The SNP government needs to clearly set out what the National Improvement Framework (NIF) will mean for education professionals, the Scottish Conservatives said today.
In August, the First Minister announced the framework which will see the return of standardised tests for P1, P4 and P7, and again in S3 to measure attainment in schools.
However, after today’s education committee teaching professionals are none the wiser on NIF after the cabinet secretary Angela Constance failed to set out what the new framework will mean for them.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union said it was not against the use of standardised tests but warned against making such assessments the focal point of the NIF.
In August the Scottish Conservatives said the SNP needed to address the chaotic system of testing primary school pupils before the attainment gap deepens.
Scottish Conservative young people spokeswoman Liz Smith said:
"At the end of today's committee meeting, we are none the wiser about what provisions will be set out in the National Improvement Framework. This is despite the fact that the Scottish Government insists that it will play the dominant role in helping local authorities to deliver higher standards in our classrooms.
“On the one hand, we were told by the cabinet secretary that it would mean local authorities would change the way they work to assess attainment but on the other hand the Scottish Government appeared to say that the contents would be open to negotiation.
“This is simply not good enough nor is the complete absence of compelling evidence as to why legislation is necessary to make the qualitative changes required.
“The Scottish Government expects the education committee to make a judgment on this issue without even seeing the relevant stage 2 amendments. This does a disservice to both the committee and to the parliament."