Frog 15 - Demystifying The Changes to Assessment (Mick Walker)

Curriculum & Assessment Reform

Challenge and Opportunity

Every cloud…

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• Reformed qualifications

• New assessments & procedures

• Revised standards of performance

• A revised ‘national curriculum’

• New accountability measures

• And more to come…

• A challenge – and a huge opportunity to regain professional ground, but it won’t just happen!

Context

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…previous course specifications were too vague and had caused suspicion and speculation that some exam boards were 'harder' than others.

… there is an urgent need for reform, to ensure that young people have access to qualifications that set expectations that match and exceed those in the highest performing jurisdictions.

There was broad agreement in the meetings we held during the consultation period that GCSEs as currently constituted are not giving our pupils the best chance to succeed, and that change is required.’ Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, June 2013

"We do need to start competing against those top performing countries in the world, because for too long we've pretended that students' results are getting better, when all that's been happening is the exams have been getting easier.Elizabeth Truss, Minister for Education, June 2013

The Government’s case for change - qualifications

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The current expectations for primary schools are set too low.

• ‘In 2012, less than half the pupils who had only just reached the current expected standard at key stage 2 went on to achieve five good GCSEs, including English and mathematics. In contrast, seven in ten of those with a ‘good’ level 4 or above achieved this GCSE standard’.

A need to celebrate the progress that pupils make in schools with more challenging intakes.

• ‘…reforms will recognise the good progress that schools make with children from a low starting point.’

Reforming assessment and accountability for primary schools. Government response to consultation on primary school assessment and accountability . March 2014

The Government’s case for change

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• All A levels fully linear with more synoptic assessment.

• No January session.

• Examined by unit, but all in the summer session.

• Standalone AS level – fully de-coupled.

• Content – more HE influence.

Reformed qualifications - GCE

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Reformed qualifications - GCSE

• ‘More challenging’ - higher level of demand.

• Linear structure - summer assessment only.

• Limited re-sit opportunities:

- annual;

- except for English/Lang & Mathematics (Nov);

- from Nov 2014, session for re-sits only.

• No tiering – unless best option for the subject.

• New scaling system instead of grading – 1 to 9 plus U.

• Traditional presentation of tests.

• Emphasis on external assessment.

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Impact of qualification reform

• Understanding the nuances of the new system:

- more demanding examinations, aligned with international standards;

- linear regime – one bite, extended memory;

- traditional ‘paper and pen’ tests;

- teaching and learning styles;

- CPD.

• New internal progress tracking, assessment & reporting system:

- integrating new Key Stage 2 assessment regime;

- articulating new GCSE with new A level requirements.

• New accountability system:

- Progress 8, students’ progress measured across eight subjects

- Performance 8, students’ average achievement across these eight subjects

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• the new National Curriculum sets out the expectations at the end of each key stage and all maintained schools will be free to develop a curriculum relevant to their pupils that teaches this content;

• the curriculum must include an assessment system which enables schools to check what pupils have learned and whether they are on track to meet expectations at the end of the key stage, and to report regularly to parents;

• the information should be meaningful for pupils, parents and governors;

• the current system of ‘levels’ used to report children’s attainment and progress removed from September 2014 (2015 years 2 & 6) - and will not be replaced;

• improved moderation regime to ensure that teacher assessments are more consistent;

• Ofsted do not have any predetermined view as to what specific assessment system a school should use. Inspectors’ main interest will be whether the approach adopted by a school is effective. They will be looking to see that it provides accurate information showing the progress pupils are making.

National curriculum and assessment from Sept. 2014:

DfE National curriculum and assessment from September 2014: information for schools.

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The School Information (England) Regulations

Require schools to show:

• in relation to each year group, the content of the curriculum for each academic subject;

• for KS1, names of phonics or reading schemes;

• for KS4, list of courses leading to GCSE qualifications.

‘This information is important for parents so that they know precisely what is taught and when, enabling them to support their children in their studies. It is also important information for parents when choosing new schools.’

(And a criterion use by Ofsted in selecting schools for inspection without notice.)

Nick Gibb – letter 27th October 2014 expressing concern that schools are not complying fully with arrangements.

