Schools Should Organise Moderation Of

Assessment and Moderation Framework

April 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction4

Principles and aims4

Content4

Rationale5

Assessment and Moderation Framework for Pupils with SEN7

Child Profile8

What is a Profile, and Why Should it be Used? 8

Key principles of Pupil Passports8

Baseline Assessment 11

Common Assessment Framework (CAF) 11

Baseline Assessment in secondary schools 12

Identification of SEN14

Planning 15

Learning Objectives15

The Pupil’s Perspective15

TAs & LSAs16

Targets16

Individual Provision Maps and Individual Education Plans (IEP)18

Interventions19

Assessment 20

Day to Day Assessment20

Assessment for Learning (AfL)21

Marking21

Periodic Assessment23

Criterion-referenced assessment24

Transitional Assessment25

Primary/Secondary Transfer25

Assessment of progress of pupils in respect of ECM outcomes25

Assessment in respect of specific SEN26

Review 29

Tracking29

Management Information Systems30

Whole school tracking systems in mainstream schools30

Whole school tracking systems in special schools 32

Moderation of Assessment and Other Strands of the Framework 37

Moderation of assessment – Principles37

Continuous Professional Development37

Class / subject assessment37

In-school Moderation38

L.A. Moderation38

The Moderation day39

Moderation of Other Strands of the Framework 42

Moderation of the Child Profile42

Moderation of Identification42

Moderation of Planning42

Moderation of Target Setting43

Moderation of Assessment43

Moderation of Review 44

Evaluation 45

Evaluation of performance in mainstream schools45

Evaluation of performance in special schools47

Progression Guidance47

Progress of Groups48

Appendices 50

INTRODUCTION

Principles and aims

This Assessment and Moderation framework places use of P scales within the framework of all pupils and with SEN and all other pupils. Only 5% of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) pupils and0.4% of Key Stage 2 (Year 6) pupils were registered on at least one P Scale in 2008. (National P Scales data collection 2008).In the interests , therefore , of efficiency and inclusion it is beneficial to assess and moderate the performance of these pupils within whole school systems , with procedures differentiated to be specific to P Scales where necessary..

Embedding them within the systems used for all pupils will also serve to promote their use and ownership by all staff, thereby, promoting inclusive practice. The framework embodies the principle that assessment should be holistic, taking into account the ‘whole child’ and promoting not just academic achievement but also the achievement of the five Every Child Matters outcomes.

The aims of the framework are to:

  • Establish clear links between assessment and the process of planning and review:
  • Support and develop greater accuracy and consistency of assessment and moderation of the P scales:
  • Ensure that assessment of the P scales is linked to good, well established assessment principles such as Assessment for Learning and APP:
  • Support the confidence and the development of professional expertise to make best fit judgements:
  • Maximise the involvement of pupils in the target setting process:
  • Develop procedures for assessing performance against the 5 ECM outcomes;
  • Embed systems for the assessment and moderation of the P scales with those for all pupils
  • Encourage partnerships or cluster working across groups of schools/LAs

It is intended that the framework will be applicable in primary, secondary and special settings.Where it isnecessary to differentiate content to be phase specific this will be indicated.

Content

The Assessment and Moderation framework is not intended to be prescriptive in every detail. It recommends the key elements that should be included within a framework and provides guidance as to what these elements ought to contain. It provides exemplars to assist schools and LAs in developing their own practice.

The framework consists of:

  • A flow-chart detailing key elements
  • Rationale for inclusion for key elements
  • Guiding principles for each element
  • Examples of good practice

Rationale

Moderation

Schools should organise moderation of

  • target setting
  • assessment
  • evaluation

The purpose of moderation is to ensure that judgements are reliable and valid. Moderation needs to take place within and between classes and key stages. It also needs to take place between schools to ensure that judgments are consistent across settings.

Child Profile

The purpose of the Child Profile is to provide an instrument for collecting and documenting essential information needed to:

  • establish the pupil’s learning strengths and areas of need
  • disseminate this information to key staff and carers
  • promote consistency of approach
  • maximise involvement of pupil in awareness of their own needs

Baseline assessment

The purpose of a baseline assessment is to provide a profile of a pupil's skills and abilities at the start of a particular stage of education. It shows teachers what a child can do when starting this stage and helps them to plan lessons and measure progress. Areas covered include language and literacy, mathematics and personal and social development.

Planning

Part of what is assessed is what a pupil has achieved in respect of what has been planned and targeted. This is not to say that all that is achieved is what is planned for. Having produced a baseline assessment, teachers should plan to implement educational interventions that address the needs indentified in a pupil’s Statement of SEN (if the pupil has one) and areas for development identified in the baseline assessment. Consideration must also be taken of strengths and preferred learning styles indentified in the Child Profile and Baseline Assessment.

Assessment

There are three phases of assessment.

