School Data Updates

I recently spoke to a headteacher of a primary school judged by Ofsted to be ‘requiring improvement’. The school has been on an assessment journey in the last couple of years, ditching their old tracking system with its ’emerging-developing-secure’ steps and expected progress of three points per year (i.e. levels), in favour of a simpler […]

I’ve got a new job! After much deliberation I have accepted a position with Equin Ltd, the lovely people behind Insight Tracking. I’ve got to know Sarah and Andrew (directors) very well over the last few years and it’s no secret that I am a big fan of their system, which I’ve recommended to many […]

I talk and write a lot about the issues with primary tracking systems: that many have reinvented levels, and are often inflexible and overly complicated. Quite rightly this means I get challenged to define what a good system looks like, and it’s a tricky question to answer, but I think I’m getting there now. I’ve […]

A headteacher recently told me she’d been informed by her LA advisor that “only ‘good’ schools can experiment and do what they like when it comes to assessment”. This fallacy has been trotted out so many times now that it has become embedded in the collective consciousness and headteachers have come to accept it. Perhaps […]

I’m a climber. Or at least I’d like to be. Back in the day I got out on rock loads, climbing routes all over the UK. From sea cliffs to mountain crags; from deep-wooded valleys to wild moorland edges, I would revel in the light and the textures, the exposure and the fear; and the […]

Stop the world, I’m getting off In the four years since the removal of levels primary schools have had to contend with a staggering amount of change to almost every aspect of the accountability system. No longer are pupils achieving Level 4 or Level 5; now they are described as meeting ‘expected standards’ or achieving […]

This is the 5th and final part in a series of blog posts on data for primary governors. Part 1 covered statutory data collection, part 2 was on sources of data, part 3 explained progress measures, and part 4 dealt with headline measures. In this post we’re going to discuss those all-important pupil groups. When […]

The DfE recently announced that they would cap the extremely negative progress scores (but not the extremely positive progress scores by the way) in order to reduce the impact that such scores can have on school’s overall measures. This is a welcome move considering how damaging these scores can be, particularly for schools with high […]

Many schools are using standardised tests from the likes of NFER, GL and Rising Stars to monitor attainment and progress of pupils, and to predict outcomes; and yet there is lot of confusion about how standardised scores relate to scaled scores. The common assumption is that 100 on a standardised test (eg from NFER) is […]