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D: Core skills assessment

D.1 Assessing and reporting core skills

As well as the Science written assessments undertaken by pupils, the SSA collected additional information about core skills. Teachers' professional judgements about sampled pupils' levels of achievement in reading, writing and maths were collected, whilst small numbers of pupils took part in practical activities to assess their problem solving skills, information and communications technology ( ICT) skills and working with others skills. This chapter presents the findings for these aspects of the survey.

D.2 Teachers' judgements

Charts D1, D2, and D3 show the percentage of pupils in each of P3, P5, P7 and S2 categorised into achievement bands at Levels A-F on the basis of their teachers' judgments in mathematics, reading, and writing. Detailed results are available in Tables D1 to D3.

Chart D1
Teachers' judgement of mathematics achievement, P3, P5, P7 and S2
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

In general, teachers judged pupils to be at or around the expected level for their stage in mathematics. At P3, teachers judged 98 per cent of pupils to be at the expected level (Level A) or above. At P5, 53 per cent were judged to be at Level C, the expected level for P6 (there is no expected level for P5). At P7 the judgements were more widely spread, although 75 per cent of pupils were judged to be at the expected level (Level D) or above. At S2, 60 per cent were judged to be at the expected level (Level E) or above with 26 per cent judged to be at Level D. There is no evidence of any gender difference in level judgements of mathematics at any stage.

Chart D2
Teachers' judgement of reading achievement, P3, P5, P7 and S2
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

Similarly to mathematics, teachers generally judged pupils to be at or around the expected level for their stage in reading. At P3, teachers judged almost 90 per cent of pupils to be at the expected level or above. At P5, 64 per cent were judged to be at or above the expected level for P6 (Level C - there is no expected level at P5). At P7, 79 per cent of pupils were judged to be at the expected level (Level D) or above. At S2, 62 per cent were judged to be at the expected level (Level E) or above with 25 per cent judged to be at Level D. In reading girls tended in general to perform better than boys across the stages based on teachers' judgements.

Chart D3
Teachers' judgement of writing achievement, P3, P5, P7 and S2
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

Again teachers generally judged pupils to be at or around the expected levels for their stage in writing. At P3, 89 per cent of pupils were judged by their teachers to be at or above the expected level (Level A) and 51 per cent of P5 pupils were judged to be already at or above Level C (the expected level for P6). However, achievement levels are somewhat lower in later stages. Considering the expected levels for the respective stages shows that in P7, 65 per cent of pupils were judged to be at Level D or above and in S2, 50 per cent were judged to be writing at Level E or above. Based on the teachers' judgements girls were in general performing better than boys in writing.

Across the three subjects of maths, reading and writing patterns in teachers' judgements of achievement are similar.

In P3 most pupils were judged to be achieving at Levels A (expected) and B. By P5, as we might expect, most pupils were judged to be at Levels B and C. This pattern in achievement continues with most pupils being at or around the expected level. At P7 and S2 however pupil achievement is spread over more levels.

At P7 most pupils are judged to be at Levels C and D with a smaller but still important percentage at Level E. In S2 70 to 80 per cent of pupils are judged to be at Levels D or E with smaller proportions at Levels C and F.

These patterns in teacher' judgement are broadly similar to those recorded in the 2005 and 2006 surveys.

D.3 Teachers' judgements, comparisons over time

It is possible to look at trends in achievement over time by comparing the teachers' level judgements collected in the SSA over the last three years. Beyond this we can compare these judgements with teachers' judgements collected as part of the previous 5-14 achievement survey. However, the SSA is based on a sample of pupils whilst the 5-14 survey was based on information collected from all pupils. These differences in collection methods therefore need to be borne in mind when considering longer term trends.

Chart D4 shows the trend in teachers mathematics level judgements between 1999 (the beginning of the 5-14 national survey) and 2007 based on the SSA and the previous 5-14 national survey. More detailed results are available in Table D4.

