Accuracy of baseline assessment questioned in report

Baseline assessments for four-year-olds are unreliable and can cause disruption in a child’s start to schools, a new report claims.

The research, carried out for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT) by UCL Institute of Education, carried out in-depth interviews with staff in five primary schools piloting the assessments and questioned 1,131 NUT and ATL members in a snapshot survey.

Many of those asked claimed the tests, which are to be brought into all schools from September, were unreliable, duplicated work and did not marry with existing assessment systems.

The report, entitled ‘They are children… not robots, not machines - The Introduction of Reception Baseline Assessment’, discovered that 60 per cent of teachers do not think baseline assessment scores give an accurate reflection of children’s attainment, while only eight per cent of teachers think baseline assessment is a fair and accurate way to assess children.

Furthermore, 59 per cent responded stating that the baseline assessment had disrupted children’s start at school, and had not helped teachers get to know their pupils (54 per cent). Additionally, 71 per cent do not think baseline assessment has helped teachers identify the needs of SEN pupils and
68 per cent do not think it has helped identify the needs of EAL children.

Worryingly, only seven per cent responded saying that the new baseline assessment is a good way to assess how well primary schools perform.

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL, said: “The government would be wrong to push ahead with baseline assessments in the light of this research. It is questionable how far any form of assessment can accurately show the knowledge and skills of a four-year-old. Children are not robots and do not develop at a regular rate, so we have grave concerns about the reliability of measuring their progress from age four to 11.”

Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT, agreed, stating: “This research shows that teachers have no confidence in baseline as something that will produce fair and accurate results and that it can also have a negative impact on children’s start to school and the relationships that they develop with their teachers.

“Baseline is part of a punitive system used to de-professionalise and demoralise teachers and punish schools. It is not about supporting education and has no place in our schools. Children’s education and well-being are being treated as less valuable and important than accountability measures. We continue to oppose baseline assessment and call on the Department for Education to withdraw it.”

The schools involved in the research were: a London community school with three form entry, a South England community school with two form entry, a South West community school with four form entry, a West Midlands Church of England voluntary controlled school with two form entry, and a North community school with three form entry.