New plans call for more robust, in-classroom teacher support

A report by the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry is recommending a classroom-based approach to student assessment (which removes the high pressure exam model).

Marius Prodana, CEO and founder of education technology specialist, Wand.Education, said:

“The imminent exam period is one of high stress – not only for students and parents but for teachers, too. Plans highlighted in this research would certainly help to mitigate some of that stress, largely caused by a “high-stake” exam model. But it’s important to underline that teachers would need more robust, in-classroom support for this approach to work in practice. Not least to provide consistency of assessment, but to ensure that workloads are not stretched even further than they are currently through extra marking and reporting processes.

“Technology platforms can help with this. For example, rather than spending hours setting and marking tests, students’ knowledge retention can be tested in a few clicks, whilst analytical tools provide quick diagnosis of whole class, individual student learning needs and deficits in their knowledge acquisition. This is already a key component of the current exam-based model, but would prove even more vital should a different approach be implemented. What’s more, using technology for assessment marking would also mitigate much, if not all, risks associated with teacher bias due to factors such as race, religion or gender.”