Blog

In the first of a series of pieces about tracking pupils with Special Needs and Disabilities (SEND), we consider stepped assessment and Point In Time assessment from a SEND perspective, particularly for those who might be working at a level below their peers. Read Article…

10 years on from the demise of RAISEonline, the monster reports continue to cast a long shadow and influence how school data is presented. Big is best; the more pupil sub-groups the better. But does this tsunami of data really tell us anything, or is it just noise? When it comes to reporting data to key audiences such as governors, should we take a ‘less is more’ approach? Read Article…

We are often asked whether there is a connection between the raw scores recorded in the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) and scaled scores recorded two years later in the key stage 2 Maths SATs. One regular question is whether the MTC has any predictive power for KS2 results. The answer for most pupils is no, although those who find maths difficult tend to find times tables difficult too.   Read Article…

Our suggestions for a vision statement, the data you should collect, and the systems and reporting you should use in school. Read Article…

There is no requirement for assessment systems to be built on a progress mindset, however, and every reason to think that there are more effective ways of monitoring students as they move through school. Read Article…

Levels were fine until they weren’t. Used until 2015, they provided a broad indicator of attainment at the end of each key stage and gave a notion of progress as children moved from one level to the next. The rot set in when they began to be used for accountability purposes, especially measures of progress, which decreed that pupils from all starting points needed to make a set number of levels over a set period. Before long, schools were faced with an expectation that all pupils would make at least two levels across key stage 2, and three levels between… Read Article…

At key stage 2, the national discussion is often focused on the number of children who are – or are not  – reaching the expected standard. Whilst this is clearly of interest, what is happening within the two groups created by the expected standard is potentially much more interesting, as these two groups are evolving in ways that tell us quite a bit about what is happening in our primary schools. Read Article…

Many years ago, following a meeting of the Reception Baseline Stakeholder Group at DfE Towers, I went for a cup of tea with a fellow group member and was told a story that blew my mind. As we sat sipping English breakfast in the well-lit atrium, my partner-in-tea asked, “do you know how the expected standard is set?” and proceeded to explain the concept of ‘bookmarking’. When setting a pass mark for a test, you have various options. You could just pick an arbitrary threshold and require pupils to achieve a certain percentage of the marks. The problem here is… Read Article…

On Wednesday 4 December 2024, James Pembroke and Richard Selfridge recorded a webinar aimed primarily at School Governors looking at the Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR). The webinar will be of interest to anyone who wants to find out more about how the DfE and Ofsted present data for schools. The webinar covers: Are you interested in exploring the current state of data in schools and finding out what works and what doesn’t? Join us at one of our 2024-25 Data in School Conferences “I thought it was brilliant! I got home and did a SWOT analysis of assessment in our… Read Article…

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” (Dr Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park) Say what you like about Progress 8, at least it involves a standardised test at each end (hint: progress measures should always involve a standardised test at each end!). The problem with measures of progress in primary settings is that they inevitably involve an element of teacher assessment somewhere. Having progress measured from a baseline – e.g. key stage 1 assessment – that schools themselves have control over seems normal, but it’s actually fairly weird when… Read Article…