LEP Assessment Booklet Assessment without levels 0-19 - a whole school approach Contents Letter Early Years Key Stage 1 and 2 Key Stage 3 GCSE changes 1
Dear Parent/Carer, There is much change going on in education, including a new National Curriculum for the primary phase and Key Stage 3 with increased expectations for all pupils in each year group in English and Maths. In the High schools there are more challenging GCSEs and also new style A levels. Most of this is happening over the next few years and your son/daughter will experience all of these changes. The new National Curriculum has a greater focus on knowledge development and skills with the aim being to create a broad understanding of these for each year group to enhance understanding before moving on to the next year phase. Another key change is the removal of assessment levels, something which pupils and parents may have heard referred to either in the media or by the staff. The schools have worked as a team within LEP to provide an assessment framework that follows our pupils though their schools to enhance continuity and ensure that the pupils get the best possible chance to progress and build securely on their learning. These developments provide an opportunity to provide an exciting curriculum that spirals and builds to create a body of skills and learning for our pupils to succeed in the modern world. We will be able to see a continual progression for learning from early years to A level where our pupils can grow and develop their optimum potential. The new National Curriculum also gives us the chance to develop better assessments which highlight specific strengths and areas for development as the pupils progress along this continuum, rather than a simple overall level. Key aims of the LEP Assessment system: to track progress and attainment throughout all tiers of education in Leek, and be transferable between schools at key transition points, and also for mid-year school transitions. to be simple so that it can easily be understood at a glance by internal and external users of the data. For this reason a simple numerical attainment is used. to provide users with key performance indicators about the attainment and progress of children, which will inform self-evaluation and form a good starting point for demonstrating progress to Ofsted. to enable users to determine with confidence whether or not children are on track to meet the expected standards in the statutory assessments which will take place at the ends of Key Stages. to take account of the potentially harmful effects when describing the attainment of pupils who are working below the age-related expectation, e.g. pupils with SEN/D. These are challenging aims, but we are committed to do all we can to prepare our students for the challenges that lie ahead. 2
Assessment at EYFS, Key Stage 1 & 2 Assessment at all stages is based on a teaching and learning cycle. Pupils are assessed on entry to school, at the start of their Reception Year, to provide a baseline assessment, from which practitioners can identify where children are in their learning and what their next steps are. The reception baseline will be part of teachers broader assessments of pupil s development, which will be wider than any single baseline assessment can accurately capture. High quality formative assessment and marking/feedback, and summative assessment is key to ensuring that all children are on track towards achieving end of year expectations. Teachers plan learning opportunities and assess pupil s development against assessment criteria, which sets out expected skills and knowledge for each year group. Most children will work within age related expectations. Some may not, and their learning will always be differentiated to match their needs. 3
Assessment and Progress There will be a combination of formative assessments, Assessment for Learning (AfL), and Summative Assessments as your child moves through the education system in Leek. As pupils move through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, teachers ongoing assessments of learning will be supplemented and validated by a range of external statutory and non-statutory assessments, such as: National Key Stage Tests at the end of KS1 (Year 2) and KS2 (Year 6). Non- statutory standardised tests, e.g. standardised reading or maths tests. Online standardised assessment, such as GL assessments at Years 5 and 8 to give a standardised score against national comparisons. Moderation of assessments between schools. Assessment for Learning (AfL) Assessment is an integral part of the learning process and as such, AfL will be present in lessons as an on-going and continuous process. On-going teacher assessments with younger children will be based primarily on observation of daily activities and events, and as children move through KS1 into KS2, formative assessments will also include evidence from learning tasks, books, extended pieces of writing, etc. Extended tasks can be thought of as Checking Progress activities. Summative Assessments At half term points, or at end of a unit of work, teachers make summative assessments for each child, based on all assessments to that point. Summative assessments will take a variety of forms, depending on the nature of each subject and the age of the child. Teachers base their summative judgements upon the extent to which a pupil is showing a secure grasp of those skills, using a best fit approach for each criteria. 4
