How often do you test children internally at the Academy?
There are several curricular areas where we test children on a regular basis, to ensure that we have accurate information and that the expected learning outcomes have been achieved. Spelling tests and mental maths tests, for instance, will be fairly frequent and will give the teacher important information. Records will be kept and patterns can be discerned.
What do you mean by a ‘standardised score’?
The above-mentioned tests are all designed to produce a standardised score that will allow us to compare our children not just with each other, but with thousands around the UK. Identical tests are used in schools from all kinds of socio-economic backgrounds to determine what constitutes the average attainment. Any standardised assessment has an average national score of 100, therefore making it easy to see whether a pupil is above or below the average. For educational attainment and ability tests, such as the standardised assessments, published by NFER, 68% of pupils on a national basis will have a standardised score within 15 points of the national average score of 100. From year to year it is quite normal for a pupil’s score to vary within the band of 85 – 115. a pupil’s standardised assessment depends on the raw score (the number of questions answered correctly) and the pupil’s age in years and months.
Why do children take National Assessments at different times from others in the same year group?
National Assessments were designed to help teachers to confirm their own judgments about how well each child is doing in Mathematics, Reading and Writing. They are not used arbitrarily to make comparisons between children and schools. Therefore, it is appropriate that the Assessments are used flexibly, as and when teachers judge a certain child or group of children have attained the standard of one level and are ready for the next.
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What assessments do you use as part of your screening process?
Every year – in October - we test children (from Primary 2 onwards) for attainment in English and Mathematics, and from Primary 4, we also use a Non-Verbal or Verbal Reasoning test.
Progress in English – this test covers core skills in reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and spelling and gives us a good indication of each child’s progress.
Mathematics – this test is a wide-ranging one, covering concepts from across the entire Mathematics curriculum.
Non-verbal Reasoning – this test involves no written language or numbers, nevertheless contains problems of sequencing or pattern recognition. This gives us a good idea of how well children deal with new or unfamiliar concepts.
Verbal Reasoning – this test focuses on logical verbal reasoning and vocabulary and gives a good indication of skills in verbal thinking (not identical with attainment in English). P2: Progress in English 6, Mathematics 6
P3: Progress in English 7, Mathematics 7
P4: Progress in English 8, Mathematics 8,
Non-Verbal Reasoning 8 & 9
P5: Progress in English 9, Mathematics 9,
Verbal Reasoning 8 & 9
P6: Progress in English 10, Mathematics 10,
Non-Verbal Reasoning 10 & 11
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What is it?
Assessment is often thought of as something that is done to measure what children can do and give it a grade. This is summative assessment. Formative assessment is different. It is the conscious attempt by the teacher to gather evidence about how learning is going, while it is going on. The point is to act on this evidence so as to adapt and improve the teaching and learning process to make it more useful to the child. Formative assessment then is assessing learning while it can still make a difference to the outcome.
When teachers begin to consider formative assessment seriously, it affects the whole learning process from the beginning to the end of a lesson (or series of lessons). Here are some of the features of a formative assessment approach to learning. |
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
At the start of most lessons teachers will explain, in child-friendly terms, what is going to be learnt. This is not the same as the content of the lesson. By making the learning intentions explicit, it is more likely that children will apply what they have learned one day with a similar challenge in the future.
With younger children a character named W.A.L.T. (We are Learning To …) can be displayed to introduce the learning intention. With older children, the learning intention and success criteria might simply be put on the blackboard for reference during the lesson. Success criteria are often expressed in terms like “We’ll know we’ve achieved this when…”
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Pupil Self assessment and peer assessment
Self assessment can begin almost as soon as the success criteria are agreed, though it is more likely to be a feature of the latter part of the lesson, when the children are trying to evaluate their success. The emphasis on peer and self assessment is all about making the child more responsible for his own learning. It is not an alternative to feedback from the teacher, but it is far better than the child being totally dependent on teacher feedback to know whether or not he has done well. It adds to self esteem to be able to say independently, or with a classmate, “We know we have done this task well. Now what’s next?” |
Effective questioning and interaction
One–way communication, with the teacher doing most of the talking and the child listening receptively, has not been proved to be the best method of effective learning.
When children are active participants, not just answering questions but asking them and engaging in quality discussion, their learning will be deeper. When teachers ask open-ended questions, for instance, and give more waiting time for the answers to come, the quality of thinking among children is greatly enhanced. |
Effective feedback, including constructive marking
We believe marking should provide feedback to children about their successes and improvement needs against the learning intention — a real tool for learning and improvement. It should offer clear strategies for improvement and time should be allowed for improvements to be made. Children will be encouraged to self-mark wherever possible, i.e. where answers are either right or wrong and the instant feedback is helpful. This sets teachers free to spend more time on quality marking. Hence the dictum “Mark Less to Achieve More” |
Two approaches to quality marking.
- ‘Two starts and a Wish’- where the teacher makes two positive comments about a piece of work and one aspect where improvement is needed.
- ‘Highlight and Prompt’ - where teachers highlight the best points and offer a written prompt where an improvement is needed.
Both of the above approaches provide a way of focusing on the learning intention and involve the teacher in giving feedback where it matters. |
