This government recognisesthat, over a number of years, some teachers and parents have expressed concern aboutthe level of pressure which they feel that staff and pupils are under to provideperformance information and measures of attainment for accountability purposes.As part of our widerpriority to streamline and reduce bureaucracy and the focus on outcomes, we arelooking at the development of outcome agreements with local authorities.We recognise thereis some concern that over-assessment, especially in upper secondary schools, cansometimes distort the focus of teaching towards the narrow requirements of passingtests and exams rather than effective learning.