Day to day assessment

Having planned for a pupil’s education provision, it is necessary to assess whether the pupil has achieved what has been targeted, the rate of progress and levels of attainment.This includes information that teachers might gain from conversations with pupils about their work, as well as ongoing marking and peer and self-assessment. Day-to-day assessment gives pupils immediate feedback and provides them with relevant next steps. It also enables teachers to adjust their short-term planning in line with their pupils’ needs.

Periodic assessment

This is based on reviewing performance over a period of time and taking into account evidence in a range of forms drawn from day-to-day assessment. It helps the teacher and pupil identify overall progress in a subject or aspect of learning, rather than just assessing learning of the most recently taught topic. It also gives the teacher a clear sense of whether pupils are able to use the knowledge, skills and understanding they have developed in different contexts. Periodic assessment can also inform the teacher’s medium- and long-term planning and can provide the evidence to link pupils’ attainment to national standards.

Transitional assessment

This is most likely to take place at the end of a year or key stage. It draws on the full range of assessment information, including judgements made by the teacher and any other evidence such as tests. Transitional assessments provide a formal recognition of achievement and valuable baseline information for a pupil’s next teacher.

Each of these aspects of assessment provides a different perspective on what has been achieved and what the next steps should be. Used together they build a rounded and reliable picture of a pupil’s progress.

Review

Review is a formal process for considering progress, as measured through assessment. It considers all of the factors promotingattainment and progress, develops views and hypotheses around the reason for progress and the existence of barriers to learning. It results in commonly agreed actions, revised profiles and planning.

Evaluation

Embedded with the Ofsted framework is the imperative of schools to evaluateprovision. Thisenables schools to identifywhatispromoting progress and what is presenting barriers toachievement. These rounds off the Assessment and Framework, as a pupil’s individual performance cannot be analyzed in isolation from the educational context in which (s) he is educated. Improvements to rates of progress rest to a great degree to improvements in strategic planning of and implementation provision.

Within this framework profiling, assessment and planning take place in a circular and continuous sequence.

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ASSESSMENT AND MODERATION FRAMEWORK FOR PUPILS with SEN

Key Elements

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CHILD PROFILE

It is important that all staff working in the school and across other services maintain a profile that guides practice around each pupil with SEN. This can be in the form of a statement that is personalized from the perspective of the pupil or a document written in the third person.

Personal Profile

A personal profile is a concise assessment summary that describes a child in a holistic sense and includes information about his or her strengths, challenges, likes, dislikes family composition and characteristics, the circumstances under which the most productive learning can occur, teacher/peer input, and environmental or adaptive needs. The profile is fundamentally a collection of information gathered from the influential adults in a child's life, obtained from interviews and a review of existing written records. This short summary document provides a snapshot of the child's current interests and his or her present level of performance and development. The intent of the profile is to reflect what a pupil with SEN might want to tell or share with others but not be able to. For example, the first-person perspective of the statements, "I like ..., My family is ..., I learn best when ..." reflects the importance of viewing these characteristics and qualities through the eyes of the child and the family. By de-emphasizing the all-too-common focus on the deficits of the student with moderate or severe disabilities and replacing it with a broader, more comprehensive perspective, others may begin to view the child as a whole person with many positive attributes to offer. This could be especially applicable in the educational setting of the general education classroom.

Key principles of Pupil Passports

  • Passports are a special way of sorting information
  • Passports are an efficient way of presenting information and making it accessible to a wide variety of readers
  • Passports are a way of supporting the person, their carers and professional helpers through potentially traumatic life changesand transitions, and of ensuring consistency in how different people understand and approach the person.
  • Passports are a way of orientating new staff quickly
  • Passports should be visually attractive and readable documents
  • Passports are highly personalised and show the person they represent as human, unique and recognisable
  • Passports are a way of presenting information in a way that is positive and empowering both to the person they represent and to the reader
  • Making Passports is a way of valuing the role of family and carers, and of giving them more control
  • Making Passports can enhance relationships.
  • Passports are owned by the holder and family, not by the professionals
  • Passports give a specific focus for discussion with families and staff, to enable deeper understanding of a person with special needs (and each other).

Personal Communication Passports

by Sally Millar, 1997

In secondary schools, staff need to be sensitive to the feelings of those students who may find the child-friendly format inappropriate and prefer a format in which content is altered in order that expressed in the third person.

Communication Passport

A Personal Communication Passport or profile is a document carried by a pupil who has difficulty in communicating or who has significant learning difficulties. It is a means of gathering, synthesizing, and conveying critical information about students with moderate and severe disabilities. This personal profile summary provides a brief but in-depth view of a child in terms of the abilities he or she is proud of, interests, challenges, optimal learning conditions, and family life.

Too often students with special needs are viewed in terms of their deficits and differences from other students and learners. It is important for all staff to recognize the strengths and positive aspects of a student with SEN. The profile can provide a holistic view of students with special needs, specifically students with moderate and severe disabilities, for whom traditional assessment often fails to portray as possessing strengths, preferences, or interests.

