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NATIONAL PRIORITIES IN EDUCATION: Performance Report 2003
ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTAINMENT - NATIONAL PRIORITY 1
To raise standards of educational attainment for all in schools, especially in the core skills of literacy and numeracy, and to achieve better levels in national measures of achievement including examination results
Evidence on Achievement and Attainment in 2002
The latest evidence from both national and international surveys presents a mixed picture of current levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy in Scottish schools. It is important, however, not to overemphasise either the positive or negative findings of such surveys.
5-14 attainment
One of the Scottish Executive's social justice milestones is an increase in the proportion of children attaining appropriate levels in reading, writing and maths.
Information on the attainments of P3, 4, 6 and 7 and S2 pupils in reading, writing and mathematics in primary schools and in the first two years of secondary school is collected currently at the end of each school session. 5 Pupils are judged to have attained the 5-14 level appropriate for their age or better on the basis of their teacher's judgements confirmed by their performance in a set of national tests. 6
The following charts show the attainments, measured in this way, nationally of pupils at June 2002.
Chart 1. Levels of attainment in publicly funded schools at end June 1999 and end June 2002 compared with expected percentage of pupils in P3, 4, 6 and 7 who will meet or exceed age appropriate 5-14 levels in reading, writing and mathematics nationally in 2005.
Chart 2. Levels of attainment in publicly funded schools at end June 1999 and end June 2002 compared with expected percentage of pupils in S2 who will meet or exceed age appropriate 5-14 levels in reading, writing and mathematics nationally in 2005
National Qualifications
Pupil attainments in National Qualifications in English and mathematics, e.g. Standard Grade or Intermediate courses, can also be used to give an indication of the levels of literacy and numeracy of young people. Nationally, 93% of the pupils who were in S4 in 2000 had attained Standard Grades, or an equivalent qualification, in both English and mathematics by the time they had left school. These attainments have shown a steady increase over the years. Authorities and their schools have set targets to increase the percentage of pupils who will leave school in 2005 with these (minimum) levels of attainment. If these targets were to be achieved in full, the percentage of pupils who would leave school in 2005 with these qualifications would rise to 94%.
The chart which follows illustrates 'current' and anticipated levels of pupils' attainments in secondary schools.
Chart 3. Levels of attainment in publicly funded schools (a three-year average for 1998/1999 to 2000/2001 and one for 1999/2000 to 2001/2002) of pupils in secondary schools in National Qualifications (post-appeal) compared with anticipated levels of attainment (a three-year average for 2002/2003 to 2004/2005) nationally by the end of school session 2004/2005.
International Comparisons
In the international context, it is difficult to arrive at secure comparisons due to differences such as course content. Comparing attainment in Scotland with that in other countries, however, can provide important insights into areas where further improvement in the quality of our education may be needed.
The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000 survey assessed 265,000 students, aged 15, from 32 countries. PISA assessed reading, maths and science and analysed what factors were associated with different levels of student performance. The results revealed that it is possible to achieve a high quality of educational outcome together with a low variation in performance. The results also suggest that Scotland's current education policies are well focused to achieve this.
Scotland was in the top third of countries in all three subjects, and was ranked sixth in reading, fifth in mathematics and ninth in science. These results compare favourably with those from England and Northern Ireland. Scotland will take part in the second phase of PISA in 2003, and also in the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study.
Thirty-five countries across five continents participated in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2001. PIRLS 2001 is the first in a planned 5-year cycle of international trend studies in reading literacy, with 150,000 9- and 10-year old students tested.
Scotland was placed 14th out of the 35 countries participating but it should be noted that students from Scotland who took part were slightly younger than those in other countries. Although Scotland had 14% of pupils in the top 10% performance level with only 7 countries having a higher percentage, 13% of Scottish students tested were in the lowest 25% performance level with 18 countries performing better against this indicator.
Assessment of Achievement Programme
Although PIRLS 2001 does not provide information about trends in literacy in Scotland, the results of the recent Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP) 2001 English Language Survey do. The 2001 AAP survey of English language performance is the sixth national survey to be conducted in this area of the curriculum.
The AAP survey focused on reading, writing, listening and talking skills, and involved almost 7,400 pupils in 323 primary schools and 111 secondary schools throughout the country. Pupil testing took place in May and June 2001. The results show that there was an overall drop in attainment in P7 and S2 since the last survey in 1998, with a decline of 10% in the proportion reaching the expected levels in P7 and 9% in the proportion reaching the expected levels in S2.
The report showed that there are very good levels of attainment in the basic skills of reading, writing and talking at P4 with a substantial proportion of pupils performing beyond expected levels. However, the study also found that there was a wide spread of attainment and a long 'tail' of underachievement by P7, increasing into the early stages of secondary school.
The sixth AAP Mathematics Survey 7 took place in 2000. A representative sample of around 9,800 pupils from P4, P7 and S2 completed assessments in information handling, number, money and measurement, shape, position and movement, and problem solving.
The report showed that the performance of pupils at P4, P7 and S2 had improved significantly since the previous survey in 1997. The performance of pupils at all three stages had also improved significantly when compared with the average scores over the previous four surveys going back to 1988. Results therefore are positive and show a welcome rise in standards of attainment in mathematics in Scotland.
However, performance in the past has not been good and performance in 2000 was still not very good, particularly at P7 and S2. The report showed that, of those sampled, 77% of P4 pupils, 52% of P7 pupils and 49% of S2 pupils attained their target level. The improvement indicated by the survey will need to be sustained and bettered to raise attainment to a more satisfactory level.
