The pressure for reform/replacement of the current GCSE and A-Levels has been growing for months, and the activity of the Rethinking Assessment group has got off to an impressive start in bringing a broad range of parties to the task. However, anyone who has ever been involved in education reform at any level, from school to HE/FE, will share stories of past disappointments.

 

The use of technology in schools, in my opinion, was constrained unhelpfully by the exam system’s limited view of assessment.

 

I remember a US Midwest school where the children made documentaries on projects. They wrote, produced, presented and organised the material in a variety of topics, including history and science. The skills the students had developed, along with confidence, was a joy to see. I used this as an example at a teaching conference in England. When I asked “Why not in England?”, the exam system was always given as the blocker. Employers have for years complained that young people are leaving education not work-ready. Yet the children in the example above clearly had teamworking, communication and project skills acquired through academic learning.

 

To avoid this opportunity to rethink assessment stalling, despite clear momentum, I think that we need to step back from the immediate challenge and look at some deeper questions.

• What is assessment for?
• Who is assessment for?

Without aligning the proposed reforms to clear answers to these questions, my concern is that we make some piecemeal changes which fail to grasp the opportunity to deliver a step change in the quality of education for all our children and teachers alike.

 

The difficulty is that these are not easy questions to answer. Education as a whole is a large and complex ecosystem with many stakeholders.

 

The answer to who includes the student, parents, employers, HE and FE, and must not forget teaching staff. When a child moves from primary to secondary school, what information about that child goes with them? What information would help the teachers in the new school best prepare for the new intake? What is the current gap and is it being addressed?

 

The answer to what includes a record of a learner’s achievement, motivating the learner, and guiding them on strengths and weaknesses. It can also be used to focus teacher development.

 

These are only partial answers. I believe that we need a dialogue beyond schools to address these in the wider interests of schools and their staff, students and the wider society and economy.

 

Of course we need to “do” something for the students of 2021 to give them hope and confidence. However, I think that it is important to realise that the solution for next year is at best a stop gap. This is likely to take a decade to build consensus and deliver a robust solution for the longer term. Sustaining momentum will be a challenge for us all. Failure to sustain has been a problem in previous reform efforts.

 

I remember attending a number of think tanks in the 1990s discussing what a 21st century assessment system would look like. What I find interesting is that the growing consensus now looks very like those discussions then. Richer data, learner focused, a balance between formative and summative assessment models were all desired then.

 

It is too easy to be cynical and put our heads down and assume that nothing will change. The pandemic has seen schools battle to keep education going and innovating in real-time. There have been many success stories.

 

Will this time be different? I think so.

 

There is a quote from, of all people, Lenin that some up my optimism:

 

 

Overconfidence in the exam system has, for me, stymied previous educational initiatives. The weeks over the summer with the exam problems will be difficult to contain.

 

We do need pragmatic steps, but these need to be within a development of a broader vision that can guide policy, research, professional development and curriculum development.

 

Some of you will no doubt ask whether we need to ask questions at a different level too?

• What is education for?
• Who is education for?

That is for another day, but possibly sooner than we may think today.

• Rethinking assessment: join the debate
• Making the grade...time for change?
• The future of education and data: 3 key questions 
• Rising stars: why are some students thriving out of school?

Plus:

• "This crisis shows creativity and critical thinking are more vital than ever before" - Prof. Bill Lucas, published on BigEducation.org
• "Rethinking assessment" - webinar hosted by Chartered College of Teaching