WANDSWOTH'S Tory council has so far spent £120,000 on court action against a teachers union.
the pance case against the NAS/UWT has been a centrepicce of the government camfollowing through the new nasocal scboo The hard-right council administration has allocated an exua 130,000 = no-one knows where from - to ensure the SATs are handed in.
The stakes are high for the Tories. If they can't enforce tests in the state schools they will try to make it illegal for teachers not to carry out the Why so desperate? Because the plans for bringing the market into education are founded on the SATs.
In Wandsworth four year old Chikdren are tested on arrival in Reception classes. This testing consists of teacher assessment of a child's experience of maths, science and english with some social context Booklet in addition they have to complete a 12 page booklet that is ness to read'.
One question asks the child to UNION NEWS put a ring round anything edible on the page. A girl who put a ring round a balloon, explaining that she would burst if she cat it got the answer wrong in spite of showing an understanding of the question and an imaginative idea about what balloons can do. No marks for a sense of humour!
These tests are collated on the Council's database and a figure produced to show how well, or not the child has done. These are then compared with the Bor ough average and schools can be carue tabico on une partia. children show on entry to At seven, children do the SATs, involving half a year's work when the timetable has to be completely transformed to cope with the level of testing that has to be done everyday.
At 11 children are tested TRADE again with Wandsworth's own tests. One is an intelligence test. the other two test resding and maths. Again the database that is net on every school is usco to analyse the results and claims "The idea that standards can be raised by testing is a cynical manipulation of parents' desires for the best for their children" to show whether a school is add. ing value to the child.
i a number or popus are toe achieving as highly as their intelligence tests would prodict the school is asked to explain itself to the Chief Inspector and Standards monitoring group.
These tests will form a basis for selection to Secondary school, possibly as soon as next year.
Tests are part of the formula by which schools are funded. Refusal to test has meant one school has lost tens of thousands of pounds. Wandsworth has consistently refused to use any social context of the school.
The public debate around testing focuses on parental Parents are supposedly given the right to know how well their child and the school is doing compared to the 'national When parents read these results the information is disappointingly crude. The narent of a seven year old may be told that their child has achieved level two.
short or reading une neavy tomes produced by the goverment on how to assess and construct the total mark a parent is not going to find out whether their child can, for example. read a short story and read the text aloud with expression and Many schools have devised very informative ways of reporting to parents that helps to Chief tester: Patten involve them in supporting their children's laming.
Confusing
The league tabling of schools themselves continues to conuse parents, In Wandsworth lists of schools are published, sometimes by result, sometimes in alphabetical order.
It is never clear what criteria are used for public lists and schools whose names begin with A are often perceived as those at the top of the league At other times the directordering of schools by result produces a mass of telephone calls to the schools at the top of the list asking for an immediate transfer.
The idea that standards can be raised by testing is a cynical manipulation of all parents" desites for the best for their children.
What it is reaily about is more for less. In a recent committee paper Wandsworth's Tories explained that the testing and measuring of a schools performsame quality for less money. The Wandsworth tests are not comparable with each other, and have no educational value Once the standard is outlined then a lower paid teacher, or one whose salary will only be raisod at the whim of the governors, will be expected to produce the 'Added value' Performance related pay will be casier for governors to administer as they will be able to see which teachers are adding value to the pupils oducation. Costly appraisal schemes would not be needed to judge teacher performance Though Wandsworth's three sets or esis make no artems to establish uniform criteria, and cannot be used to compare with each other, the council intends to use them to measure school effectiveness* - alongside other information such as the ethnic mix of schools.
Thi information will be available in local libraries to help schools. Decisions made on racis grounds will be tar caster.
These tests represent the face of an authority which monitors and measures obsessively in an attempt to cut unit costs. They also indicate an authority that has clearly stated that the perstudents is not the business of the school.
Without the SATs Wandsworth's project to bring will be seriously under threat. teachers to come into schools pletely unmanageable in secondary schools.
In primary schools the offer of one day's supply cover would go nowhere near covering the amount of paperwork that has to be done to collate the results of the SATs which teachers have been working on since January.
Wandsworth have indicated not wish to fine teachers who do not do the SATs. They know they can't after the court case. They want to be as helpful as possible in giving schools extra staff and time! It is part of theit policy to publicly state they are giving schools freedom and flexibility.
(For instance, they have given school governors flexibility to harmonise down the pay of manual workers in schools. losing between 20 and 30 per However when it comes to the measuring of a school's performance, every effort is put in to make sure that no school is allowed to deviate from the model.
Governors
Governors are now aware that there is grave concem over the educational value of the tests.
They are an important link in the opposition to testing and many governing bodies will be explaining to the Council that they cannot pass on the results of the SATs.
Ine neadicachers association has advised all Wandsworth members to seck the support of passing on or collating any results.
The ideological battle over what is to be taught is probably mous opposition to the SATs, bur if "school effectiveness' be measured Wandsworth's pilos will be on
NW will SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 43 May 29 1993. Page 5