Introduction to: Assessing Pupil Progress (APP)

What is APP? A structured approach to periodically assessing pupil progress throughout KS2 (and KS3) A periodic review of work already done, not a new assessment event Supports teacher ongoing assessment Not statutory Instead of relying purely on end of year Optional test – when it’s too late to do anything or mid-year tests which reflect on their attainment on a single piece of work or performance in a test that does not reflect reflect actual attainment – Now a more holistic view of assessment that directly links to the cycle of planning, teaching and learning

APP materials Assessment guidelines Standards files Flow charts for making level judgments Training standards files Short video clips

Assessment guideline - mathematics Child on L3/L4 borderline Make ‘best fit’ assessment against L3 and L4 criteria We have avoided giving a complicated mathematical formula for aggregating the mathematics ATs but would expect teachers to be mindful of the guidance on statutory Teacher Assessment where AT2 (number) carries at least twice the weighting of the other ATs. Pupils' work in the standards files Each standards file comprises a number of pieces of work Some of the evidence is written and some of it is in the form of notes made by the teacher when working with the pupils, or when observing them in class. In the mathematics standards files, there are also summary notes made by the teacher about what the range of work demonstrates about a pupil's mathematical attainment. For mathematics and reading and writing, the level of annotation on the work presented in the standards files is far more than a classroom teacher would be expected to record. The standards files have a large amount of annotation as they need to stand alone and the classroom teacher is not available to discuss what the evidence amounts to and what additionally they know about a pupil's work. Make overall level judgement 4

Using the assessment guidelines – Assessment Focuses Assessment guidelines are made up of Assessment Focuses (AFs) which: help teachers recognise evidence in key elements of reading, writing and mathematics Enable teachers to see a pupil’s ‘profile’ of attainment and to share this Provide basis for discussing targets for improvement with pupils, parents and carers Allow progress ‘within’ a level to be seen Offer an ‘intelligent’ version of a sub-level! Provide detailed information for the next teacher / school Reveal ‘gaps’ in curriculum and/or learning To Summarise The information gained from the APP approach to periodic review: provides diagnostic information on pupils' strengths and weaknesses in relation to specific AFs enables forward planning based on group and individual pupil needs makes the most of pupils' learning experiences across the whole curriculum We are aiming that by the autumn of 2009 every teacher should have spent a term or more getting to know APP and how it works by using it over time in mathematics, reading and writing. The pilot shows that teachers are able to transfer the more detailed knowledge of what progression looks like to other pupils without the need to use APP processes in full with them all. Often, the patterns of attainment can be related to gaps in curriculum provision, as much as to pupils' ability. 5

Assessment Focuses are: the agreed national interpretation of the National Curriculum Level Descriptors linked to the 2006 Primary Framework (see next slide) designed to help teachers judge where pupils’ are in their learning and plan accordingly. tools for assessment, not learning objectives.

2006 Primary Framework Strands National Curriculum attainment target BLOCKS National Curriculum attainment target APP AFs Using and applying mathematics A; B; C; D; E Ma1 Using and Applying mathematics Problem solving Communicating Reasoning Counting and understanding number A; E Ma2 Number Numbers and the number system Fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio Operations and the relationships between them Mental methods Solving numerical problems Written and calculator methods Knowing and using number facts B; E Calculating A; D; E 5 Blocks made up using combinations of the seven strands Using and applying mathematics integrated into each block, embedding more enquiry based work that will emphasise a problem solving approach Understanding shape B; D Ma3 Shape, space and measures Shape Position and movement Measures Measuring C; D Handling data C Ma4 Handling data Processing and representing data Interpreting data

Standards files Standards files are annotated examples of pupil’s work which include: a range of evidence teacher’s notes and summaries next steps for the child completed assessment guidelines sheets There are standards files for pupils working at each of the National Curriculum levels.

Standards files are used to: standardise judgements, that is, to ensure that teachers’ judgements are in line with national standards before making assessments; provide a reference when assessing your own pupils; support moderation activity; clarify what it means to make progress; exemplify the APP approach.

Making a (sub) level judgement To decide whether the level is ‘low’, ‘secure’, or ‘high’ think about what the child demonstrates in terms of: How much of the level How consistently How independently In what range of contexts NB. The terms ‘low’, ‘secure’ and ‘high’ broadly equate to ‘c’, ‘b’, and ‘a’ for the purposes of recording and tracking data.

Evidence To make a level judgement you will need: Evidence of pupil’s mathematics that shows most independence, e.g. from work in other subjects as well as in mathematics lessons Other evidence about the pupil as a mathematician, e.g. notes on plans/marking, pupils own reflections, your own recollections of classroom interactions, oral answers given during mental starters…”

The best evidence is: From work where children have been independent or spontaneous e.g. cross curricular. Was it the result of careful scaffolding? From work that has required the application of different skills – UAM investigative/problem solving or where children had a choice of method to use e.g. number line Gathered outside the context of ‘this week’s’ teaching (e.g. responses to marking comments) Can teachers talk about the evidence? From activities which are fun and enjoyable e.g. children’s strategies and discussions when playing games.

The APP approach Collects together: children's work any other evidence assessment guidance materials Identify borderline for attainment target Look through the work for each AF until confident with the criteria that are ‘best fit’ Standardisation materials To ensure that judgements made by teachers in your school are in line with national standards, standardisation training in school could use the materials in the following ways. Each teacher assesses one pupil, and agrees the level judgement with a colleague by comparing and contrasting the pupil's work with that of a standards file pupil at that level. Teachers assess the work of one standards file pupil, using a training version of the standards files with the references to level judgements removed, and then compare their judgements with those in the full standards file. Teachers copy one or two collections of work from their own pupils, without any annotation or commentary, and ask colleagues to identify pupils in the standards files to which each is closest in performance. Using two standards files at the same level (e.g. low 3 and secure 3) with all the annotations but without the assessment summaries or assessment guidelines sheets, groups discuss and agree which is low and which is secure. To clarify progress, look through all standards files that cover one identified AT to track the evidence for a particular AF or group Highlight applicable AF criteria and tick the level related box for each Make an overall level judgement 13