Review by Freddie Whittaker

12 Feb 2017, 5:00

Making Good Progress: the future of Assessment for Learning, by Daisy Christodoulou

A phrase much heard among impressive heads of history that I have worked with is ”kicking rubbish data upstairs to SLT”.

This is not unprofessionalism; it is the desperate necessity of those determined to preserve academic integrity and to help students properly.

It is a sign of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party that is school assessment in England that scholarly heads of department should be forced to manage two parallel worlds – the real world of quietly working out what will actually help students to improve, and the phoney world where it is assumed that repeated summative assessments, quite unfit for formative use, should take over the language of the classroom, distort teaching and trigger the whole bureaucracy of “intervention”.

Latest education roles from

Chief Education Officer (Deputy CEO)

Chief Education Officer (Deputy CEO)

Romero Catholic Academy Trust

Director of Academy Finance and Operations

Director of Academy Finance and Operations

Ormiston Academies Trust

Principal & Chief Executive

Principal & Chief Executive

Truro & Penwith College

Group Director of Marketing, Communications & External Engagement

Group Director of Marketing, Communications & External Engagement

London & South East Education Group

More Reviews

24 hours in police custody: Lost boys

The latest episode of 24 Hours in Police Custody: Lost Boys, broadcast on Channel 4, was not easy viewing. But...

Find out more

The Conversation of the Year

Our reviewers each pick the blog or podcast that has affected them most this year - and make the...

Find out more

The Conversation

This week's theme is intentionality: communicating with purpose, scaffolding reading, and being deliberate about incluson

Find out more

More from this theme

The Conversation

This week's top podcasts cover misconceptions about inclusive practice, a curriculum with purpose, and the magic of design and...

Find out more

Jamie’s Dyslexia Revolution

Jamie Oliver’s documentary is a masterclass in cooking up public interest and a recipe for humility in the education...

Find out more

The Conversation

How to use AI effectively, where to avoid it, why it's risky, and when to protect the all-important human...

Find out more

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

One comment