Вариант 21

You are going to read a newspaper article on education. Read the text and answer the questions that follow. Decide whether each statement is True or False and provide your arguments drawn from the text to justify your choice. The proof should be given in your own words.

When I was a newly-qualified teacher, I went on a course about assessment which opened with the question: “What would we need to do to make testing a thing of the past?” Accompanying the question was a picture of an athlete tumbling over a hurdle as her competitors surged past her to the finish line. The metaphor was not difficult to decode: the hurdler represented all those children who work hard all year only to draw a blank on the day of their exam and achieve a grade below the one they deserve. The answer to the question was clear: to eradicate testing, teachers must become so able and accurate at assessing children’s capabilities that tests and exams would only reinforce what we already know.

But I happen to believe that tests and exams are good for children for a number of reasons. At certain times in our lives, we are required to do what is necessary in order to benefit from an opportunity. We can practise, we can prepare, we can lose sleep the night before, but at some point we have to achieve what we are capable of. Want a job? Do the interview. Want to drive? Take the test. So why should we shelter children from this experience? How are we preparing them for the world if we never subject them to it?

Tests and exams give children something to work towards. As a year 6 teacher, part of my job is to prepare children for their SATs exams in May. Some argue that these exams are just a measure by which the school is judged and that, because the children’s performance doesn’t contribute toward their transition to secondary school, the tests are pointless. I disagree. While achieving good SATs results is important to the school (it is a crucial factor in how a school is judged), I see them as a culmination of everything the children have learned since they were seven. It is a major milestone in their lives and on our class calendar.

National tests and exams such as SATs, GCSEs and A-levels are objective and nationally consistent ways of assessing children – they keep us honest. Teaching is a noble profession but all teachers, particularly in smaller schools, form emotional attachments to the children in their care. We want them to do well. We want them to progress. Sometimes, in performance management, we are told they have to progress or we are not meeting our targets.

So left to our own devices, it is all too easy to assess children optimistically. I’ve done it and I’ve seen other people do it. I’ve even heard it justified. It’s for the emotional wellbeing of the child. It’s to avoid his or her mum ranting and raving at parents’ evening. Whatever excuses we make, we all know one thing: over-assessing is wrong and externally-marked tests and exams remove it from the equation.

The opinion of the children can often be forgotten, but almost all my children enjoy taking tests. They like finding out their level and will keep asking me about their percentages and scores. Good results give them a sense of accomplishment and we teachers are well-versed in giving encouraging messages to those who do poorly. Some argue that the low-achieving children in the class will always feel dejected witnessing the cheers of high-achieving peers. That’s because we need to place more value on progress rather than attainment.

All our hearts would go out to the poor hurdler who tumbles over the final hurdle and finishes last in the race despite all their hard work. But would we then restart the race or give them a medal anyway because they were winning but got that last hurdle wrong? Of course, not. That isn’t the way the world works. If you’re a hurdler and you fall over a hurdle, you lose. That’s a fact. So how do athletes avoid it? They work hard and train and jump over thousands of practice hurdles, so that on the day of the race they can clear every hurdle in their lane, run the time they deserve to run and finish in the place they deserve to finish. What’s wrong with that?

1-5. Choose whether the statements are True (T) or False (F) and, to justify your choice, provide your proof from the text in your own words.

Example : (0) The statement is true because the narrator has never read a single book in the original and has not demonstrated any interest in the subject.