Validator: Alison Hawkes
Monitoring Techniques: Attendance at Validation
Group Meetings, observations of target reviews, discussion with
staff and pupils (independently).
Aim: To develop the process of recognising student's
strengths and support the process of student guidance, target
setting and review of the process.
| Success Criteria
1. A policy is produced. Students and parents are aware of this and understand it. The policy is consistently applied.
2. Every student participates in a review session with their teacher 3 times per annum. 3. Students receive support from class teachers in selecting, collating, sifting and sorting a wide variety of supporting evidence for their experiences and achievements within and beyond the curriculum. | Evidence of Success
Draft policy has been produced and ammended over a period of time using input from the Validation group and whole staff. A Training Day used the policy as a focal point with all staff, including non-teaching members. Attention has been drawn to RoAs through the newsletter and at parent's evening. A whole school RoA Day produced, among other things a newsletter written and produced by children detailing achievements.
Many teachers work individually with children reviewing and setting targets each change of topic i.e. half termly. Children set personal targets in addition to curriculum targets usually instigated by the teacher. Targets are evaluated and progress recorded throughout the half term.
Sessions are set aside in a week for individuals or small groups to work, supported by the class teacher, on discussing content of RoA files, identifying possible areas for development and producing certificates. |
| 4. Class teachers agree targets which as specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and timed.
5. Class teachers and students use up to date curriculum and extra curriculum information as a basis for review.
6. Class teachers support students in identifying their strengths and weaknesses and can be set targets jointly for future improvements.
7. Students progress against targets is reviewed on an appropriate timescale, but at least half termly. 8. The outcome of review sessions will be fully documented.
9. Pupils are encouraged to recognise and record the development of their skills. 10. Staff development is valued by teachers. Teachers feel competent in their role. | Target setting is a high profile in the organisation of the curriculum. Children are sufficiently familiar with it as an approach to learning that they expect targets to be set and reviewed regularly. When children feel they have achieved a target they take the evidence of success to the class teacher, demonstrate achievement and agree the target can be dated. Any targets not achieved during the agreed time can be detailed as Working Towards if appropriate, and carried forward to the next topic if the child wants to. The target is then added to the new targets identified. Reviewing is on going in the classroom daily and also at specified review times - either at the end of the topic or at the beginning of the theme.
Students generally are responsible for keeping the target sheet dated. At the end of the theme during the review staff and students are asked to comment where appropriate. The whole sheet is dated and signed at the review and then used as evidence of curriculum achievement in the RoA file. An Autumn staff conference focused on issues involving quality - including teaching and learning styles. Two separate training days have focused on RoA 's and Action planning. |
| 11. All members of staff have an opportunity to discuss the policy and contribute to the identification of training needs.
12. Students understand and value the action planning process. 13. Staff understand and value the action planning process. | Staff have had a variety of opportunities to support evolvement of the policy. Comments generally supported the benefits of target setting as helping pin point the individual child's needs and working to develop them. Initially seen as a lengthy arrangement has now become much quicker at all stages. Students were generally positive, commenting on how they felt the targets gave them something to aim for each half term. Some found they wanted to continue targets over two half terms to be really sure they knew the skill or concept. |
Record of Achievement Progress Report
Target
To integrate assessment and recording into
curriculum planning and delivery and assist the transfer of information.
Validator
Claire Trott - Deputy Head Mereway Middle School
Introduction
Monitoring Techniques:-
Two 50 minute sessions were observed, the observation included discussion with individual children and viewing documentation.
The teacher was also interviewed following the sessions.
Context:-
The first session was a general classroom session. A number of activities were taking place in the room, principally children working individually on story writing and children working in pairs on investigative science work involving electrical circuits.
The second session was a physical activities session - circuit training - which took place in the Gym.
The class observed was a year 7 class.
Success Criteria
An explicit whole school policy produced
The policy is consistently applied
In discussion, the teacher referred to the school assessment document and the school guidelines on evaluating and responding to children's work (marking). The main features mentioned were:- the use of half-termly targets appropriate to individual students, the variety of assessment techniques used (e.g. evaluating and responding, observation, teacher questioning, the use of some specific assessment tasks and peer and self- assessment), and recording assessments (e.g. teachers notes, NARA sheets and R.O.A. portfolio's).
The teacher's personalisation of the school
system included a rota of 5 books taken home each night for evaluating
and responding, the children knew which was their day and to expect
written and verbal feed back the following day.
Students and parents are aware of the systems and understand them
Children could explain the system for evaluating and responding to their work. This included the recent introduction of initialling work seen by the teacher. The children were less clear about how they could tell what they had achieved in their work, only referring to general teacher comments such as 'good' or 'excellent'. Some children mentioned the use of teacher comments to tell them how their work could be improved.
Children seemed less aware of other aspects
of the schools assessment system, with the exception of Target
Setting.
