Original paper headline: Test legitimacyA letter to The TES in which a parent questioned the legitimacy of testing children aged 10 in order to allocate grammar school places prompted me to write to Kent County Council asking for information about the validity of its 11-plus tests (July 17). The answer indicated that it has no objective evidence as to the test’s predictive validity. The council also said: “We do not . track the performance of individual pupils in their secondary education in the light of their 11-plus test scores.”
If these statements are true, then Kent’s education authority may be failing in its duty to verify that the tests it uses are fit for purpose - a particularly serious charge given this form of selection is high- stakes.
- George Bethell, Director, Anglia Assessment, Stowmarket, Suffolk.
