1998-1999: the impetus for change

1998-1999: The impetus for change

By 1998 it was clear that initiatives designed to improve early education and raise standards were making demands on the 5-14 system of assessment which had not been envisaged at its inception in 1987. In particular: 

• the expansion of pre-school education from 1996 and of early intervention schemes from 1997 had focused attention on the use of assessment at pre-school and early primary stages to identify children's strengths, and address as early as possible any difficulties they were experiencing
• monitoring national standards of attainment for public accountability purposes had led to a demand for more consistent and reliable information about pupils' performance, particularly at points of transfer.

In November 1998, the Scottish Office commissioned HM Inspectorate of Schools to carry out a review of assessment in pre-school centres, primary schools and S1/S2. In December 1999, the resulting report concluded that there were two important and interlinked purposes for assessment: 

• to support learning, provide feedback to pupils, parents and other teachers, and identify next steps in learning 
• to provide information as a basis for monitoring and evaluating provision and attainment at school, education authority and national levels.

It also concluded that, to fulfil these purposes effectively, Scotland needed a coherent system of assessment that would: 

• provide reliable, continuous information about young people's progress and achievements, particularly at points of transfer or choice 
• provide well linked, although not necessarily identical, assessment procedures for pre-school centres, primary schools and the early secondary years 
• make realistic demands on early years practitioners, teachers, pupils and administrative staff.