Assessment development
Key stage 2 National Curriculum English test
Since their inception in 1995, the key stage 2 National Curriculum tests for English have been developed and trialled by the NFER under contract to the QCA and ACCAC. Up to and including the year 1999, this comprised a single battery of English National Curriculum tests designed for statutory assessment purposes by the QCA and ACCAC, for use in both England and Wales. From the year 2000, however, ACCAC has provided a separate but parallel test package for exclusive use in Wales; these tests have also been developed and trialled by the NFER.
The key stage 2 National Curriculum test of English is designed to assess children’s performance as defined by the Attainment Targets 2 (Reading) and 3 (Writing) for English, levels 3 to 5, specified in the National Curriculum for English. It has been developed for use as the statutory assessment of year 6 pupils (10 to 11-year-olds) during the final term of their school year.
The English assessment comprises three separate tests: Reading, Writing and Spelling. The assessments aim, over time, to address as much as possible of the breadth and depth set out in the National Curriculum Programmes of Study and elaborated in the National Literacy Strategy. A range of different text types is included, and the questions ask children to respond to their reading by reflecting on characters, plot and ideas.
Development of the key stage 2 English tests
Each key stage 2 English test pack (comprising separate tests of Reading, Writing and Spelling) is developed over a period of approximately 20 months. During the development cycle, test materials are extensively trialled with representative samples of children. This allows for consideration of the technical functioning of the test, and also for the suitability of the items. Materials are also reviewed by panels of teachers and other educational professionals and experts, in terms of their suitability and accessibility for all children within the range of the test.
Details of the test materials
The reading test requires children to read a stimulus booklet during a 15-minute reading period. The reading stimulus booklet typically consists of several different types of text (e.g. a short story and a non-fiction passage) that are thematically linked. The children then have 45 minutes to answer questions on the stimulus booklet, writing their answers in a Reading Answer Booklet. Reading test items are typically a combination of multiple-choice items, and short and long constructed response formats. The questions address a variety of skills including inference, retrieval of information, commenting on the organisational and presentational features of texts and the techniques used by the writer. To a certain extent, the range of question types varies according to the specific language features of the texts in the reading stimulus booklet. The reading test is a 50-mark test; the number of marks per item ranges from 1 to 3.
The writing test consists of two prompts, requiring children to produce a longer and a shorter piece of writing. Over time, these prompts will represent a range of text types. Children have 45 minutes to write the longer piece and 20 minutes to write the shorter piece, and they are encouraged to use some of this time to plan their writing. The writing is assessed using a mark scheme that considers (1) sentence structure and punctuation; (2) text structure and organisation; (3) composition and effect; and (4) handwriting. Marks are weighted towards category (3). The marks available for the longer task (up to 31 marks) and the shorter (up to 12 marks) are combined. The mark from the spelling test (up to 7 marks) is also added, so that the maximum mark for writing is 50.
The spelling test contributes up to 7 marks to the writing test total. Children are required to fill the missing words into a teacher-read passage that is thematically linked to the reading test.
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