Chart D4
SSA teacher mathematics judgements compared with the 5-14 National Survey
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

At P3, P5 and P7 the proportion of pupils judged to be at the expected level or better has remained fairly steady since the introduction of the SSA. At S2, the proportion judged to be at the expected level has returned to a similar level to 2005 after an increase in 2006.

Chart D5 shows the trend in teachers' reading level judgements between 1999 and 2007 based on the SSA and the previous 5-14 national survey. More detailed results are available in Table D5.

Chart D5
SSA teacher reading judgements compared with the 5-14 National Survey
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

Between 2006 and 2007, there has been no change in the proportion of P3 pupils (89 per cent) judged to be at or above the expected levels. At P5, there has been a slight decrease in the proportion of pupils judged to be at or above Level B (expected for P4), although this remains over 90 per cent. Similarly at P7, the proportion of pupils at the expected level or better remains at around 80 per cent in 2007. The proportion judged to be at or above the expected level in S2 has decreased from 66 per cent in 2005, to 62 per cent in 2007.

Chart D6 shows the trend in teachers writing level judgements between 1999 and 2007 based on the SSA and the previous 5-14 national survey. More detailed results are available in Table D6.

Chart D6
SSA teacher writing judgements compared with the 5-14 National Survey
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

At P3, P5 and P7 the proportion of pupils at the expected level or better remains the same as in 2006 at 89 per cent in P3, 91 per cent in P5 and 65 per cent in P7. At S2 the proportion of pupils judged to be at the expected level or better is similar to 2005 at around 50 per cent.

D.4 Practical core skills

The small-scale practical component of the survey attempted some assessment of the core skills of working with others, problem solving and ICT in the context of Science. The assessments were carried out by field officers during school visits, using performance descriptors. More information about the process is available in Annex II.

Due to logistical constraints these practical assessments involved relatively small numbers of pupils drawn from a limited sub-sample of the survey schools. Nationally, for each core skill, 200-300 pupils were assessed at each stage, with typically three or four pupils assessed for each different task type in each school. Field officer judgements about pupils' abilities are necessarily subjective and, although training was provided to help improve the consistency of their assessments, judgements were not subject to moderation. The results should be treated as indicative.

The practical assessments were not designed to provide robust national estimates of the skills investigated; the numbers of pupils and field officers required to achieve this would be prohibitive and beyond the scope of the SSA. However, the results do represent useful, indicative information for teachers and educationalists for contrast and comparison with the evidence they gather through their own work with pupils. The practical assessments also provide exemplification of alternative methods to traditional pencil and paper tests, and provide professional development opportunities for teachers.

Throughout the following section, findings are presented as sample statistics only; the results are not weighted to provide estimates for the population.

D.5 Working with others

For the assessment of pupils' collaborative skills when working with others, individual randomly selected 'target' pupils were observed by field officers as they participated in group problem solving tasks. Field officers used a checklist to rate the target pupils' skills in terms of 'new ideas', 'building on others' ideas' and 'motivation'. Charts D7 to D9 present the results of this enquiry. More detailed results are available in Table D7.

Chart D7
Results of the working with others assessment: New ideas
(% pupils rated as indicated for various aspects by field officers)

As Chart D7 shows, when working with others field officers judged that the majority of pupils contributed ideas and participated freely in the discussion or contributed most of the ideas. This proportion varied across the stages from 70 per cent at S2 to 85 per cent at P5.

Chart D8
Results of the working with others assessment: Building on others' ideas
(% pupils rated as indicated for various aspects by field officers)

Field officers found that most pupils displayed at least some evidence of listening to others' ideas and building on them. The percentage of pupils rated as building on others' ideas most of the time rose from just under 30 per cent to around 45 per cent between P3 and P7 and then dropped to slightly below 35 per cent in S2.

Chart D9
Results of the working with others assessment: Motivation
(% pupils rated as indicated for various aspects by field officers)

Of the three 'working with others' indicators, pupils were judged most highly in terms of their motivation. Over 90 per cent of the pupils in all year groups addressed the task and showed at least 'some interest' in completing it (Chart D9).

