I enjoyed your articles on the kids’ strike (Five reasons parents are boycotting primary schools over Sats,3 May), which emphasise the anxiety caused by excessive testing of children, and the reporting of league tables.
Testing of children does not need to be stressful. Excessive stress results from the utilize that we as a society build of the test results. Children are being asked to carry the responsibility for evaluating their teachers,by performing well in tests. It is unfair of society to request that of them. Teachers are evaluated, not on how well they teach (within their control), or but on how well their students do in tests (not entirely within their control). Parents are encouraged to utilize the resulting league tables to choose a school for their children. The pressure on schools to report good results is transferred on to teachers,which is transferred on to the pupils.
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Source: theguardian.com