Not many people believe their horoscopes, whether they consider them to be compulsory reading or not.
And a weather forecaster in November is rightly reluctant to want to predict the likelihood of a white Christmas.
So why do educationalists put so much store by tests taken in Year 7 that it’s said will predict the results of exams taken 5 years down the line:
- when young people’s brains develop at different rates;
- when experiences both within and outside school will vary so widely and
- when young people’s circumstances are so different?
It’s beyond me! 😉
The only measure of educational success is the progress each student makes. And the only way to measure that progress is to chart attainment over time, using a ladder of levels.