I think people who have gone through Singapore's "mugging" based education system can identify with several points raised in this BBC article ...
Primary school tests 'negative'
Tests for primary school pupils in England should be replaced with teacher assessments, a think-tank says.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said "too many" pupils left primary school unable to read and write and do mathematics well.
It said the testing system was partly to blame as it encouraged "teaching to the test" rather than equipping pupils with skills for secondary school.
The report was endorsed by the General Teaching Council for England (GTC).
The IPPR report criticised what it called the negative effects of the current testing regime, which included narrow learning, shallow learning, question spotting and risk-averse teaching.
It suggested pupils should be assessed throughout each key stage by teachers - as they are in primary schools in Wales.
Respecting teachers
IPPR associate director Richard Brooks said every pupil needed a solid foundation of reading, writing and mathematics at the end of primary school so that they could make a success of their secondary schooling.
The GTC wants to see a reduction in the overload of testing
General Teaching Council for England
"An end to national key stage testing should make space for better teaching and learning, but it would also mean new assessment responsibilities for teachers," he said.
"We need a 'new deal' where teachers and heads are respected and held accountable as professionals."
In a statement, the General Teaching Council for England said: "We welcome the IPPR's report on assessment - it supports our view that the current regime encourages "teaching to the test" and that tests are being used for too many conflicting purposes.
"The GTC wants to see a reduction in the overload of testing and is proposing that samples of children are tested at the end of every key stage, to monitor national standards over time.
"We also back the IPPR's call for more trust to be placed in the professional judgement of teachers to use assessment to support pupil learning more effectively."
The Department for Education and Skills argues that tests are an integral part of effective teaching and learning.
It says the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority monitors them to ensure they test a depth of knowledge that cannot simply be instilled by "teaching to the test". http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6204457.stmsounds familar ? ... these are some points that survivors of the Singapore education system can intimately identify with eh ? ...
I wonder if they have 10 year series there ...
but the situation in Singapore is hardly surprising, considering that so very often, the sole performance benchmark of scholastic excellence is test marks ....
when schools are ranked (number ranking or band ranking, what's the diff ?), and students streamed, and the guage of a job well done for teachers and principals is how many A's the students get, is it any surprise at all ? ...