Appendix 1 contains a communication passport template for pupils with moderate and severe difficulties. Appendix 2 contains a communication passport template for a pupil with sensory/physical needs.

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Example of a Communication Passport for a Pupil with Sensory Physical Needs

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BASELINE ASSESSMENT

The purpose of a baseline assessment is to provide a profile of a pupil’s skills and abilities at a particular point in time in their education. It shows all those working with the pupil what the young person can do and helps them to plan effectively and also acts to provide a way of measuring progress. The areas included in the assessment should cover language, literacy, mathematics and personal and social development.

Baseline assessment can take place at various times. These may include

  • On entry to school
  • At the start of the school year
  • On changing a Key Stage
  • At a time when there are increasing concerns surrounding the pupil

Most baseline assessments will be a collection of information from all those who have been working with the child over the course of the past academic year and have been involved in assessing the pupil.

Gathering information can come from a range of sources

  • In-house tracking systems
  • Results from recent school tasks and tests
  • Reports from professionals
  • Discussion with those working with the child ( e.g. Team Around the Child)

Key Information may include

  • NC levels including P levels
  • Reading Age, records of high frequency words recognised and/or book band level
  • Phonic knowledge assessments
  • Spelling assessments
  • Observation records
  • Work samples
  • Language levels (Speech & language Therapy reports)
  • Social and emotional intelligence assessments
  • A behaviour log

Appendix 3contains P Scale matrices that can be use both a baseline anda cumulative tracking document for pupils whose attainment falls within the P Scales.

Common Assessment Framework (CAF)

When there is a need for a more comprehensive portrait of a child the Common Assessment Framework may be appropriate. From January 2010, it is recommended that any child on the SEN profile who is involved with an outside agency should have a CAF to assess the most effective ways of providing directed support in the future.

The CAF was introduced as a shared assessment tool for all practitioners that work with pupils and families in the UK. The common assessment has been specifically designed to reduce duplicate assessments and to provide a common holistic framework for assessing need. It also facilitates integrated support and joint planning at an early stage.

Lord Laming has described what he sees as the key elements of a good assessment process (The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report – 2009)

“Fundamental to establishing the extent of a child’s need is a child-centred, sensitive and comprehensive assessment. Assessment should involve gathering a full understanding of what is happening to a child in the context of their family circumstances and the wider community, using a variety of sources of information. It must therefore be a joint parallel assessment with all professionals concerned for the child’s safety and welfare. Time needs to be spent making sense of this information informing the family where appropriate. Assessment procedures should build up an increasingly clear understanding of a child’s situation.”

The CAF is the multi-disciplinary tool that makes Lord Laming’s description of an effective assessment process a reality for pupils and families. When professionals sign up to the CAF process and integrate it into their practice and procedures, pupils and families experience a coherent and seamless process by which the practitioners there to help them understand their needs, establish a single plan and work together to improve their lives.

Each school needs to identify key staff that will be responsible for leading meetings involving key professionals and parents. It is then essential that these individuals receive comprehensive training on the CAF process.

The lead professional should submit a request to check if a CAF is already in place and if not make a request to create a CAF. Once the form has been received electronically, pupils, parents and all those involved with the child should complete the form before submitting it online (once it has been agreed and signed by the parent).

Principles of good CAFs include

  • The assessments are multi-disciplinary and should give a holistic picture of the pupil rather than being focused on a single issue
  • There is clarity between the pupil, their family and professionals about the reason for undertaking an assessment and the timescale
  • The pupil is always seen and listened to and parents/carers are fully involved
  • Information gathered needs to useful and relevant, analysed and used to inform the plan for the pupil

Baseline Assessment in secondary schools

Baseline information developed by secondary schools falls into four major categories

  • Primary test results
  • Teacher assessment information passed on by primary schools
  • Information gained from specific primary-secondary transition arrangements
  • Cognitive testing

Cognitive testing

Secondary schools use a variety of tests to test pupil’s underlying ability. The most popular are CATS and MIDYIS.

Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT)

The CAT is published by GL Assessment. The complete series of tests the age range 7 years 6 months to 17 years. Roughly 70% of all secondary schools use CAT to assess their pupils on entry to Y7, and approximately 25% also test in Y9. Many primary schools also use CAT, predominantly in Y4. Approximately one-third of LEAs use CAT strategically across all their schools. Most secondary schools use the computer-scoring service provided by GL Assessment.

CAT is nine tests grouped into three batteries which assess a pupil’s ability to reason with and manipulate the three different types of symbols that play a substantial role in human thinking

  • verbal – thinking with words
  • quantitative – thinking with numbers
  • non-verbal– thinking with shape and space

CAT scores indicate general transferable abilities, such as the ability to recognise similarities, analogies, patterns and relationships, all fundamental to understanding and assimilating new information. They are designed specifically to minimise the role of prior learning and can therefore provide an indication of potential. They differ from the national tests (or SATs) which indicate attainment in some core areas of the curriculum and reflect how well pupils have acquired and retained specific knowledge in these areas.

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