Moving Forward with Curriculum for Excellence SATH Spring Conference Saturday 7 May 2011 Jane Henderson QDM Social Studies

OECD Review Consultation Employers HMIe Reports Cabinet Secretary’s Announcement Next Generation of Qualifications BtC CfE: Experiences & Outcomes and Principles & Practices documents

Big Picture: Areas for Improvement  Reduce over-crowding in the curriculum and make learning more enjoyable  Reduce the attainment gap between most and least able learners  Better connect the various stages of the curriculum from 3 to 18  Achieve a better balance between 'academic' and 'vocational' subjects and include a wider range of experiences  Equip young people with the skills they will need in tomorrow's workforce  Ensure that assessment and certification support learning  Allow more choice to meet the needs of individual young people

Big Picture: Implications for SQA  Breadth of learning  Clear and smooth progression  Inclusive, coherent, easy to understand  Less time spent on assessment for certification  More focus on skills development  Assessment supports, motivates and challenges learners  High standards, credibility and relevance  Working with Building the Curriculum series, in particular BtC 3, 4 and 5

The development and quality assurance process QDT CARG WEB I- ROCCG update SWG E- ROCCG I- ROCCG

An Open and Transparent Development Process  Draft documents on web as soon as ready  Robust quality assurance process which involves all key stakeholders  Proactive, planned engagement –to explore issues and help shape thinking –offer advice and guidance –reflect on and test proposals  ‘Myalerts’ feedback facility on web – feedback summaries to CARGs, QDTs and published on web.

Subject Expertise : QDT Course Design: Design principles Technical Writing: QDCs assisted by SWG Assessment Expertise : SQA Qualifications Development Clear roles and remit

Design Principles for National 4 and National 5 There will be new qualifications called National 4 and National 5. They will replace the qualifications that currently sit at SCQF levels 4 and 5 (Standard Grade and Intermediate 1 and 2). The new courses will use a new type of Units — more skills-based, less prescriptive, and more user-friendly. These Units will require knowledge and understanding as well as skills. Their specifications will be more flexible and open. They will have fewer, broader outcomes that encourage holistic assessment, and will rely on assessors to exercise professional judgement instead of having to satisfy long lists of criteria. Both National 4 and National 5 will be based on a nominal 160 hours of study, and in both there will be flexibility in the number of Units.

National 4 and National 5 Design Principles  National 4 or  National 5 or Unit 1Unit 2 Added Value Unit Combined Unit Assessment including Added Value Unit 1Unit 2 External assessment including Added Value Combined Unit Assessment External assessment including Added Value

CFE History qualifications  Draw on the Es and Os / principles / practice  Retain best of current qualifications  Emphasise importance of skills  Ensure smooth progression and “fall-back” through the levels 3-7  Have balance of Scottish, British and European/World  Facilitate a coherent historical experience: “map of the past” and the relevance of History for today

3 unit structure for Access, National 4, National 5 and Higher  Historical Study: Scottish  Historical Study: British  Historical Study: European and World Added Value at N4: Project Added Value at N5: Course Assessment - Project and Question Paper Added Value at Higher: Course Assessment - Project and Question Paper

Skills in Higher History  researching and investigating historical themes and events  synthesising information from a wide range of sources to produce detailed and reasoned lines of argument  evaluating historical sources with reference to their content, context and usefulness  analysing historical themes and events  communicating balanced conclusions supported by evidence

Skills for Assessment Purposes  Skills will be taught across all three units but, for assessment purposes only, to simplify and reduce the burden of assessment, we have allocated particular skills to particular units  Knowledge and understanding is assessed in all three units

Added Value  Breadth is the ‘demonstration of breadth of learning across the Units of the Course, drawing on knowledge and skills from across the Units requiring retention and/or integration as appropriate’.  Challenge is defined as ‘requiring greater depth or extension of knowledge and/or skills assessed in other Units of the Course (note that this must be within the SCQF level of the course)’.  Application is defined as ‘requiring application of knowledge and/or skills in practical or theoretical contexts as appropriate’.

Course assessment/added value  Assignments - structured problem-solving exercise  Case studies - stimulus-based assessment of learner’s ability to analyse and draw conclusions  Practical activities - direct application of learner’s skills to make or build something  Performances - practical demonstration of learner’s skills, eg in Music or Drama  Portfolios - collection of learner’s work assembled over a period of time  Projects - open-ended task with support appropriate to the SCQF level requiring investigative/research skills  Question papers/tests - examination of knowledge and understanding via written responses

National 4 Assessment (continued)  Added Value Unit — Project (National 4)  In this Unit, learners will exercise choice in selecting a topic and context for personal study drawn from Scottish, British or European and world contexts. They will research their chosen topic and communicate their findings. Through this activity, they will have opportunities to demonstrate greater depth or extension of historical knowledge and skills as they draw on and apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the other Units of the Course.

Timelines  2010 – new curriculum introduced  2012 – publication of new qualifications levels 1 to 6  2013 – last Standard Grades + current Access 1, 2 & 3; publication of new qualifications level 7  2014 – first new qualifications at levels 1 to 5 (Access and National 4 and 5); dual run’ with existing National Courses  2015 – first new qualifications at level 6 (Higher); ‘dual run’ with existing National Courses  2016 – first new qualifications at level 7 (Advanced Higher)

What’s next?  Nat 4/5 draft Course Rationale and SummaryPublished  Nat 4/5 draft Course SpecificationsPublished  Higher draft Course Rationales and SummariesMay 11  Higher draft Course SpecificationsAug 11  Nat 4/5 draft Unit SpecificationsAug 11  Acc 3 draft Courses Rationales and SummariesAug 11  Higher draft Unit Specifications Nov 11  Nat 4/5 draft Unit Support PacksDec 11  Acc 3 draft Unit Specifications Dec 11  Publications of final Specifications - Apr 12 (AH Apr 13)  Assessment support and exemplification ( N4/5 from Apr 12, H from Apr 13. and AH from Apr 14 )

CfE Course Document Set Draft Rationale and Course Summary Draft Course Specification Draft Unit Specification Draft Course and Unit Assessment Specification Draft Course and Unit Support New CfE Qualification We are Here Publish 30 April 2011 Publish 30 Aug 2011 Publish 30 Nov 2011 Publish 31 Jan 2012 N4 and N5 Ready to Publish Arrangements Document Current Qualification Includes: Course Structure Rationale and Aims Course Content Course and Unit Assessment Grade Descriptions Estimates and Appeals Approaches to Learning and Teaching Unit Specifications

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