teach to the test. And then they complain that you teach to the test. Which is the same for kids born in Australia and those who barely know the language. It’s not, in theory, compulsory for parents to allow their children to sit the tests, so some don’t, if they think their children won’t get anything out of it. And then schools are blamed for discouraging children from sitting it. Needless to say, the test IS compulsory for the school. <br /><br />I would be very surprised to hear that your test devisors had children in the state system. The people in charge are those with money - and class consciousness. Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.com