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Presenting progress data for pupils ‘working below’

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 […]

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2019 VA Calculator (the last of its kind!)

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 […]

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2019 VA Calculator: beta version

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 […]

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Junior schools, the reception baseline, and a big question about the future of accountability.

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 […]

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Building reports in Mosaic, Insight’s reporting tool for MATS

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 […]

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Should progress measures be scrapped for primary schools?

“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 […]

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How will KS2 progress be measured next year when we run out of KS1 levels? (and is it even worth it?)

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 […]

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The pros and cons of standardised tests

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 […]

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The reception baseline and the future of primary progress measures

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 […]

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