UnSATisfactory: or How the Reading SATs May Mask the Level of Achievement of Young Early Readers

SATs, particularly in Key Stage 1 have always been perhaps the most controversial aspect of the recent curriculum reforms. In this article, Rhona Stainthorp reports her research into the validity and usefulness of the KS1 SATs. Her results make rather worrying reading, suggesting that the reading SATs are very crude measures of children’s reading abilities. As Stainthorp argues, from their results, we actually have no idea how well some children are doing at reading.