Learning objectives are identified with students
The children were working with individual learning targets, they showed me their sheets and showed an understanding of the system. Talking with the children about individual targets revealed that the National Curriculum language of the statements of attainment which are used as targets, was difficult for the children to understand. The school is in the process of beginning to address this.
The links between the assessment process and
target setting did not appear to be fully exploited, children
talked about achieving and marking off their targets, but were
not clear how this related to assessment. The potential for more
individualised assessment based on children's own particular targets
is a possible area for further development.
Assessment objectives are identified with students
Children working on the story were able to highlight the areas they believed would be focused upon when the quality of the work was being assessed by the teacher (strong beginnings middles and ends, the use of descriptive language), although they spoke in terms of what they believed to be the case, rather than with any certainty.
The children working on the science activity seemed unclear about the purpose of the activity they were engaged in, although because of the exploratory nature of the work they seemed to feel comfortable with this. In discussions with myself and the teacher, children were able to identify relevant individual targets related to this work, although there was a lack of understanding about how this particular activity might related to the generalised statements in the targets.
The Physical Activities session was the last
of a series of sessions on circuit training. The session was
based around the introduction and completion of peer assessment.
Although the introduction to the session was rather rushed and
pressure of time allowed only a minimum of explanation, the teacher,
with the children's assistance, clearly established what assessment
criteria would be appropriate for the peer assessment of the exercises
which made up the circuit training i.e.:- how technically correct
- as taught, appropriateness of speed, level of concentration,
level of effort. Discussions with the children throughout the
session revealed that the majority of the children were aware
of, and confident about, the assessment objectives both when
they were completing the exercises themselves and when they were
assessing their partner.
A range of appropriate assessment techniques are available.
Students are involved in self assessment and the opportunity to discuss their own assessment
A range of different assessment techniques were observed, whilst the children's books and discussions with the teacher provided evidence of techniques not in use at that time.
The main assessment techniques observed were:- teacher questioning, teacher observation and peer assessment.
Teacher questioning:- informal assessment of children's level of understanding and ability to transfer learning between activities, occurred during the science activity, with the teacher questioning individuals. A range of types of questions were used, although the teacher and I agreed that the process may have benefited from a greater use of open questions. Some carefully chosen open questions may have helped provide focus for the children's investigation and a way of finding out more about what the children already knew. During the Physical Activities session the teacher used questioning to ascertain if the children could explain and justify their awarding of particular marks for particular exercises. Did they show an understanding of the skills and attitudes involved?
Teacher observation:- assessment by observation was particularly apparent in the Physical Activities session. The teacher focused in on pairs and individuals making his own assessments of the exercises performed and the children's ability to assess each others performance. In discussions afterwards he explained that he had been making mental notes of the children's attainment, particularly those whose achievement was below what he would have hoped for. Problems may be addressed when returning to circuit training at a later stage.
Peer assessment:- Peer assessment took place in the Physical Activities session. The children worked in pairs with knowledge of the criteria for assessment. For each exercise they had to mark their partner out of ten. After each member of the pair had completed the exercise they were given time to feed back to their partner, explaining why, in relation to the criteria, they had given the mark they did. Although the time available was brief, the children took this seriously and were able to justify the mark given, both to each other and to myself or the teacher when asked. Their assessments seemed thoughtful and fair. When asked how they were assessing the degree of effort or the level of concentration some children were a little uncertain whilst others talked confidently about indicators such as facial expression or eyes focused on a fixed point. The assessment the children gave each other was sumative. In discussions later, the teacher and I considered how the formative side of such an assessment could have been brought out by the children re-doing some exercises having listened to the peer assessment that had taken place. This may have given children the opportunity to immediately put into practice what they may have learnt form the assessment.
The teacher has attempted to build up the
children skills in terms of peer assessment by videoing sessions.
This allows for more detailed analysis and the sharing of perceptions
across the group.
Both students and teachers are involved in recording assessment decisions including the context of achievement.
The achieving of particular National Curriculum levels are individually recorded and dated by children on their Target sheets, after agreement with the teacher. There is space on the sheet for the recording of the context of targets which have been achieved.
At the end of each half-term the teacher uses the Target sheets, children's books and any other assessment notes taken to complete N.A.R.A. sheets.
The children recorded their assessments of
each other in the Physical Activities session on a sheet provided
by the teacher.
Conclusion and further developments
The observations and discussions described in this report, provided an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the assessment practice of the teacher involved. A variety of ways for assessing and recording children's achievements are successfully taking place in accordance with the schools Assessment Guidelines. Children appear to have a reasonable knowledge what is happening although, as identified in the R.O.A. action plan, work needs to be done to ensure that children have greater understanding and ownership of their individual targets, so they can become more involved in assessing their own achievements in relation to these targets.
The school is involved in work on the standardisation of assessment at cluster and town level and in-service training for all staff will take place this term - Spring 95.
Work is planned to increase parents understanding
of the assessment, recording and reporting practice in school
- re the new document.