Assessment Without Levels Parents Handbook

Assessment Without Levels Parents Handbook

Introduction Why move away from using National Curriculum Levels at Key Stage 3? we believe that it is vital for all assessment, up to the point of public examinations, to be focussed on which specific elements of the curriculum an individual has deeply understood and which they have not. (p50 the framework for the National Curriculum A report by the expert panel for the national curriculum review December 2011) A number of changes have occurred both on a national and local level which have provided us with an opportunity to move away from using National Curriculum levels: Recent changes to the National Curriculum have removed the expectation that schools report using National Curriculum levels. The greater emphasis on now on progress towards GCSE outcomes over the whole of the secondary phase with increased focus on flight paths The greater emphasis is now placed on key skills and knowledge being used to prepare students for GCSE study Year 7 students joining us in September 2015 will be the last year with NC levels from their primary schools Cavendish s conversion to an All-Through school and the desire to have a consistent assessment language across the whole school wherever possible. What do we want to achieve? We wanted an assessment system that: Is based on developing the key knowledge and skills required for success in KS4 Is based on our high expectations of students Supports staff in developing a curriculum and approaches to teaching and learning which supports outstanding outcomes through key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4 Adopts the principle of a flight path though Key Stage 3 identifying what current performance means in terms of outcomes at the end of Key Stage 4 Builds on our work on formative feedback and SIR marking Uses periodic summative assessment to support this ongoing formative feedback

Is simple and easy to understand for staff, parents and students. Has consistent principles, flexible enough to be used across subjects, Can be used in the context of becoming an all-through school. Study fewer things in greater depth, so a deeper understanding of central concepts and ideas can be developed. Assessment should focus on that -Tim Oates What is the threshold assessment model? Assessment focuses on the big ideas in each subject. What do students need to master, in terms of knowledge and skills, in order to be successful in KS4? Knowledge and skills developed in Years 7& 8 reflect what is done at GCSE level in a progressive way. Teachers identify what excellence look like in each subject at each stage of progression and show students how to achieve it based on their knowledge of the curriculum. Students are assessed using one of four broad thresholds which identify the trajectory they are on for the end of Year 11 If they are assessed at a particular threshold it indicates that if they carry onworking in this way they are broadly likely to get the following grade: KS3 Thresholds GCSE (Current) GCSE (New) Excellence A* 9-8 Secure A-B 7-6 Developing B-C 5-4 Foundation D-G 3-1 How is it different from levels? Students are not initially assigned a target level they are all expected to aspire to excellence although as they move through the Key Stage their baseline threshold will be shared. This is linked to the concept of Growth Mindsets. Rather than focusing on a pre-determined (and limiting) end point, we are focusing on their starting point and building from there. Assessment is based on progress made so celebrates effort of all students, with different starting points. Our teachers set the standard of excellence expected this reinforces our high expectations Students are not given feedback such as you re a 4a but formative feedback that makes students think about how to develop their understanding.

Threshold rubrics are used for planning teaching and progression not for labelling students. Students aren t told what threshold they are just what they need to do to develop their thinking. The thresholds are a scaffold for teachers. Progress is seen through what is taught and the skills that students develop rather than movement through levels. In this model students might stay within the same band throughout Key Stage 3 because they are developing the skills and knowledge to achieve their expected GCSE grade. The diagram below shows the idea that a particular threshold shows movement towards particular GCSE grades. Progression using threshold assessments Baseline thresholds Key to ensuring that students make the progress they should is setting a baseline threshold against which subjects are measured. Each student will be given a baseline threshold against which progress will be measured. These thresholds are not supposed to be labels for students in fact students are not even

told them at the start of the course as we don t want to limit their expectations of themselves. They are a planning tool for teachers giving them a starting point to plan for progression. For most subjects baseline thresholds will be set using a variety of data: Key Stage 2 SATS outcomes- English and Maths will be set against the SATS outcomes for those subjects. Other literacy based subjects will be set against Average Points Score for English and Maths. This is to ensure that students are on the right trajectory to achieve appropriate Key Stage 4 outcomes. CATs scores will be used to moderate these expectations. If they suggest that historic underachievement is not being reflected in the SATs results or that there is evidence that SATs results have been inflated, expectations can be adjusted where appropriate. Arts based subjects and PE will be treated differently because of the emphasis on skills which may not have been taught in depth at primary school. In these subjects the first threshold assessment completed will be used as an additional moderating factor for Key Stage 3 thresholds for these subjects. This does not ignore, however, the fact that at Key Stage 4 outcomes will be measured against Expected and Above Expected Progress measures As a rough guide the following thresholds will be set: KS2 Levels KS3 Thresholds GCSE (Current) GCSE (New) 5a+ Excellence A* 9-8 5 Secure A-B 7-6 4 Developing B-C 5-4 3-2 Foundation D-G 3-1

Reporting to Parents In terms of tracking progress and reporting to parents, we can look at how students are performing, relative to their baseline threshold Working below their baseline threshold-making less than expected progress Working towards the lower end of their baseline threshold-making expected progress Working towards the top end of their baseline threshold-making good progress Working above their baseline threshold or at the top of or beyond the excellence threshold-making exceptional progress Threshold Assessment Above baseline threshold Baseline Threshold Exceptional progress Good progress +2 +1 Using the thresholds for each assessment, where is the student relative to their baseline Expected progress 0 threshold? Below baseline threshold Less than expected progress -1 So, rather than reporting on a level, we are reporting the progress they are making towards achieving their forecast grades at GCSE. Advantages to this: Allows underachieving students to be identified and interventions planned. Allows performance of classes/subjects to be monitored-% of students making good, expected, less than expected progress. Ensures students of all abilities can be praised for their effort and progress they are makingin the same way. Supports long term goals-and monitoring progress towards them.