Scottish National Standardised Assessments

As previously reported, the Scottish Government launched the Scottish National Standardised Assessments last August for use with P1, P4, P7 and S3 for this session and beyond. The assessments cover Numeracy, Reading and Writing (spelling, grammar and punctuation only).

The Scottish Government has stated that the purpose of the assessments is diagnostic and that the relatively small amount of assessment evidence generated by the SNSAs will sit alongside a much more extensive range of assessment evidence to inform planning of learning and teaching, and teacher professional judgement around the achievement of CfE levels.

Scottish Government has also stated the clear expectation that the SNSAs will replace all other standardised assessments previously used by local authorities, and that the timing of SNSAs should be determined by teacher judgement in consultation with schools and local authorities.

Training for teachers in the use of SNSAs and the data generated by them, should have been delivered by SCHOLAR, according to need as determined by local authorities.

The EIS remains firm in its position that all assessment should support learning, should be timed appropriately as determined by teacher professional judgement, and should not be conducted with whole cohorts at once.

The EIS continues to reiterate these views to the Scottish Government nationally and to encourage Local Associations to make the case with local authorities.

Any member concerned about the handling of SNSAs, for example, with regards to training; the timing of, presentation patterns for, or misuse of data from, SNSAs; or of continuation of other forms of standardised assessment, should seek further advice from the Local Association Secretary or EIS Headquarters.

The EIS has produced an assessment policy poster with further information on current EIS advice. If your school’s assessment policy doesn’t pass the EIS test, our current advice on assessment could help.