Bath Spa University has been awarded a significant grant to lead the way in helping teachers accurately assess children’s scientific knowledge and understanding.
CRESL is one of seven national PSTT hubs and will receive a grant of £150,000 over three years from the Primary Science Teaching Trust which provides financial assistance to help improve the learning and teaching of science in the UK.
This three-year project supported by PSTT and underpinned by research will aim to develop new approaches to teacher assessment in primary school science education.
The Bath-based hub will work intensively with 12 primary schools across the South West region. The team will work closely with teachers in piloting new and different models of assessment that will enable teachers to better gauge how their pupils are progressing in science. PSTT College fellows and members will be involved from the outset with the development of the new approaches to teacher assessment.
Science was heralded as a ‘core’ subject when the National Curriculum was introduced in 1989 and there was a steep rise in the science attainment of pupils between 1995 and 2000. Since then, science attainment levels have remained stable.
There has been a long-running debate about the effectiveness of using SATs as an indicator of teaching quality long before their abolition for Science in 2010. Especially the pressure felt by some teachers to ‘teach the test’ rather than encourage them to enable their pupils to understand the science they are learning.
Professor Dan Davies, Head of Research and Graduate Affairs in the School of Education is one of the six researchers at Bath Spa who are part of CRESL. He said: “Assessment refers to more than just grading a piece of written work. Much can be learned from the way a child approaches a practical project or their reasoning behind their ideas.”
“Assessment is an essential part of the teaching process. Without careful and accurate assessment, it can be very difficult for a teacher to gauge their children’s progress and plan the next steps in their learning.”
It is hoped at the end of this extensive research project that a new approach to science assessment will have been created drawing upon the best practice of teachers across the country.
The new Primary National Curriculum is part of the 2010 National Education Act and will be implemented by schools from 2014. This project intends to support teachers in meeting the expectations of the new curriculum through training and sharing best practice.