How schools rated themselves in 2002
The introduction to this report explains how schools use How good is our school? (HGIOS) in their regular self-evaluations to reach judgements on where they see themselves as standing in relation to a range of quality indicators. The schools rated themselves on the four point scale described in HGIOS; the scale runs from 1 (unsatisfactory) to 4 (very good).
Schools are asked to rate themselves on quality indicators because this is important in helping them see where they have room to improve. Authorities and schools will be continuing to build up their expertise in self-evaluation and moderation of progress with the National Priorities over the period to the end of school session 2004/2005. Some-self evaluation in this report is therefore provisional at this stage. HMIE are undertaking independent and robust external evaluation of how well Scottish schools and education authorities are delivering the National Priorities in Education and their report will be published after the end of school session 2004/2005.
Schools report on two quality indicators from How good is our school? which cover aspects of achievement and attainment. For each indicator, the proportion of schools who rated themselves in each of the two categories is shown in the charts below.
What did schools think about the overall quality of their pupils' attainments?
Schools used the indicator 'Overall quality of attainment' in this context. Its use involved schools gathering, assessing and reaching conclusions drawn from evidence relating to four themes: the progress being made in raising attainment; pupils' progress in learning from their prior levels of attainment; pupils' attainment in relation to national 5-14 levels and/or in national examinations; and evaluations across other related indicators such as 'the teaching process', 'meeting pupils' needs', and 'courses and programmes'.
Schools also used the indicator 'Expectations and promoting achievement' from HGIOS to assess how effective they thought they were in establishing high expectations on the part of staff and pupils and in promoting an ethos of achievement.
The charts which follow illustrate the conclusions which schools reached.
Overall quality of attainment
Expectations and promoting achievement
Action to support Achievement and Attainment locally
Raising attainment is a high priority for local education authorities, and this is reflected in their Statements of Improvement Objectives and in their Progress Reports on National Priorities.
Literacy and numeracy
Education authorities have reported on a wide range of initiatives they and their schools have undertaken to promote progress in literacy and numeracy. These include staff training, targeted support, study support programmes, an increasing focus on the use of formative assessment, improved arrangements for recording and transferring information, and involving parents in literacy and numeracy activities. Celebrating pupils' achievements is an essential part of raising attainment for many schools and authorities.
Raising attainment
Authorities have set overall attainment targets with schools after discussing with them current levels of performance. Some authorities are also making greater use of standardised tests to help them to establish baselines against which they can measure pupils' progress and to help them to establish targets for their schools.
Progress in relation to local targets is monitored using, for example, expanded programmes of school visits and enhanced management information systems.
Education authorities and schools continue to take action to secure improvements in pupils' attainments and their achievements more generally. The actions they have taken include the following:
- increasingly detailed analyses of pupil attainments supported by the wider use of ICT-based management information systems
- extending the range of courses etc., available to pupils, e.g. through the greater use of Access units and clusters, collaborations with FE colleges and the use of videoconferencing
- the introduction of a range of alternative curriculum arrangements to accommodate the needs of pupils, e.g. programmes of vocational training.
Individualised Educational Programmes
Authorities will be expected to include the percentage of schools which have met targets for Individualised Educational Programmes (IEP) in future reports but there was a variation in the number of councils reporting on this outcome for the year 2001/2002.
National frameworks and programmes to support Achievement and Attainment
Literacy and numeracy
Nationally, literacy and numeracy have been promoted through initiatives such as the Early Intervention Programme, supporting the in-service training of teachers, promoting family literacy schemes through, for example, the provision of home-link teachers, developments in initial teacher education and the Review of Assessment in Pre-school and 5-14. The expansion of pre-school provision has also been central to the promotion of early literacy and numeracy. Target setting initiatives have also played a role. In 2002 a National Statement for Improving Attainment in Literacy in Schools and a National Statement for Improving Numeracy in Schools were published. 8
Two National Development Officers have been appointed to support the implementation of the statements. Their main duties are to promote the development of links between pre-school, primary and secondary schools, help authorities to find ways of improving standards in S1 and S2, to find ways of addressing disparities in attainment between boys and girls, to find ways of improving the attainment of pupils experiencing poverty and injustice, and to encourage education authorities and schools to share effective practice.
Raising attainment
It is important that as many young people as possible secure high levels of achievement and attainment while at school so they have all the opportunities they need to get on in life and make choices about their futures. National target setting and related initiatives have been used to signal the continuing significance of standards of attainment in the country's secondary schools.
Learning and teaching
Nationally, initiatives such as Higher Still have contributed to the creation of increased opportunities for the certification of pupils' achievements and attainments through, for example, the introduction of new courses, such as Philosophy, and new levels of existing courses. They have also helped to give more opportunities to pupils to progress their learning from one stage to another.
Guidance for schools on the structure of the curriculum and curriculum flexibility, along with changes in examination presentation regulations, have made it much easier for schools to provide a curriculum which is better matched to the needs of a wider range of pupils. Those who, for one reason or another, may have difficulty in meeting the demands of the 'traditional' curriculum benefit particularly from this more flexible approach to the curriculum.
The Assessment is for Learning programme involves schools and teachers in developing better approaches to classroom assessment, sharing best practice with other teachers, and improving feedback for pupils, parents and teachers about pupils' progress and development needs.
Pupils have increased access to ICT to support their learning. The SCHOLAR Programme is a powerful example of the ways in which ICT has been used to enhance the range and quality of pupils' learning across the country.
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