Department of Curriculum and Instruction Associate Professor Allison Skerrett is one of 10 members of the International Council of Education Advisers (ICEA) that advises the Scottish government on issues related to education and inequity. As a representative of the ICEA, she was interviewed about the decision of the Deputy and First Minister of Education to end newly implemented P1 early grade standardized testing in Scotland after a close parliament vote of 63-61.
The Daily Mail quoted Skerrett as saying, “If the standardised assessment is used to shame or blame, label or rank schools, that serves no benefit.”
“Benchmarking is about seeing where someone is at a particular point in time,” said Skerrett in Times Educations Supplement (TES) Scotland magazine. “It carries the message of trying to understand each child’s pathway or learning, and what is needed in terms of support. ‘Standardised’ gives a different picture of ‘this is what everyone should know and be doing at this point in time’,” said Skerrett.
Other international articles that featured Skerrett include The Herald , The Daily Record, and The Scotsman.
