Key Stage 2 English in Wales, optional support for teacher assessment
Hilary Cox, Bethan Burge, Claire Hodgson and Juliet Sizmur
Further information
The project was concerned with the development (and development process) of assessment materials to be used by teachers in Wales now that statutory testing at the end of key stage 2 (KS2) has been abolished. The aim was to provide teachers with a rich (and free), optional resource that would allow for assessment of pupils’ abilities in a wide range of skills and competencies embedded in the English curriculum, and demonstrate how teacher assessments could be used both summatively and formatively.
Key findings
Whilst the materials cover a broad range of skills and activities, clearly not all skills and competencies embedded in the Programmes of Study for English can be addressed through the published materials and teachers should be mindful that the tasks were designed to work alongside, not instead of, teachers’ own records. The final bank of support materials was chosen either from teachers’ feedback, by the quality of pupils’ outcomes, or by the range of skills that might be assessed. The materials can be used flexibly and can be adapted to suit the needs of a particular school, class or individual pupil.
The introduction of the new assessment arrangements and new support materials mean that teachers will need to become fully aware of the parts of the programmes of study that are being addressed in the publications and to be sure that they are not trying to assess an area that has not yet been taught. Furthermore the development team believe that inset training in the use of these materials is important, whilst the implementation of teacher moderation procedures, both within and outside individual schools, will be crucial.
Investigating the problem
The aims of the development project were summarised as follows:
- to provide teachers with an optional resource to make teacher assessments in English which could be used summatively (for purposes of national data collection and secondary transfer) and formatively, by incorporating the principles of Assessment for Learning
- to provide materials that would allow assessment in a wide range of skills and competencies embedded in the English curriculum including specific skills in reading, writing and speaking and listening (oracy)
- to provide a platform on which a common understanding of ‘levels’ could be built to raise confidence in teacher assessment both professionally and publicly
- to ensure that the materials were viable for use in normal literacy lessons in terms of manageability, completion time and pupil engagement
- to provide assessment opportunities for teachers to assess all children, including those at either end of the ability range
- to model the final resource broadly on the key stage 1 materials as these had been well received by schools and the teachers of younger pupils.
Conclusions/recommendations
Recommendations were made to the Qualifications and Curriculum Assessment Authority for Wales (ACCAC), and accepted, as to the form and content of the final materials as follows:
- reading, writing and oracy activities to be presented in three separate Teacher’s Handbooks with each to include:
- an introduction to the materials
- an emphasis on ‘Assessment for Learning’
- a set of ‘core’ activities offering assessment opportunities for a wide range of skills and opportunities to assess pupils as individuals, in paired working situations and in collaborative group work (these cover a wide range of skills and show exemplification of pupils’ work)
- suggestions for additional tasks to cover further skills
- guidance on how to use the materials, advice on the target group for assessment and how to carry out the task (including where to find accompanying resource materials and what to look for when using the activity as an assessment task)
- individual pupil case studies - showing completed work over a range of tasks leading to an award of a National Curriculum level
- assessment criteria for speaking and listening to be linked to the specific tasks featured in the oracy booklet
- support to be provided for teachers with ‘levelling’ pupils’ contributions in oracy
- resource booklets to be produced, containing pupil worksheets and teacher resources, including a model for record keeping, for each of reading, writing and oracy
- an A3 poster and a CD to be produced to accompany the materials for familiarisation and training purposes.
The ‘Assessment for Learning’ component will involve:
- advice to teachers to share and/or develop assessment criteria with pupils
- a focus on diagnostic assessment, with ‘next steps’ comments added to all pupil exemplar and case study materials
- the ‘core’ section in both the reading and writing booklets to contain tasks in which ‘Assessment for Learning’ activities are actively modelled - to demonstrate peer and self assessment and pupil-teacher dialogue.
Dissemination
The project was concerned with the development (and development process) of assessment materials to be used by teachers in Wales now that statutory testing at the end of KS2 has been abolished. The aim was to provide teachers with a rich (and free), optional resource that would allow for assessment of pupils’ abilities in a wide range of skills and competencies embedded in the English curriculum and also to demonstrate how teacher assessments could be used both summatively and formatively.
Key findings
- The optional materials can be used flexibly and can be adapted to suit the needs of a particular school, class or individual pupil.
- Teachers will need to become familiar with the assessment tasks to ensure that they are not trying to assess an area that has not yet been taught.
- The final bank of support materials was chosen as a result of either: teachers’ feedback, the quality of pupils’ outcomes, or by the range of skills that might be assessed.
- Whilst the published materials cover a broad range of skills, it is clear that not all skills and competencies within the Programmes of Study can be addressed through them alone.
- Inset training in the use of these materials is important, whilst the implementation of teacher moderation procedures, both within and outside individual schools, will be crucial.
- It is most important that teachers should be mindful that the tasks were designed to work alongside, not instead of, teachers’ own records.
The materials are due to be published by ACCAC and should have been received in all primary schools in Wales during November 2006.
Presentations were given at various conferences to disseminate the forthcoming materials, namely:
- The new optional assessment materials for English in Wales, Assessment and Measurement Department (AMD) internal conference,Slough, March, 2006
- The new optional assessments for English in Wales, 2006 Times Educational Supplement (TES) Wales Education Conference, Cardiff, 25 May 2006
- The new optional assessments for English in Wales, National Association for Teachers of English (Wales) Conference, Llandrindod Wells, July 2006
- A twist in the tale: the influence of the oral tradition in Wales, UK Literacy Association Conference Nottingham, July 2006
- Presenting a picture: supporting teacher assessment in Wales, Association for Educational Assessment (Europe) Conference, Naples, 9-11 November, 2006
In addition several articles for UK publications have been written but so far there has been no indication as to whether the submissions have been successful.
Citation
National Foundation for Educational Research (2006). KS2 English: Optional Assessment Material (Resource Pack and CDs). Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government.