Overall, there was no clear stage trend in collaborative skills when working with others. However, pupils in P5 and P7 tended to be assessed more highly than those in P3 and S2.

D.6 Problem solving

In order to assess problem solving skills, field officers rated groups of pupils as they worked together to solve a given problem. The groups of pupils were assessed for 'planning and organising', 'critical thinking' and 'reviewing and evaluating'. Around 300 groups were assessed in the primary stages and 280 at S2. The results are shown in Charts D10, D11 and D12 and more detailed information is available in Table D8.

Chart D10
Results of the assessment of problem solving: Planning and organising
(% groups rated as indicated for various aspects by field officers)

When planning and organising their work, field officers generally judged that P5 and P7 groups performed better than P3 and S2 groups. Over 60 per cent of the P5 and P7 groups displayed strong evidence of coming to a consensus over a strategy compared with just over 30 per cent of the P3 groups and around 50 per cent of the S2 groups. A similar stage profile is seen in the field officer judgements about the groups' exploration of different ways of tackling tasks, although across the stages fewer groups showed strong evidence and more showed no evidence.

Chart D11
Results of the assessment of problem solving: Critical thinking
(% groups rated as indicated for various aspects by field officers)

Chart D12
Results of the assessment of problem solving: Reviewing and evaluating
(% groups rated as indicated for various aspects by field officers)

When assessed for 'critical thinking' and 'reviewing and evaluating', field officers again judged that the P5 and P7 groups performed better than the P3 or S2 groups. For example, over 90 per cent of the P5 groups displayed at least some evidence of reviewing and evaluating the task compared with 80 per cent of the P3 and S2 groups. Across the stages fewer than 5 per cent of groups failed to complete their allocated task.

D.7 Using ICT

Pupils were individually assessed for ICT skills and the summary results are shown in Chart D13. A total of 18 different tasks were used to assess the pupils, half were used at P3/P5 and the other half at P7/S2. More detailed results are available in Table D9.

Chart D13
Level achievement results for ICT skills, by stage
Percentage of pupils judged by field officers to be at indicated level

At P3 almost all pupils (just under 90 per cent) were judged by the field officer to be at Level B or better in ICT with over 15 per cent judged to be at Level C or better. At P5 over 95 per cent were judged to be at Level B or better and over 65 per cent were judged to be at Level C or better. At P7 around 55 per cent were judged to be at Level D or better with around a quarter beyond Level D. At S2, 45 per cent were judged to be at Level E or better and more than one in ten were judged to be at Level F.

D.8 Detailed results for teachers' judgements

Tables D1 to D6 provide detailed results to support the information provided in this section.

Table D1
Maths achievement estimates: teachers' judgements
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

Table D2
Reading achievement estimates: teachers' judgements
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

Table D3
Writing achievement estimates: teachers' judgements
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

Table D4
Trends in mathematics achievement: teachers' judgements SSA results compared with the 5-14 National Survey
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

Pre-2005 data is based on the National Survey of 5-14 Attainment. This census survey was replaced by the sample-based SSA in 2005.

Table D5
Trends in reading achievement: teachers' judgements SSA results compared with the 5-14 National Survey
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

Pre-2005 data is based on the National Survey of 5-14 Attainment. This census survey was replaced by the sample-based SSA in 2005.

Table D6
Trends in writing achievement: teachers' judgements SSA results compared with the 5-14 National Survey
(% pupils judged to be at indicated levels by their teachers)

Pre-2005 data is based on the National Survey of 5-14 Attainment. This census survey was replaced by the sample-based SSA in 2005.

D.9 Practical assessment of core skills - tables

Table D7
Results of the assessment of the skills of working with others, by stage
(% pupils rated as indicated for various aspects by field officers)

Table D8
Results of the assessment of problem solving, by stage
(% groups rated as indicated for various aspects by field officers)

Table D9
Level achievement results for ICT skills, by stage

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