In the provisional statistics for 2006 published by the DfES last week, girls continued to do better than boys, but the performance of children fell in all of the 13 assessment scales.
In line with last year's results, the lowest scores for all children were in the assessment areas for communication, language and literacy - linking sounds and letters, and writing. The highest scores for all children were in physical development.
Children are assessed on a nine-point scale by practitioners' observations at the end of the reception year. A score of six or more indicates that they are working securely within the early learning goal.
In its response to the consultation on the Early Years Foundation Stage last week, the Government acknowledged concerns among some practitioners about the developmental appropriateness of some of the goals (News, 26 October).
The QCA has recommended rewording one early learning goal from 'Hear and say initial and final sounds in words and identify short vowel sounds' to 'Hear and say sounds in the order in which they occur'.
Although 72 per cent of respondents to the QCA consultation supported the change, some practitioners have voiced unease. Early years specialist Wendy Scott said that the change was 'misguided', given that the number of children, particularly boys, reaching the goals is falling every year. She said the revised goal was 'harder than the one it's replacing'.
'There's a legitimate question to be asked about whether the early learning goals are pitched too high,' said Ms Scott.
But children's minister Beverley Hughes said, 'This apparent downshift is largely due to the effects of moderation rather than an actual fall in the achievement of young children at the end of the Foundation Stage. We will look at the data to understand the underlying factors.'
View the results at www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics.
PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN WORKING SECURELY (1) WITHIN THE EARLY LEARNING GOALS BY AREA OF LEARNING IN ENGLAND: 2005-2006 (PROVISIONAL)
Percentage of children achieving 6 or more in: 2005 2006 (prov)
Personal, Social and Emotional Development (in all 3 scales) 75.3 71.2
Communication, Language and Literacy (in all 4 scales) 50.6 47.9
PSE and CLL combined (in all 7 scales) (2) 47.8 44.6
Mathematical Development (in all 3 scales) 68.7 65.7
Knowledge and Understanding of the World (1 scale) 80.3 77.3
Physical Development (1 scale) 89.8 88.1
Creative Development (1 scale) 81.1 77.9
(1) Children who work securely within the early learning goals acheive 6 or more in a scale or combination of scales
(2) The Sure Start SR2004 Public Service Agreement target specifies that a child acheiving a 'good level of development' will score 6 points or more in all 7 PSE and CLL scales
