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British teachers to boycott achievement tests

Almost 300,000 teachers in England and Wales are gearing up to boycott their countries’ equivalent of Alberta’s Grades 3 and 6 provincial achievement tests (PATs).

On April 11, delegates to the annual conference of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) voted unanimously to ballot members this fall to refuse to prepare for and administer statutory assessment tests in English language arts, mathematics and science to 7- and 11-year-old students, beginning in the spring of 2010. Outgoing NUT president Bill Greenshields described the tests as a form of “child abuse.”

The National Association of Head Teachers, which represents 28,000 school administrators in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, will vote on the proposal May 2.

The NUT wants to replace statutory assessment tests with teacher-developed diagnostic tests. It also wants the government to scrap the school league tables, which are equivalent to the school rankings published by the Fraser Institute.

The British Department for Children, Schools and Families called the move illegal. “The motion proposed by the NUT leadership calling for a boycott of next year’s statutory tests is irresponsible, unlawful and out of touch with what parents and teachers want. A boycott would be highly disruptive to children’s education and would damage the standing of the teaching ­profession,” a spokesperson said.

In 2008, the British government eliminated statutory ­assessment tests for 14-year-old students.

Back in Alberta, Minister of Education Dave Hancock told the legislature April 7 that Grade 3 achievement tests would not disappear immediately, despite the passage of Motion 503. “I see no immediate change in our process, but we’re looking at what we’re doing, and we’re always willing to improve,” he said. He added that, while department ­officials are working on ­diagnostic testing, “this is not a replacement for PAT 3s.”

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