This is my first direct experience with SAT's and I cannot believe the pressure that is put on the children and teachers to achieve what the Government believes should be a minimum average for every child.
There is no such thing as an average child, every child has a different capacity to learn and they all learn at different speeds. It doesn't mean if a child doesn't meet the theoretical average now that they won't become high achievers later.
Some children are simply not academic but have outstanding practical or artistic skills.
Many people I know, myself included, academically achieved after leaving school. I was lucky, that my parents never put pressure on me before exams and always told me that if I didn't get the grade I wanted I could re take the exams - fortunately I always passed but it was good to know.
These children are 10/11 years old and have all their lives ahead of them. It is not life changing if they don't achieve these Government standards at this moment in their young lives.