Assessment: What governors need to know Calderdale Governors’ Association 22nd November 2014

Objectives of the workshop To make you think about: Assessment and what it is; How governors know assessment procedures are rigorous in their schools.

Question 1. What is assessment? Give them 5 minutes to have a quick table discussion (each table) and agree a shared view of what they think assessment is…..and what is it for? Take feedback from 3-4 groups. Hopefully they will come up with “judge where children are in their learning” and “measure progress over time” or variations on the themes. IF they don’t then remind them that prime use of assessment is to inform teachers’planning of what children need to do next to take learning fwd.

Make the point that simply viewing assessment to measure where children are, does not of itself mean children are moving forward in their learning. Teachers (schools) must ensure they are doing something with assessment info to ensure it has impact.

Assessment Formative – what have they learnt and what do they need to learn next? Summative – what have they learnt over time (e.g. SATs,GCSEs etc)? Two key forms of assessment in schools…2 simple definitions.. Give examples such as Formative – show me a smiley face if you think you understand how we add two fractions together? And Summative 76% of all pupils got a grade B in the GCSE English exam

Ofsted Expectations! As far as what governors need to know and are expected to know about assessment, as governors we/you could do a lot worse than use the Ofsted “School Inspection Handbook” as your guide. It spells out what Ofsted expect of governors…..and its quite simple

How Ofsted evaluate governance Inspection must examine the impact of leaders at all levels, including governors, and evaluate how efficiently and effectively the school is led and managed. This should include considering the implications of any strengths or weaknesses in early years or sixth form provision Inspectors should consider whether governors: assure themselves of the rigour of the assessment process These two paragraphs are both important as they both contribute to the overall judgment of Leadership and Management in the school. The first bullet comes at the beginning of the evaluation schedule section on L & M, making it very clear that governors are part of Leadership (i.e. at all levels) and also, a change in the September 2014 framework, that EYFS and Sixth Form are now judged separately. This last point gives a clue that governors are now expected to know about key performance indicators across the school i.e. Quality of Teaching, Pupil attainment and progress and of course assessment. When evaluating the effectiveness of governors, Ofsted inspection teams must evaluate how governors “assure themselves of the rigour of the assessment processes” across the school ….. …which leads us onto the second question in our workshop ( NEXT SLIDE)

Question 2 How do governors in your school assure themselves of the rigour of the assessment process? In tables, discuss how you would expect best practice in rigorous assessment to look in a school. Draw from your experience (in your own schools) and think about how, as governors you might want it to be even better!

Further information: National curriculum and assessment from September 2014: information for schools https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uplo ads/attachment_data/file/358070/NC_assessment_qu als_factsheet_Sept_update.pdf Note for inspectors: use of assessment information during inspections in 2014/15 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/note-for-inspectors-use-of-assessment-information-during-inspections-201415 These are two informative and relatively short ref documents on Assessment, which are ideal bedtime reading for governors. The first is a briefing from the DfE published on the .gov.uk website in September this year. The second is an Ofsted briefing document for inspectors, but is in the public domain.

and finally… Any questions? Thank you