Can you imagine a Local Authority sending out a
questionnaire to the parents of eleven plus children? Imagine too if the
children were also asked a series of questions about the eleven plus? Suppose the results of the questionnaires
given scores and these totals were added to other test based eleven plus
results?
A whole new industry would grow up offering advice to
children and their parents about how to answer questionnaires. Children would
need to be taught how to recognise the essence of a question even if the
question was couched in un-sensitive words. Children may also need to be able
to cope with unsatisfactory questions along the lines of, “Do you think that
the eleven plus is a good idea and do you think that you should be allowed unlimited
time in an examination?” Of course many parents would immediately latch onto a
question of this nature and argue that it is generally desirable for a question
to be confined to a single issue.
Questions for parents may need to avoid technical words and
jargon. Some parents may prefer for a
word like `exigencies’ to be used when trying to draw parents whether there was
a need for immediate action. Naturally any Times crossword solvers would
probably prefer to feel stretched rather than feel that any communication from
the Authority was dumbed down.
