@LATWN 2009 Session One

pinching image from Andy Black who is sitting beside me. Image is of Andreas in full flow.

Doug Brown says hello to international audience -( just met Laurie O'Donnell from LTScotland , Stuart Robertson and a few other familiar Scottish faces over coffee we should do this more often in Scotland) In chair for event will be Willie Roe new Scottish Chair of Skills Development Scotland.

Stephen Crowne CEO BECTA says hello and introduces Andreas Schleicher to talk about OECD PISA study - best power points I have seen for while he is using latest statistics package for graphical explanation of statistics. Some great movements depicted - will be available through forum website.Australia get large number of people through vocational education at a relatively low cost. Have seen and heard this stuff before but very good presentation.

The skills that are easiest to teach and test are the ones that are less and less in demand. We fill people with content but not applied skills in real situations. Called Routine Cognitive Skills - we need job that involves non-routine cognitative skills - these are skill sets needed and the jobs that cannot easily be moved.

We need to assess how people solve problems work with others, coordinate and manage - how we synthesise find parters and solutions. Debate moves to Skills for 21st Century - how quickly can you become a specialist how fast can you evolve and adapt and solve new problems this is real test.

Evaluation and Assessment systems need to change - identified as driver of change.

UK - High Average Performance but Low Social Equity - some countries have achieved High Educational Performance and High Social Equity.

Finland debate on teachers rewards and fact that teachers play large part in developing the system - much more engaged - a lot of local responsibility but still national system . If you get accountability systems right teachers drive educational reform and quality at a local level. Best systems have teachers who can make strong professional judgements at a local level. Not direct relationship either between investment in systems and performance of systems

Monitoring will continue through to 2018, individual , institutional and systematic factors
harder how do you measure growth between primary and secondary schools. How do we bridge gap between formative and summative assessment. PISA uses computer delivered dynamic assessments will be fully implemented by 2012 - you get tailored adaptive assessment.

All about how assessment can change if we want a better system - what I signed up for when I came to SQA - I still wonder how much schools and universites are ready for the major change in assessment system that needs to take place - we'll see as we push ahead with Curriculum for Excellence.