Those who can't spell, Teach

[Midget]

Literacy tests for trainee teachers show that those who can't spell, teach

 

Thousands of trainee teachers are struggling to pass literacy tests that require them to spell words such as anxiety, relieved and mathematical.

 

More than 11,000 trainee teachers, just over a quarter of the annual intake, failed to pass the literacy test last year at their first attempt, an increase of 16 per cent since 2001.

 

The findings have prompted concern that new teachers may be struggling with the basic skills they will be charged with passing on to pupils.

 

David Laws, the Liberal Democrat schools spokesman, said: “Spelling is a key basic skill. We need a renewed focus on getting the basics right.

 

“As the number of applicants being accepted on to teaching courses rises, we need to be sure that this isn't being coupled with a decline in standards. The existing minimum qualifications for people wanting to become teachers are too low.”

 

Mr Laws said that the economic slowdown should be used as an opportunity to promote teaching as a profession and attract top graduates.

 

The tests, which are taken online by students training for primary and secondary schools, are designed to raise standards in the profession. Trainees can take them as many times as they want.

 

Although teachers must have good GCSE passes in English, maths and science and a degree to work in English state schools, the tests were introduced in 2000/01 amid concerns that teacher training did not provide a sufficient grounding in the basics. The figures, obtained by the Liberal Democrats in a Commons written answer, show that the failure rate in numeracy has also risen since the tests were first introduced. Last year 20,000 trainee teachers failed to pass the numeracy test at the first attempt. On average, around half the students had to take the test twice before passing. In ICT, 4,000 failed the test first time.

 

Research this year from the Spelling Society found that more than half of adults could not spell embarrassed or millennium. A quarter struggled with definitely, accidentally and separate.

 

The survey found that Britons blame the current state of poor spelling on parents and teachers, with three out of four people believing that spelling among children is worse now than it was ten years ago.

 

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said that the quality of teacher training had never been higher.

 

“The vast majority of trainee teachers pass all three tests first time round and the bottom line is that no one can start teaching until they have passed them,” the department said. “More top-quality teachers than ever before are entering the profession from industry, the public sector and universities, thanks to highest-ever pay levels, golden hellos, better behaviour and discipline, and slashed paperwork.”

 

The Training and Development Agency for Schools said that the average pass rate across all three subjects was more than 83 per cent.

 

Practice trainee teacher tests can be found at QTS - Teacher skill tests; literacy, numeracy and ITC - TDA

 

TRY THE TESTS YOURSELF

 

1 Children’s answers to my questions were most ___________.

 

a) iluminating

 

b) illuminateing

 

c) iluminateing

 

d) illuminating

 

2 The project had to be completed ___________.

 

a) independently

 

b) indepederntly

 

c) indapentently

 

d) indepentantly

 

3 The Headteacher ____________ welcomed the new teachers into the school.

 

a) formaly

 

b) formerly

 

c) formally

 

d) formaley

 

4 These ___________ changes are to be introduced from next term.

 

a) procedural

 

b) procedaral

 

c) procedurale

 

d) procederal

 

5 Pupils were asked to leave any ___________ items behind.

 

a) unecessary

 

b) unneccesary

 

c) unnessecary

 

d) unnecessary

 

*Gets into asbestos trousers*

[dhicks]

Although teachers must have good GCSE passes in English, maths and science and a degree to work in English state schools, the tests were introduced in 2000/01

 

Spot the problem. Getting a C-or-above at GCSE is no guarantee that you can actually do basic maths, English or ICT. But we're still teaching GCSEs...

 

--

David Hicks

[witch]

Lots of the younger teachers I know can't spell - it seems to me that the problem is that although they had to learn lists of spellings in infant and junior school, their spellings in essays and the like were NEVER corrected so they never got the hang of using the correct spelling in their work.

In fact, when the children produce work for display, some of the teachers don't even correct the spelling then!

I've always thought that a piece of work should have two marks, one for content and one for presentation which includes grammar and spelling. This way you don't 'stifle the creativity' but you do show the bits that need a bit of effort.

[mac_shinobi]

As per witch's sig lol

[leco]

In the degree that I am currently undertaking incorrect spelling and grammatical errors are penalised. However, maybe not all degrees are the same.

[AngryTechnician]

If the reports I was drafted in to proofread one day (don't ask unless you want to hear the rant) are anything to go buy, those who can't use punctuation or form grammatically correct sentences, Teach.

[mattx]

It's getting worser & worser........

[tech_guy]

This isn't a dig at teachers but the whole blasted population in general who can't use a fri@@ing apostrophe properly to save their lives. And then there are the idiots who don't know the difference between "there" and "their", and "your" and "you're". As for the muppets who use "loose" when they really mean "lose"........grrrrrrr! [Head explodes]

 

[RANT OVER]

[webman]

This isn't a dig at teachers but the whole blasted population in general who can't use a fri@@ing apostrophe properly to save their lives. And then there are the idiots who don't know the difference between "there" and "their", and "your" and "you're". As for the muppets who use "loose" when they really mean "lose"........grrrrrrr! [Head explodes]

 

[RANT OVER]

 

That's why I brought a dictionary from the shop.