These summative assessments allow schools to track attainment and progress of children and ensure all children are maximising their learning potential. Summative assessments: Provide a summary judgment about each child at a specific point in time. Show what students can achieve without support. Inform any subsequent intervention activities. Expectations The New Curriculum has higher expectations for all pupils than the previous curriculum and many requirements have been placed in a lower year than before e.g. in Maths adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators has been moved from Year 7 (Key Stage 3) to Year 6 (Key Stage 2). Children working outside their year group will be assessed using the appropriate criteria. However, the purpose of this system is to allow schools to further enrich a pupil s understanding by exploring higher-level skills, but within the content domain of the key. This approach fits with the notion that this new curriculum is about being secure in key concepts, and avoids the treadmill effect that sometimes can occur when there is pressure to keep showing further progress and insufficient time to consolidate and master skills. Expected progress in this system of assessment is a challenging expectation. Statutory Assessments in EYFS, KS1 and 2 From Autumn 2015, children entering Reception will complete a baseline assessment during their first few weeks of school. In Year 1, children complete the statutory Phonics Assessment. At the end of each key stage (in Year 2 and Year 6) children sit national tests. From Summer 2016, the results of these statutory tests will be reported as a scaled score, where 100 is the expected standard. Statutory teacher assessments will be informed by new performance descriptors. We are waiting on how this will be reported since the new performance descriptors are undergoing consultation by the DfE. 5
Scaled Scoring Yields into Converted Cut Score on the raw scale How Assessments are measured A new assessment system is being introduced which indicates where the children are in terms of developing knowledge and skills against year group expectations. In Early Years, children are assessed against age related bands, for example 30-50 months, or 40-60 months. Children may be assessed as entering, developing or securing within each band. For children in Year 1 and above, children s attainment is assessed against Year group expectations. Children will be assessed as entering, developing, securing or mastery within the year group. 6
Mastery Securing* Developing Entering Pupils have demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of all concepts and skills in a unit of work and can apply to new situations without help. They may be starting to work, independently, on the next year s age related criteria. Attainment is high when compared to other pupils nationally. Pupils have a secure and advanced understanding of the main concepts and skills when applied to familiar contexts. They have some independent skills within the framework of the curriculum. Pupils have grasped some of the main ideas and skills in a unit of work, others require development. Pupils are beginning to grasp some of the main ideas and skills in a unit of work. The work does not yet consistently meet the expected standard for this age group. There may be support needed. Children meeting age related expectations at the end of the year will be secure against age related expectations. Progress will also be tracked with pupils aiming to stay within the same band from year to year to maintain their flight path to success at GCSE and beyond. 7
What are the new GCSEs like? In September 2016 new GCSEs will be taught in the following subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Combined Science, Geography, History, Modern Languages, Religious Studies, Design &Technology, Art and Design, Drama, Dance, Music, Physical Education, Computer Science, Citizenship Studies, Cooking and Nutrition. (More subjects will be added to this list in 2017) (English Literature, English Language and Mathematics start in September 2015) These new GCSEs will be more demanding and require higher levels of literacy and numeracy to access the top grades. Other changes include: a new grading scale that uses the numbers 1 to 9 to identify levels of performance, with 9 being the top grade. a structure where all assessment happens at the end of the course and content is not divided into modules. exams as the default method of assessment, except where they cannot provide a valid assessment of the skills required. How does the 9 to 1 grading compare with the current A* to G grading? This is most easily represented by the following graphic: You can see that there are more grades at the top end and fewer grades at the lower end. 8
