Clearly I don't get it!

Having read the National Standards and the surrounding ballyhoo, I just can't see what the fuss is all about. Standards are important - it's how we measure our ability to move the achievement levels of students. These standards, if we strip away the fear of league tables and children being labelled, could be an important process in raising achievement - surely this is our core business. At my school we have used assessment similar to the standards for the last five years - and we have seen significant improvement in both student achievement and school effectiveness. It comes down to this fact - if you can measure something - you can manage it.

Chris Morris

Comment by Erin Lawrence on February 2, 2010 at 22:04: So you 'measure' a child, tell them they aren't achieving the national standard and that fixes the problem? How does a child/family/school knowing a child is not meeting a national standard make children achieve better?
I am interested in how your school has raised student achievement and school effectiveness based soley on standards results.....

Comment by Chris Morris on February 3, 2010 at 8:54: Erin - good question.

Informing the student/parents is all about professionalism - we have a responsibility to identify issues and then respond to them. Getting the family to own both the issues and the response is an extremely effective tool in raising achievement.

With this process we identified some issues in writing 5 years ago. We engaged a consultant to work intensively with staff and we targeted specific students for support. The result was that we significantly lifted achievement. Using standardised information provides the ability to measure and then manage an issue. It's not rocket science.

Clearly I don't get it!

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