The assessment has become the curriculum
Teachers’ views on the Phonics Screening Check in England
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11160644 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jane Carter (0000-0001-6304-1027, University of the West of England Bristol UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 593-609 |
| Publication date | 2020-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Educational Research Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0141-1926 • E-ISSN: 1469-3518 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/berj.3598 |
| OpenAlex | W3006604055 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 23 |
The Phonics Screening Check (PSC) was introduced in England in 2012 for Year 1 children (aged 5 and 6). There have been criticisms of the check in relation to its reliability and appropriateness as an assessment for early reading, although advocates of the check see it as a valuable tool in securing progress in early reading. This mixed methods study sought to evaluate the intended and possible unintended consequences of the PSC, foregrounding the voices of children and their teachers. This article reports on findings from the teachers’ data. The study focused initially on questionnaire data from 14 schools (59 teachers) selected for their diversity in relation to attainment data (PSC and reading) and socio‐economic status. Focus groups in seven of the schools (25 teachers) enabled a more in‐depth exploration of teachers’ views and practices in relation to the PSC. The study identified the ‘negative backwash’ of assessment. The PSC was seen as an end in itself, rather than a way of securing progress in one of the skills of reading. It found that, the assessment had become the curriculum, to the detriment of specific groups of learners (higher‐attaining readers and children with English as an Additional Language). Teachers were found to use the assessment processes of the PSC as objectives for teaching rather than using them as the tools of assessment
Assessment for learning · Curriculum · Focus group · Foregrounding · Formative assessment · Literacy · Mathematics education · Medical education · National curriculum · Pedagogy · Phonics · Political science · Primary education · Reading (process) · Relation (database) · Sociology · Teaching method · Whole language · Computer Science · Early Childhood Education and Development · Educational and Psychological Assessments · Medicine · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development
The politics and pedagogy of teaching literacy in the state of Victoria, Australia
Literacy support in England
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Literacy histories as opportunities for learning
Exploring primary and secondary students’ experiences of grammar teaching and testing in England
The passion, pedagogy and politics of reading
Literacy Research and Its Relationship with Policy
Gaming’ in the English primary school
Beyond the phonics debate
How Schools Do Policy
Action Research
Doing without believing – enacting policy in the English primary school
Phonics
The ‘datafication’ of early years pedagogy
The politics of literacy in the context of large‐scale education reform
The impact of the Phonics Screening Check on grouping by ability
Knowledge, education and research
Decoding the phonics screening check
Ethics, education policy and research
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Publics, Politics and Power
Embracing tension
| Citations per year | 1.8 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |