Class teachers expressed strong support for the statement that “PIPS feedback provides little more than a good teacher knows intuitively”. While 57 per cent of the headteachers disagreed or disagreed strongly, 62 per cent of class teachers agreed or agreed strongly.
While the majority of teachers appear to trust their own judgment, most agreed that even combined with the profiles received from nursery school, their observations were not sufficient for planning what to do with P1 pupils.
One head said: “Absolutely no doubt - any teaching weakness or trend is readily identifiable and gives weight to management wishing to make changes.”
One more cynical teacher said: “When using PIPS data I am aware of the fact that it is 50 per cent inaccurate. The information in the nursery reports is far more valuable to me.”