 

 

 

[HodgeHi]

This isn't a dig at teachers but the whole blasted population in general who can't use a fri@@ing apostrophe properly to save their lives. And then there are the idiots who don't know the difference between "there" and "their", and "your" and "you're". As for the muppets who use "loose" when they really mean "lose"........grrrrrrr! [Head explodes]

 

[RANT OVER]

 

That'll be me then

 

I was never taught grammar at school, so am not entirely sure what to do with these '. But it is not an excuse. I keep meaning to do some research on grammar but never seem to have the time. One day though...

[srochford]

Spot the problem. Getting a C-or-above at GCSE is no guarantee that you can actually do basic maths, English or ICT. But we're still teaching GCSEs...

 

--

David Hicks

 

Not really true. Getting a grade C specifies that you can do basic maths etc. and you can check the syllabus to find out the list of criteria.

 

The trouble is that the basic maths, English etc that many would feel to be essential are not the ones which are used as criteria in the award of grades.

[srochford]

Thousands of trainee teachers are struggling to pass literacy tests that require them to spell words such as anxiety, relieved and mathematical.

 

More than 11,000 trainee teachers, just over a quarter of the annual intake, failed to pass the literacy test last year at their first attempt, an increase of 16 per cent since 2001.

 

I hate statistics like this because they give no real information. Yes, I now know that lots of trainee teachers are not very good at basic spelling. What I don't know is how they compare with the rest of the population. If we gave the test to the population at large, would we get more than the 25% failure rate shown for teachers? If not, then what these stats show is that teachers are better then the general population at spelling (which is what we want).

 

Sadly, I get the impression that few newspaper editors understand basic maths so have no real feel for the numbers they include in their articles and just fill their papers with meaningless verbiage.

[webman]

You can say what you want about tabloids and statics; but the point is that a sizeable amount of people who think they are good enough to teach kids are failing the basic initiation tests.

[srochford]

You can say what you want about tabloids and statistics; but the point is that a sizeable amount of people who think they are good enough to teach kids are failing the basic initiation tests.

 

and, if I understand the process, are not being allowed to teach until they can pass the test.

 

Lots of people want to be doctors; they fail the exams to become doctors. That doesn't tell us anything about doctors except that they passed the test and some people failed.

 

Similarly, all we can get from this is that some people who think they would like to be teachers aren't good enough to be teachers and don't get allowed to teach until they can show that they are good enough.

[jcollings]

If the reports I was drafted in to proofread one day (don't ask unless you want to hear the rant) are anything to go buy,

Or indeed anything to go by

 

those who can't use punctuation or form grammatically correct sentences, Teach.

 

grammatically correct sentences, teach.

 

 

Some of them also work in IT

[Sirbendy]

We have a literacy specialist on staff who confirms that "yes, the kids aren't great, but the staff are awful!"

 

I should add that if important mails need sending out of this dept, I get to either write them or proofread them first..heh.

[Domino]

I can haz teeches?!?

 

OMG! Uber-LOLZ!

[AngryTechnician]

Or indeed anything to go by

Guilty as charged, that was a genuine typo; you'll notice U is next to Y on the keyboard. I never said I was any good at the proofreading...

 

grammatically correct sentences, teach.

That was a deliberate copy of the style in which the topic subject was written.

[tech_guy]

I cans have hamburgurrz?

[Friez]

interweb tlk iz da way 4ward in da futAr!

 

Yuck

[garethEds]

Whilst you guys are having a go at teachers - surely it's the same as technicians getting the jobs and then demonstrating that they have no skills whatsoever.

 

GJE

[Domino]

I'd be more inclined to say its more like teacher doesn't get their problem seen to first - so says techy has no skills whatsoever.

 

In all seriousness you get it in every profession, people get past interviews and stuff and then prove useless. I think the thread is more to do with how grammatical and spelling errors get past people who've come from school-college-university-straight back into a school

[garethEds]

I'd be more inclined to say its more like teacher doesn't get their problem seen to first - so says techy has no skills whatsoever.

 

In all seriousness you get it in every profession, people get past interviews and stuff and then prove useless. I think the thread is more to do with how grammatical and spelling errors get past people who've come from school-college-university-straight back into a school

 

Sorry Domino - maybe I should change my signature to say Network Manager as well. That way it doesn't sound like teacher sour grapes in my original comment.

 

GJE

[jcollings]

Guilty as charged, that was a genuine typo; you'll notice U is next to Y on the keyboard. I never said I was any good at the proofreading...

 

It wasn't the spelling that was incorrect. It was the wrong by (buy)

 

I was only joking anyway.

[jcollings]

In all seriousness you get it in every profession, people get past interviews and stuff and then prove useless. I think the thread is more to do with how grammatical and spelling errors get past people who've come from school-college-university-straight back into a school

 

To be fair the standard of grammar and spelling on here is pretty poor too.