© Crown copyright 2008 Subject Leaders’ Development Meeting Spring 2009

© Crown copyright Objectives of the day To review the Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP) processes and materials To review the national standards in ICT and the progression through the NC levels To consider how APP will work in their department

© Crown copyright Structure of the day Session 1 APP1 –Assessing Pupils’ Progress in ICT Session 2 APP1 & 2 –APP and planning Session 3 APP2 3 4 –Implementing APP Session 4 –APP in a whole school context

© Crown copyright 2008 Session 1 Assessing Pupils’ Progress in ICT

© Crown copyright Objectives To review the principles of the Assessment for Learning Strategy To explore the Assessing Pupils’ Progress resources and processes To secure understanding of the features of pupils’ work at National Curriculum levels 5 and 6

© Crown copyright Aims of the AfL Strategy Every child knows how they are doing, and understands what they need to do to improve and how to get there. They get the support they need to be motivated, independent learners on an ambitious trajectory of improvement; Every teacher is equipped to make well-founded judgements about pupils’ attainment, understands the concepts and principles of progression, and knows how to use their assessment judgements to forward plan, particularly for pupils who are not fulfilling their potential; Every school has in place structured and systematic assessment systems for making regular, useful, manageable and accurate assessments of pupils, and for tracking their progress; Every parent and carer knows how their child is doing, what they need to do to improve, and how they can support the child and their teachers.

© Crown copyright Benefits Is sensitive, constructive, and fosters motivation Is a key professional skill Recognises all educational achievement Promotes understanding of goals and criteria Helps learners know how to improve Develops capacity for self (& peer) assessment Is part of effective planning Central to classroom practice Focuses on how pupils learn

© Crown copyright Robust assessment leads to… an accurate assessment a fair assessment a reliable assessment a useful assessment a focused assessment for continuity of assessment

© Crown copyright A strategic approach Day to day Learning objectives made explicit and shared with pupils Peer and self-assessment in use Pupils engaged in their learning and given immediate feedback Periodic Broader view of progress across subject for teacher and learner Use of national standards in the classroom Improvements to medium-term curriculum planning Transitional Formal recognition of pupils’ achievement Reported to parents/carers and next teacher(s) May use external tests or tasks (now no national KS2 & 3 testing)

© Crown copyright Assessing Pupils’ Progress APP is a structured approach to periodic assessment enabling teachers to: –make secure judgments of attainment within national curriculum levels –track pupils’ progress over a key stage or longer –use diagnostic information about pupils’ strengths and weaknesses to improve teaching, learning and rates of pupils’ progress

© Crown copyright APP Plan for progression from learning objectives (Secondary Framework and planning tool kit) Collect and feed back to pupils evidence of their progress during engaging day-to-day teaching and learning. (AfL) Review a range of evidence for periodic assessment (APP) Make level-related assessment using APP criteria Adjust planning, teaching and learning (referring to secondary Framework)

© Crown copyright APP materials APP Handbook Standards File Standards Files Assessment Grid Assessment Guidelines APP Guidance

© Crown copyright The Assessment Focuses AF1 – Planning, developing and evaluating AF2 – Handling data, sequencing instructions and modelling AF3 – Finding, using and communicating information

© Crown copyright The Standards Files The Standards Files: –Exemplify national standards –Facilitate consistent and reliable judgements of a pupil’s level –Include: examples of pupils’ ongoing classroom work commentary on the evidence at assessment focus (AF) level; a teacher commentary that records both a profile of attainment across the AFs and a National Curriculum level for the attainment target (AT).

© Crown copyright Making APP assessments Stage 1: Making assessment focus judgements –Use the appropriate assessment guideline sheet to record criteria which have been met Stage 2: Making an overall level judgement –Use the profile to judge the level and sub level Stage 3: Checking the overall level judgement –Check, standardise and moderate the judgement against the Standards Files

© Crown copyright Sub-levels The overall level is the highest level at which all or most of the assessment criteria for each strand are highlighted. Sub-levels: –Low –Secure –High

© Crown copyright Assessing Pupils’ Progress APP has the potential to enhance pupils’ progress by: –increasing the consistency and reliability of teacher assessment; –supporting teachers in aligning their judgements systematically with National Standards; –linking day-to-day and periodic approaches to assessment; –providing high-quality evidence to inform next steps in pupils’ learning and reporting on pupils’ progress; –integrating assessment into planning for progression; –providing a National Curriculum attainment target level when needed, from an informed, holistic evaluation of progress against APP assessment criteria.

© Crown copyright 2008 Session 2 APP and curriculum planning

© Crown copyright Objectives To consider how APP informs and strengthens planning, teaching and learning To consider the changes required to schemes of work to ensure robust periodic assessment

© Crown copyright The planning cycle and APP Unit of work planned by combining objectives from a number of strands from the Framework for Secondary ICT Unit designed to create engaging teaching and learning experiences Unit designed to generate assessment evidence related to Framework objectives Evidence of pupils’ learning and attainment is generated by their work and captured in teacher records Evidence of learning is evaluated using APP assessment criteria

© Crown copyright Creating opportunities for progression How much ‘scaffolding’ should we give pupils? When does scaffolding prevent pupils from making progress? Do the activities we give pupils offer enough opportunity for them to demonstrate higher levels? 100% ‘scaffolding’ Open-ended problem-solving ?

© Crown copyright Open ended activities How might you change the activities that you give pupils to incorporate a more open ended approach? What might/ does this look like in your schemes of work? How do you support pupils in open-ended problem solving activities?

© Crown copyright 2008 Session 3 Implementing APP

© Crown copyright Objectives To consider how to implement APP in ICT departments

© Crown copyright The APP process (1) Decide on outcomes to be assessed and generate evidence from day-to-day teaching (2) Review an appropriate range of evidence (3) Select the appropriate Assessment Guidelines sheet (4) Highlight assessment criteria for which there is evidence (5) When appropriate, use the developing profile of learning to decide upon a sub-level (6) Moderate assessments (7) Make any necessary adjustments to planning, teaching and intervention

© Crown copyright Approaches to implementation There is no one approach that will work well for all schools Consider the pattern of units, amount of discrete ICT, any setting/banding You will need to assess all pupils by the end of each year

© Crown copyright Integrating into current practice How will you: –Familiarise teachers with APP –Ensure appropriate evidence is generated –Determine which pupil outcomes to use –Ensure teachers assess reliably and securely against the AFs –Moderate judgements –Adjust planning, teaching and interventions

© Crown copyright 2008 Session 4 APP in a whole school context

© Crown copyright Objectives To consider the whole school aspects of planning for APP implementation

© Crown copyright Timeline and recommended actions Spring and summer 09 –Support core subject leaders attendance at Subject Leader Development meetings –Disseminate key messages and materials as part of departmental and whole school planning –Access additional APP training and support from the local authority as appropriate –Review progress in developing AfL and APP Autumn 09 –Develop a CPD plan through to 2011 to secure full scale implementation of APP as part of whole school development of AfL

© Crown copyright Key questions How will you introduce APP with the ICT teachers at your school? What will need to be in place to make it work effectively? What what do you need to discuss with your senior leaders?