School Data Updates

One of the most common questions I get asked is ‘how do we show the progress of those pupils working below their year group?’ Historically, this would have been done using some kind of points system linked to stages of the curriculum – each increment being worth 0.5 or 1 point with average points calculated…

Here it is: the final VA calculator for pupils with KS1 levels. As usual, please don’t attempt to edit the online version; download a copy to your computer. Main changes are: all estimates, lower threshold caps, standard deviations and nominal scores have been updates in line with latest primary accountability guidance. Also, I’ve built it…

You can download the tool here. I thought it would be useful to produce something that showed 4 years’ results against national figures for each statutory assessment – EYFS (GLD), phonics, KS1 and KS2 – in an easy to read format. I thought it’d be even better if it was free. The national figures are…

A beta version of the VA calculator can be downloaded here. PLEASE DOWNLOAD IT FIRST. ANY DATA ENTERED ONTO THE ONLINE VERSION WILL VISIBLE TO ALL AND WILL BE DELETED. Please note that in addition to the usual issues at this time of year – estimates and standard deviations will change – we also have…

Following on from this blog post, questioning the potential reliability of progress measures in 2020, when the first cohort without KS1 levels reach the end of KS2, I thought I’d write another post on something that’s bothering me. Progress measures for junior and middle schools have always been problematic. Despite these schools having higher attainment…

As well as providing a super-simple, highly-customisable tracking system for individual schools, Insight also offers an equally intuitive reporting tool for MATs. Called Mosaic, this clever system allows MATs to build reports that pull all their key data together in one place: current teacher judgements, standardised tests, results of statutory assessments, pupil contextual information, and…

“But we need progress measures!” said the primary headteacher at a recent meeting, and this is a common response to the question of whether we could live without them. Understandably, schools that are prone to low attainment want progress measures to help mitigate the issues that low attainment inevitably brings. If key stage 2 results…

This is the question I get asked these days (along with ‘if I use this code, does that mean this pupil will still be included in our results?’ but that’s for another day). I have tackled it before here, but thought it was due another visit. Four years ago we had two progress measures: levels…

Standardised tests are extremely useful. They provide an external reference of a pupil’s attainment, indicating whether it is below, above or broadly in line with national average; and give an idea of how pupils are progressing relative to other pupils nationally. They can help us understand what pupil’s do and don’t know whilst providing important…

The release of reception baseline framework in February has understandably generated a lot of buzz (and debate!) about the nature and purpose of the assessment, and has resulted in questions, particularly from early years teachers, about how progress will be measured in future. Much of the confusion seems to stem from the use of the…