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Impact of reform

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Introduction of a reception baseline to measure a school’s progress:

• from September 2016 the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile will no longer be compulsory;

• choice from a range of assessment approaches but most are likely to be administered by the reception teaching staff;

• the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) has approved the following providers for the reception baseline assessment;

• schools can use one of these assessments from September 2015;

• if you choose not to use the reception baseline, from 2023 the DfE will only hold you to account by your pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 2;

• choose the reception baseline that best fits your school’s needs and approach to assessment;

• if a provider doesn’t recruit a sufficient number of schools they won’t be able to offer the reception baseline. We’ll contact you by 3 June 2015 if you’ve chosen a provider that has been suspended - you’ll then be able to choose an alternative approved provider.

Reception Baseline

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Performance Descriptions

Consultation October to December 2014

• Currently in draft form

• Drafted by teachers, LA representatives, curriculum and subject experts

• Ofsted and Ofqual observed and supported the process

• Designed for use as end of key stage assessments for Key Stage 1 & 2 in 2016 following the first two years of teaching the new National Curriculum

• Not recommended for use in school assessment systems until September 2015 (final versions)

• The number of descriptors varies by subject/key stage dependent on the contribution to new primary floor standards.

• Performance descriptors do not include work from following key stages – Mastery expectation of greater depth and breadth within the key stage;

• Performance descriptors will not be written for other subjects.

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Understanding the nuances of the new system:

- ‘National Curriculum’ and School Curriculum- Not just a change of content- Fewer things in greater depth – ‘Powerful knowledge’ - Removal of levels - Different concepts of and emphasis on progression- More demanding tests- Scaled score for tests - End of key stage performance descriptions- Baseline assessment- ‘Mastery’

New accountability system:

- Attainment floor target, 85% in reading, writing and mathematics- Progress floor target, ‘expected progress’ to be defined (2016)

New internal progress tracking, assessment & reporting systems

- meaningful for pupils, parents and governors – and transition?

Impact of primary reform

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100

0

50

100

130

80

Cut score on the raw scale

Scaled Score

(from 80-130 points)Test Raw Score

Yields Converted into

A score of 100 will represent the “expected standard” (approximately 4b of the current regime).

Cut scores are placed on boundaries selected to reflect the required standard of performance.

Year on year adjustments to cut scores reflect the relative demand of each annual test.

The cut score on the raw scale is converted to 100 on the standardised scale and other values are then converted mathematically.

Scaled Scoring M

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Why remove levels?The DfE

• We believe this system is complicated and difficult to understand, especially for parents.

• It also encourages teachers to focus on a pupil’s current level, rather than consider more broadly what the pupil can actually do .(1)

• …removing levels will allow teachers greater flexibility in the way that they plan and assess pupils’ learning. (2)

Other reasons include:

• levels became a sole focus for teachers and children – sometimes demotivating - rather than a response to the formative targets provided by the teacher;

• levels encouraged undue pace in learning over and above a deeper mastery of curriculum content – a result of the accountability system that encouraged schools to move pupils up through levels quickly, rather than securing knowledge in each subject area;

• a lack of clarity about what levels actually were other than a level 3 being better than a 2 – an over-simplified definition of achievement. As for level 3b !!!!!!!!!!!

• National Curriculum test levels are derived from a compensatory methodology; levels shed no light on a pupil’s actual strengths and weaknesses;

• whilst one pupil might ‘just scrape’ a particular level another on the same level had just missed the next level up.1.Department for Education (2013). Assessing Without Levels [online]. Available: www.education.gov.uk/schools/ teachingandlearning/curriculum/nationalcurriculum2014/ a00225864/assessing-without-levels [18 September 2013]2. DfE National curriculum and assessment from September 2014: information for schools.

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Ofsted – (HMCI letter to schools July 2014)

Schools will be expected to demonstrate (with evidence) their assessment of pupils’ progress. This will be reinforced by the revised focus of Ofsted inspections. Inspectors will:

• spend more time looking at a range of pupil’s work in order to consider what progress they are making;

• talk to leaders about the school’s use of formative and summative assessment and how this improves teaching and raises achievement;

• evaluate how well pupils are doing against age-related expectations, as set out by the school and the National Curriculum (where this applies);

• consider how the school uses assessment information;

• evaluate the way the school reports to parents on pupils’ progress and attainment. Inspectors will assess whether reports help parents to understand how their children are doing in relation to the standards expected.

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So where’s the opportunity?

