1. What Does Investigating the Awarding of Grades and the Use of Predicted Grades Reveal About Levels of Pupil Motivation?

2. The Finland Phenomenon

3. All pupils learning French in year 7 There is also a need to clarify misconceptions of a significant group of pupils in our school. (16% of pupils misunderstood the purpose of the projected achievement data – thinking that their projected grade was somehow guaranteed)

4. PPG only This is a problem, which is itself part of a bigger problem. Important not to generalise about PPG learners or to label them – but also important not to ignore these findings and these trends.

5. PPG interview comments Having heard their most recent assessment result, this is what one pupil wrote as a questionnaire response: 'I felt annoyed and angry when I found this out', 'I thought my result was really really bad' and 'I felt imbarised’ (sic).

6. PPG interview comments Interviewer: You said in your answers to the questionnaire you don't think you will achieve your target for the end of year, why is that? Student L: I don't know, I just won't. Interviewer: Please can you describe how you felt when you got your assessment result and looked at the pineapple of progress? Student L: I don't know, I just felt upset. Biggest finding = lack of agency among PPG pupils with diminished motivation.

7. PPG interview comments 'I do try in the lessons when I'm here, but I never really do revision. I do well anyway without revising'. Don’t set ‘revision’ as a h/w. Set a task where students hand something in showing they have revised.

8. How accurate is the pineapple? Stages 1 & 2 Stage 3Stage 4Stage 5 estimated achievem ent 5%15%45%35% actual pupil achievem ent* 0%18%48%28%

9. How accurate is the pineapple?

10. High achieving non-PPG pupil comments Student D, a high achieving non-PPG pupil, had further criticisms and questioned the fact that year 7 pupils are currently only given target stages 1 to 5. She achieved stage 5 in the March assessment and wondered if she had been set a higher stage, 6 or 7, whether she would have made greater efforts to achieve a higher target than the one she had been given.

11. What to take from all of this: Most similar research suggests targeted mentoring and accountability from other adults (i.e. not teachers) for PPG students, or those who are not motivated by academic targets or achievement. Breakfast club, lots of the things recommended by the recent report into PPG learners in this school in fact. There is a need to refine what we are doing with the projected achievement data we are currently using.

12. implications Important not to generalise about PPG learners or to label them – but also important not to ignore these findings and these trends. Biggest finding = lack of agency among PPG pupils with diminished motivation. What is good for the majority, is less likely to be beneficial to PPG learners. Sharing ‘target’ data or ‘chances’ data had a negative effect on the motivation of most PPG students in year 7. This is a problem, which is itself part of a bigger problem. Most similar research suggests targeted mentoring and accountability from other adults (i.e. not teachers) for PPG students or those who are not motivated by academic targets or achievement. There is a need to refine what we are doing with the projected achievement data we are currently using. There is also a need to clarify misconceptions of a significant group of pupils in our school. (16% of pupils misunderstood the purpose of the projected achievement data – thinking that their projected grade was somehow guaranteed) Don’t set ‘revision’ as a h/w. Set a task where students hand something in showing they have revised.