Delegates attending the annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) have instead been urged to “stand fast” to their principles and not be driven by a “parasitic accountability regime”.
The call came from ASCL general secretary, Brian Lightman, as he addressed members on Saturday (March 21).
He warned that with an over-reliance on external testing we risked deskilling the profession and creating a “low trust culture which drives the curriculum into the stultifying straitjacket of what can be assessed in a written test”.
Mr Lightman said all teachers needed to access professional knowledge and skill in assessing and enabling students to make progress. He also advocated a “profession-led assessment ethics framework” to end allegations of schools ‘gaming’ the system.
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