• Rebuilding the integrity of teacher based assessment

• But it won’t just happen…

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‘..In Primary, apart from KS2 and the phonics check, I have no interest in the assessment which is done…’

Nick Gibb, 2010

‘Be very careful to read this in the right way – it confirms the professionalism of teachers and deliberate contraction of the role of the State.’

Tim Oates, Chair of the Expert Panel for the National Curriculum review, December 2011

The challenge… M

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Performance Descriptions – Consultation

• Require teachers’ professional judgment in selecting best match;

• Teacher assessment of reading, writing and mathematics will contribute to measures for the new floor standards for key stage 1 from 2016, and;

at Key Stage 2 teacher assessment of writing.

• To ensure that a broad picture of children’s attainment is maintained, teacher assessment will also be statutory for science at key stage 1, and;

reading, mathematics and science at key stage 2

• The teacher assessment of these subjects will not form part of the new floor target.

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The challenge…

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But I would say that - in my experience so far - intelligent accountability - and good teaching

- are not served by over-reliance on modular assessment, coursework and controlled

assessment. All are subject to gaming and all take time away from teaching and

learning.Michael Gove, at the Independent Academies Association. Nov 2012

It is clear that there is now far too much course work, project work and teacher assessment

in GCSE. The remedy surely lies in getting GCSE back to being an externally

assessed exam, which is predominantly written.

John Major, speech made to the Centre for Policy Studies at the Cafe Royal in London on Wednesday 3rd July 1991.

The challenge…

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Despite best efforts, since its introduction, controlled assessment has proved to be problematic in many ways, and some of those problems are intractable: it does not always assess those aspects of a subject it was put in place to assess, it can divert time from teaching and learning and be arduous to organise and deliver, and too often it is delivered inconsistently. Ofqual, Review of Controlled Assessment in GCSEs June 2013

English language will be assessed by exam. Students’ speaking skills will be assessed but will not contribute to the overall grade. The assessment will be marked by teachers and reported separately, alongside the qualification grade on the certificate.

The challenge…

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However, inspectors have noted worrying inconsistencies in teacher assessment at the end of Key Stage 1. In infant schools, for example, children are more likely to be assessed as reaching, or exceeding, the standards expected for their age than they are in all-through primary schools. Moreover, uneven moderation by local authorities of the work carried out by schools can lead to poor quality and unreliable assessment. For these reasons, I urge government to consider a return to external assessment at the end of Key Stage 1.

HMCI Annual Report 2012/13

The challenge…

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Sandra Johnson. A focus on teacher assessment reliability in GCSE and GCE, Report for Ofqual 2011

There are issues surrounding teacher assessment that have to do with potential bias, application of different, sometimes personal, assessment criteria, and differences in the available evidence base when implemented curricula and standards of judgement differ from class to class and school to school.

The challenge…

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The Commission heard from the majority of those submitting evidence that there was a lack of trust in teacher assessment at the present time.

There is a worrying lack of trust in individual teacher-based assessment, which emanates from within the profession itself.

NAHT Commission on Assessment February 2014

The challenge…

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Implications for the profession

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• Building trust in the profession

• Making assessment about teaching and learning

• Improved teacher subject knowledge

• Better skilled teachers with assessment expertise

• Quality assured assessments – Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (CIEA), Excellence in Assessment; recognition for schools, training and membership.

• But it won’t just happen!

Implications for schools

Be measured in your response

• Understand the timeline, what and when – and who

Curriculum and teaching quality is key

• The reforms allow schools to develop a school curriculum that delivers the core content in a way that is challenging and relevant for their pupils.

Primary assessment and accountability under the new national curriculum. DfE consultation document July 2013.

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Levels have gone

• Government will not impose a single system for on-going assessment. The chosen system needs to be clearly articulated.

• Floor standards hold schools to account both on the progress they make and on how well their pupils achieve.

Schools will be expected to demonstrate (with evidence) their assessment of pupils’ progress to:

• keep parents informed;

• enable governors to gauge school effectiveness; and

• inform Ofsted inspections (plus attainment targets.)

Teaching linear courses, or ‘mastery’ models make new demands on teachers.