How will Targets be set? The prior attainment of students and baseline testing will be used to band each learner into the following categories at Year 5 and on leaving at Year 8. Online testing will be used to help standardised testing and allow comparison with national standards and standardisation of scores. It will also provide a useful external view (along with KS2 SATS) to assess the progress of pupils on their flight path to the High School. Band Mastery Typical prior attainment St 2 C Ab t ta 6c CAT SAS 120+ ST 8,9 5c CAT SAS 96-119 ST 5,6,7 CAT 3b CAT SAS<80 ST 1,2 As in all target setting methods, prior attainment guides the expected outcomes, so a Securing learner would be expected to achieve a higher grade at GCSE level than an Entering learner. However, we would expect them to make a similar amount of progress from their starting points. And of course, learners can exceed their targets. Once a student is placed in a band it would be very unusual for them to be placed in a lower one as they move through each academic year. However, we are very keen that students will take on the challenge of moving up a band through hard work, dedication and successful assessment scores. GCSE targets will be based on the new GCSE grading scale of 1 to 9. Targets will span 3 grades Minimum, Expected and Aspirational. So, typical Entering learners will achieve grade 3 (D) if they reach their minimum target, grade 4 (C-) if they make good progress and reach their expected target, and grade 5 (C+) if they excel and reach their aspirational target. Typical Mastery learners will achieve grade 6 (B) if they reach their minimum target, grade 7 (A) if they make good progress and meet their expected target, and grade 8 (A*) if they excel and reach their aspirational target. (A word of caution here: new GCSEs and their examinations are yet to be developed, so we are working on limited information). Key: CAT-Cognitive Ability Test SAS-Standardised Scores 9
How will Progress be judged and tracked within each academic year? Students will be expected to perform at an assessment grade which is consistent with their prior attainment band as shown in the table below: Band Mastery Learner Securing Learner Developing Learner Entering Learner Assessment Expectations To achieve Mastery on virtually all assessments To achieve Secure or more on most assessments To achieve Developing or more on most assessments To achieve Entering or more on most assessments It is important to note that assessments gradually become more challenging as students move from year to year, so students can continue to achieve Securing for example and be making expected progress. All assessments will be moderated across the school in the early years and up to KS2. This assessment will take place between LEP schools to ensure commonality. There will be moderation between high and middle schools and this will be used in conjunction with the standardised scores to reflect national comparison. 10
Tracking within individual subjects Teaching staff will enter assessment data into SIMS using our data tracking system. So subject data will appear similar to that below. Targets &Assess. Subject: Music (7M) Fred Smith TG: 7M Target: Securing Activity Grade Progress Assignment 1 Secure Above Assignment 2 Mastered Well above Assignment 3 Mastered Well above Assignment 4 Extended Above Examination Mastered Well above Overall Mastery Well above You can see from this data that the student, Fred Smith, has performed exceptionally well in Music. He has performed above his Secure target on all assessments. Fred obviously has a talent for this subject and in Year 8 we would raise his target for Music. Targets &Assess. Subject: Science (7M) Target: Securing Fred Smith TG: 7M In this subject, Fred has met his target overall. However, there appears to be a weakness in Materials and Uses. This provides much more useful information than just an overall level. Activity Grade Progress Life and Living Secure On target Materials and Uses Entering Below Electricity Secure On target Forces Mastery Above Earth and Atmosphere Developing On target Energy Secure On target Examination Secure On target Overall Securing On target We will expect the teacher to identify specific areas of weakness and provide guidance to Fred on how to improve. This information will also be available for the next academic year so that his teacher in Year 8 is aware of this potential weakness and can provide support in this area. 11
Summary There is much change going on in education at the moment: New National Curriculum Focus on the big ideas in each subject. New challenges of great difficulty for Yr 1-6. Create a solid foundation for GCSEs. No more levels. New GCSEs More demanding. End of two year examinations. New 9-1 grading system. Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 New Curriculum and assessment changed to prepare students for new GCSEs and enhanced learning. A Key Stage 3 / Key Stage 4 continuum. Students banded on prior attainment at online tests and assessment end of year age related expectations Descriptors include Mastery, Securing, Developing and Entering. en of topic assess ts t y o or ing on t s ject. Assess ts n the ollo n s Entering GCSEGrade t ess t ack across s assess ts for y s ject s. Student progress will also be monitored across all subjects through a data dashboard using SIMS. These will be reported to parents in line with school policy. 12