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1 System Overview 1

2 1. What is this system for? This literacy assessment system provides online tests to measure and track pupils literacy progress. There are three types of literacy assessments available phonics, spelling and reading, all of which are based upon standardised data. With the current focus on literacy this system provides an effective tool to evaluate the measures schools put in place to improve literacy standards. Good assessment should track performance in all four strands of language: speaking, listening, reading and writing, and identify strengths and weaknesses in children s knowledge, skills and understanding, especially those related to mastering word recognition skills Rose Report, March Effective interventions are focused on the right children through careful assessment, regular updating and tracking of progress. Rose Report, March It is worth underlining, however, the importance of the effective use of assessment so that any gaps in achievement can be spotted early and the progress of these children tracked to ensure they receive appropriate and sustained support. Rose Report, March It s crucial that all schools realise that this is just a check, not a test, in order to identify where the children are in their learning and what needs to be done. We assess our pupils understanding every six weeks, taking into account our phonics programme and teacher assessment. If childrens abilities are regularly assessed and tracked, assessment outcomes become more predictable, because we can intervene straight away and support the child to the next level of learning, keeping them on a good trajectory. As a result, the screening check confirmed our own regular assessment outcomes. St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Rochdale (Good practice as identified by the DFE) 2

3 2. What does this system do? Literacy Assessment Online assesses pupils literacy ability at an individual or group level. With this system you can : Test groups as many times as you like. Closely monitor progress. Easily share access to test data with colleagues. Set standardised group literacy tests. Assess pupils literacy ability and automate marking of tests. Evaluate the effectiveness of your literacy strategies. Create groups of pupils and analyse comparative literacy data. Identify pupils requiring additional literacy support. Print literacy assessments for paper based completion. View results as charts to see trends and patterns over time. 3. What tests are available? Current available tests are : Reading comprehension 6-9. Reading comprehension Listen and spell 6-9. Listen and spell Phonics consonant blends. Phonics consonants and vowels. Phonics high frequency words. Phonics non words. National Phonics Check replica. Reading comprehension and spelling tests have been standardised with a diverse sample of over 1200 pupils. Reading comprehension tests are available in printed form along with the associated marksheets. 3

4 4. What statistical data is available and how is it presented? Tests are marked automatically and a range of statistical data is available : Reading / spelling age. Difference in reading / spelling age. Group averages. Test session standard deviations. Gradients of improvement. Group percentile. School percentile. National percentile. Standardised score. Percentage (phonics tests). Individual test analysis. Data is presented in clear tabular and chart formats. For more information please see our Sample Output document. 5. What support is available? We understand the hesitancy some schools have with new computer systems and offer support to ensure that administration of the assessments is a smooth process. Each school is assigned a member of our team to assist them with implementing the system. Data import of required pupil details. All support requests are answered with 24 hours. Online demonstrations are available on request. Extensive video guides and user documentation. 4

5 6. Security Security is of paramount importance to us and we have a range of industry standard measures in place to ensure safeguarding of all pupil data. We use Geo Trust 256 bit SSL (secure socket layer) encryption for all data transfers and our database uses encryption for key data. All of our staff are enhanced CRB checked. We are registered with the Data Protection Commissioner and comply with all aspects of the Data Protection Act. We employ a penetration testing company to ensure our systems are secure, they perform system security tests on a regular basis. Our data centre has a range of security features such as CCTV, dual access locks and triplicate backups. If you have real data concerns then just provide us with surname initials and dates of birth in mm/yyyy format. 5