• It’s more than a change in content - a change in pedagogy


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Therefore…

• progress needs to be understood, articulated and evidenced

• baseline assessment needs to be valid & reliable

• standards of performance need to be understood, articulated and shared

• professional development covering assessment should (must) be targeted

and…

• transition needs more work…


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Progression - a design & technology experience…

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Re-gaining professional standing - understanding progression

Age 5 Age 7 Age 11 Age 16 Age 18

Baseline assessment

KS1 assessment

KS2 assessment

GCSE assessment

GCE assessment

Expected standard

?

? (L2)

?(L4b)

?G4/5

?A*

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© Mick Walker April14

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get the right assessment tool for the job….

Teaching & Assessment

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Beware mad numbers!

Normal amplifiers go to 10, but Spinal Tap’s amplifier goes to 11…

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Dead Poets Society (1989)

John Keating quotes from Understanding Poetry, by Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D.

‘If the poem's score for perfection is plotted along the horizontal of a graph, and its importance is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the poem yields the measure of its greatness’.

Keating continues…

‘Excrement. That's what I think of Mr.J.Evans Pritchard. We're not laying pipe, we're talking about poetry.

I mean, how can you describe poetry like American Bandstand? I like Byron, I give him a 42, but I can't dance to it.

Armies of academics going forward, measuring poetry. No, we will not have that here’.

Beware mad numbers! M

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No more levels: an early response…2013-14 Year 5 Maths AssessmentTeacher: Pupils

Total Progress

Number, place value, approximation and estimation read numbers to at least 1,000,000 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 16 17.8

write numbers to at least 1,000,000 0 0.0

order numbers to at least 1,000,000 1 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 38 42.2

determine the value of each digit to 1,000,000

1 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 38 42.2

count forwards or backwards in steps of 10 for any given number up to 1,000,000

1 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 38 42.2

interpret negative numbers in context, 1 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 38 42.2

count forwards and backwards with positive whole numbers through zero

1 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 38 42.2

count forwards and backwards with negative whole numbers through zero

1 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 38 42.2

round any number up to 1,000,000 to the nearest 10

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 48 53.3

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3

Red

14

92

Green

EmergingFruit

Beware mad numbers! Meaning must be added - be careful when comparing two numbers that come from different contexts.

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• Is our recording system valid and manageable?• Have we agreed the information that needs to be retained? Are we clear about purpose/use?• Is practice consistent?• How do records inform future plans and provide feedback on effectiveness of teaching?• Are learners involved wherever possible?• How do records feed into reports to parents/carers?• Are they easy to interpret?• How do we come to an agreed understanding of the curriculum requirements in order to

make valid judgements?• Are records passed between colleagues useful?• Are records effective for learners of all abilities?• Do records support effective transition between classes/key stages?• Is there any duplication?• Do our assessments record a sufficiently broad range of learner achievement?

Welsh Assembly Government 2010

Assessing and recording M

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Assessment without levels: NAHT support

•Course leader

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NAHT and assessment without levels

The NAHT Commission on Assessment - February 2014

Recommendation 4

Pupils should be assessed against objective and agreed criteria rather than ranked against each other

Recommendation 6

In respect of the National Curriculum, we believe it is valuable – to aid communication, comparison and benchmarking – for schools to be using consistent criteria for assessment. To this end, we call upon the NAHT to develop and promote a set of model assessment criteria based on the new National Curriculum.

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Content of the curriculum is taken from the school’s curriculum which is matched to the New National Curriculum (NNC)

Any gaps between the school curriculum and the NNC must be filled

The curriculum content will reflect the entire year’s delivery

Term one

The content here is driven by the topic or theme used to deliver the curriculum and provide assessment opportunities

Term two

Again, the content is driven by the theme used to deliver the curriculum

Term three

Again, the content is driven by the topic or theme. At the end of the year, the entire curriculum for that year will have been covered

Assessment criteria are taken from the NNC

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) describe a group of individual criteria

Separate KPIs make up the end of year Performance Standards (PS), that is the expected performance at the end of the year and against which assessments are made at the end of the year

An individual pupil’s work can be kept to exemplify attainment against the KPI and PS. This can be known as the exemplification of performance. This work should be annotated to highlight the achievement

From individual pupil’s work the school can create a standards file showing achievement in all subjects at each level. This will create a benchmark for assessment purposes in future years

The standards file can be used as and when necessary to take part in cross school moderation activities, when the standards can be agreed or altered according to decisions at the moderation

Term one

KPIs clearly stated for each topic or theme

Term two


Term three


National and school curriculum - measuring and recording progress across key stages – NAHT assessment model

