Eleven Plus Test Cycle

There is sometimes a fear in educational circles that projects which mean well, somehow disappear and leave no trace on the educational landscape. Will the New Style Eleven Plus’ meet the same fate?

We hope that advances in understanding of the term `ability’ will prove to be central in the tests. Sadly information about the nature and the extent of the tests seems, for the most part, to be hidden. Will eleven plus tests - with numerical reasoning items- help to select a different type of child to those who earlier gained entrance to grammar schools? Why is a comprehension question a better predictor of academic success than some forms of verbal reasoning questions?

Will these new eleven plus tests become national and permanent? Over the eleven plus regions in the country, we have a selection of tests for eleven plus children. In some ways it would be wonderful, for some, if children could pick and choose which eleven plus test they wished to take. A child good at reading may choose to take tests with a strong element of reasoning. Other children may want to sit tests where speed and accuracy counted.

We presume that `official’ eleven plus test have been through a cycle.

The Development	Steps that are needed
Research	To provide information what needs to be tested, how it is tested and the accuracy or validity of the questions
Development	Trialling questions with a select audience
Dissemination	Informing various authorities about the scope and the extent of a different style of question.
Demonstration	Showing how effective the tests are in selecting children who will do academically
Implementation	Building a partnership between primary schools and senior schools
Institutionalisation	Making sure that the `New Style Eleven Plus’ is understood and recognised.