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A flagship government scheme to help poorly performing 11 and 12-year-olds
has failed to achieve significant improvements in their grades, new test
results show.
Most children involved in the Catch-up programme, which involved extra
maths and literacy lessons at lunchtime or after school, still had not
achieved the required level for 11-year-olds after a year's remedial teaching.
The results show that in English 70% of the 61,807 12-year-olds who had
to be given extra lessons, still failed to reach the required standard
for 11-year-olds after a year's extra coaching.
The Catch-up programme was introduced in 2001, when pupils performing
below national standards at 11 were given extra lessons concentrating
exclusively on the "three Rs".
The Government claims that the tests, which focused on primary school
work were not suitable and has asked for the test for 12-year-olds to
be rewritten.
(Telegraph, 9 March 2003)
The national strategy for teaching 11 to 14-year-olds has, so far, improved
teachers' skills but failed to raise pupils' results, according to inspectors.
The Office for Standards in Education reported that there was no significant
evidence of "widespread, significant improvement" in test results
for 14-year-olds at the first schools to try the Government's key stage
3 strategy.
An analysis of results in 2002 showed that the 205 pilot schools made
fractionally less improvement in English than other secondaries.
Chief inspector David Bell said that the strategy had been introduced
gradually starting with pupils who began at the secondary schools three
years ago, so its real impact would not be clear until after tests in
May 2003.
The report stated that the strategy had produced "promising signs"
and that the schools had welcomed it. It added: "The strategy has
had a positive impact on teaching, notably in relation to the setting
out of lesson objectives, greater variety and purposefulness in activities,
and more involvement of pupils in their learning."
The Key Stage 3 Strategy: evaluation of the second year is at www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications
(TES, 7 March 2003)
A Government-commissioned evaluation of the pilot of the key stage 3
strategy suggested the prescribed teaching methods did more to improve
the results of pupils from affluent homes than those from poor backgrounds.
It did little to close the gap between boys and girls.
However, the study by academics at two universities found that most schools
had welcomed the strategy's focus on teaching and learning, and believed
it would eventually lead to improvements.
Academics from the University of Bath and London University's Institute
of Education analysed the performance of thousands of Year 7 pupils in
English and maths. 40% of pupils in the pilot schools who achieved level
3 in English key stage tests at the end of primary school had progressed
to level 4 in tests taken at the end of year 7. In maths, the figure was
21%.
The study described these gains as "limited". Among pupils
achieving level 4 or above in English in primary school, 33% had moved
up a level by the time they took optional tests in Year 7; in maths the
figure was 61%. This final figure was "substantial", but the
study did not have a comparable rate for non-pilot schools.
The study also found that in the pilot schools girls moved further ahead
of boys in English in Year 7 and pupils in deprived areas made less progress
than those in affluent ones.
Most schools welcomed the strategy's focus on teaching and learning.
There was some evidence that teachers' expectations were raised, that
they used more varied methods and talked more about teaching and learning.
But many teachers were found to be "tweaking" their teaching
techniques, rather than radically changing their practice.
A Department for Education and Skills spokeswoman admitted KS3 results
in the pilot schools in 2001 and 2002 were roughly the same as for all
schools but in 2002, results across all schools had been the best ever.
Ministers were now focusing their efforts on supporting specific groups
of underachieving pupils to build on these gains.
Preparing for change: evaluation of the key stage three strategy pilot
- www.dfes.gov.uk/keystage3/updates/
(TES, 28 February 2003)
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