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Content of the curriculum is taken from the school’s curriculum which is matched to the New National Curriculum (NNC)

Any gaps between the school curriculum and the NNC must be filled

The curriculum content will reflect the entire year’s delivery

Term one

The content here is driven by the topic or theme used to deliver the curriculum and provide assessment opportunities

Term two

Again, the content is driven by the theme used to deliver the curriculum

Term three

Again, the content is driven by the topic or theme. At the end of the year, the entire curriculum for that year will have been covered

Assessment criteria are taken from the NNC

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) describe a group of individual criteria

Separate KPIs make up the end of year Performance Standards (PS), that is the expected performance at the end of the year and against which assessments are made at the end of the year

An individual pupil’s work can be kept to exemplify attainment against the KPI and PS. This can be known as the exemplification of performance. This work should be annotated to highlight the achievement

From individual pupil’s work the school can create a standards file showing achievement in all subjects at each level. This will create a benchmark for assessment purposes in future years

The standards file can be used as and when necessary to take part in cross school moderation activities, when the standards can be agreed or altered according to decisions at the moderation

Term one


Term two


Term three



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Selecting KPIs - extract from the year 1 programme of study

Reading – word reading

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

• apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words

• respond speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes

• read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words containing GPCs that have been taught

• read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word

• read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings

• read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs

• read words with contractions [for example, I’m, I’ll, we’ll], and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s)

• read aloud accurately books that are consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words

• re-read these books to build up their fluency and confidence in word reading.

The National Curriculum in England Framework Document September 2013 . English Page 2140

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Selecting KPIs - extract from the year 1 programme of study

Reading – word reading

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

• apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words

• respond speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes

• read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words containing GPCs that have been taught

• read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word

• read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings

• read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs

• read words with contractions [for example, I’m, I’ll, we’ll], and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s)

• read aloud accurately books that are consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words

• re-read these books to build up their fluency and confidence in word reading.

Then Reading – Comprehension….

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Key performance indicators

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Responds speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes. Reads accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words. Reads common exception words. Reads aloud accurately books that are consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words. Develops pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by: 1.listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently;

With reference to the KPIs: By the end of Y1 a child should be able to read all common graphemes and be able to read unfamiliar words containing these graphemes, accurately and without undue hesitation, by sounding them out in books that are matched closely to the level of word reading knowledge. A child should be able to read many common words containing GPCs taught so far, such as shout, hand, stop, or dream, without needing to blend the sounds out loud first. Reading of common exception words, such as you, could, many, or people, should be secure meaning a child can read them easily and automatically. A child can read words with suffixes with support to build on the root words that can be read already.

Performance standard


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Using the Framework

• The curriculum is key • Clearly agreed and articulated progress

• Assessment needs to be robust – what, why, when, how, reporting results; and

“Don’t assess everything that moves, just the key concepts”

(Tim Oates)

• KPIs and Performance Standards

• Standardisation and moderation

• Reporting

• Challenge it!

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Reporting progress: descriptive reporting

1. Has shown expected progress in …

2. Now needs to develop…

Reporting progress: numerical reporting

3. Is working towards…

2. Has met the expected standard for year…

3. Has exceeded…

Align with school assessment framework

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Reporting - extract from a year 1 descriptive report

NinaNina has performed very well in school this year. She has settled quickly into a learning routine and regularly performs beyond the levels we would expect of someone of this age.

She reads fluently and accurately, from a range of texts, including both poetry and prose. Nina spells accurately and applies the rules of spelling that she has been taught. She forms letters accurately and legibly. She can also write in simple sentences accurately, using the basic punctuation marks.

Next year I would like her to extend the range of the books she reads, perhaps choosing one or two that would not normally appeal to her, especially the non-fiction texts.

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Recording performance using KPIs M

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Recording performance using KPIs

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See the NAHT website for details and support

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In conclusion:

• there is unprecedented change – and not all bad;• the removal of levels has made folk think; but• don’t re-invent levels;• re-visit or determine your school’s principles for the curriculum and

assessment framework;• publish it;• get the right CPD;• be measured - don’t’ rush into ‘glossy’, familiar looking solutions.

• Above all, grab the opportunity - be bold, make assessment integral to teaching and learning - and work hard to build the status of teacher assessment.

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