Raising Standards - Setting Targets Primary Schools Support Pack

Raising Standards - Setting Targets

Primary Schools Support Pack
Taking a closer look at 5-14 attainment in primary schools

Part 3: What are we going to do now?

Setting targets for improvement

The national initiative Raising Standards - Setting Targets provides for targets to be set by your school in reading, writing and mathematics. Looking at attainment information helps you decide where you need to make improvements in order to reach these targets.

Schools are now using the qualitative performance indicators in How good is our school? to help them plan. Describing attainment in quantitative terms is, however, also important. The two approaches are complementary. As attainment is measured in terms of numbers of pupils attaining levels at specific stages, it makes sense for targets for improving attainment also to be measurable. Some schools are already doing this. Quantitative targets provide measurable criteria for success within a specific time frame. By designing action plans which are specific, achievable and relevant, you will be in a good position to achieve your targets.

Translating school targets into plans for action

An overall school target means an increase in the numbers of pupils achieving specific levels at specific stages - not necessarily equally at all stages across the school. For example, you might identify increased challenge in P4 and P5 as a priority.

Some groups of pupils may be moving through 5-14 levels too slowly.
There may be uneven progress across the year group.
Attainment may have fallen noticeably at P4 and P5 in recent years.
There may be significant numbers of pupils still at Level A.

Other issues may relate to:

difficulties in addressing particular strands
the needs of specific groups or stages of pupils
the deployment of specific resources
the deployment of teachers
the use of particular learning and teaching approaches
access to suitable staff development.

Tackling such issues will form the basis of your action plan.

Key factors in raising attainment

In the schools identified by education authorities as successful in raising attainment, the following were the most common factors found:

High expectations

Promote an ethos of achievement.
Set targets for the school, for groups and classes and for individuals.
Monitor progress towards these targets.
Aim for earlier attainment of levels and provision of intermediate steps.
Encourage pupils to be independent in their learning.

Quality of learning and teaching

Organise limited numbers of groups for effective use of teachers' time.
Use direct teaching of groups or classes and structured lessons.
Identify clear aims for a block of teaching and share these with pupils.
Ensure adequate pace through the course.
Match tasks, activities and resources to attainment levels.
Focus on the development of skills and pace of work.
Provide opportunities for active learning and questioning and productive homework tasks.

Assessment

Ensure good assessment and recording practice, good quality feedback to pupils and clear identification of Next Steps in learning.
Track pupils' progress using a range of assessment evidence in order to identify needs for support and challenge.
Transfer information about individual pupils and groups.

School management

Use whole-school approaches led and supported by promoted staff.
Identify staff development needs and provide for these.
Employ co-operative teaching by promoted staff where possible.
Monitor classroom practice and implementation of policies.
Monitor pupils' progress across the school and in every class.
Provide opportunities for liaison among teachers.

Involvement of parents

Provide information about the curriculum.
Support parents in assisting their children's learning.

Part 4: Going further: staff development activities

The activities in this section are designed to encourage everyone in the school to look more closely at evidence of attainment in order to identify areas where targets can be set and improvements made.

There is no need to carry out all the activities. Select one or two which are relevant to your current needs.

Using the materials

In common with other contents of the support pack, these materials are photocopiable and are designed for flexibility. Activities can be used as they stand or edited and adapted to suit your own needs. The recording formats included may differ from your own. When organising the activities you might wish to:

add or substitute information relating to the attainment of pupils in your own school or authority
adapt the context, for example, change mathematics to reading
combine individual activities with relevant sections from other 5-14 publications (see Useful sources) or from How good is our school?.

If you work in a small school, the activities relating to individuals and groups will be more relevant than those dealing with attainment across the whole school. An example in the context of a composite class is included in Setting targets in small primary schools.

Organising the activities

Activities are designed for small groups of teachers. They can be used:

within in-service sessions
to stimulate discussion of the school's own data
as the basis for discussion between schools in an area or cluster group.

Activity 1

Taking a closer look at progress in one class

Context

Below is an extract from the records of attainment in reading kept by a P4 class teacher. It includes information about attainment in P3 together with assessment carried out during the current session. The records indicate levels achieved and confirmed by National Tests and the dates these were conducted. Other records of progress in reading kept by the teacher would also be important in planning pupils' Next Steps.

READING	P3				P4
Name	Jan. 97	NT	May 97	NT	Jan. 98	NT	May 98	NT
Mary Amis	NYA (1)		A	3/97	A
Pat Archer	NYA		A	2/97	A
Jan Blazek	A	11/96	A		B	1/98
Rani Desai	NYA		NYA		A	1/98
Emma Gordon	A	1/97	A		A
Colin Grant	A	1/96	B	5/97	B
Tom Green	NYA		A	4/97	A
Karen Harper	A	5/96	A		A
John Hunter	NYA		NYA		NYA
Kay Kaczinski	A	11/96	A		B	12/97
Mark Lawrie	A	11/96	A		A
Jane Lorimer	NYA		A	5/97	A
Anna Macintosh	NYA		A	3/97	A
Morag Mackay	A	1/97	A		A
Jamie Maclellan	A	11/96	A		B	1/98
Greg Masters	NYA		NYA		NYA
Jenny Maxwell	A	2/96	A		B	11/97
Patrick May	A	10/96	A		A
Kirsty McDonald	A	9/96	A		B	1/98
Roddy McGrory	NYA		A	3/97	A
Colin Mitchell	A	1/97	A		A
Angus Palmer	A	10/96	A		B	12/97
Fiona Parker	NYA		NYA		NYA
Chin Peng	A	1/96	B	5/97	B
Andrew Shand	A	10/95	B	3/97	B
Marianne Sim	A	11/95	B	4/97	B
Graham Smith					N/A (2)
John Taylor	A	12/96	A		A
Graeme Urquhart	NYA		NYA		A	12/97
Jane Young	NYA		NYA		A	11/97

(1) NYA = not yet attained Level A

(2) N/A = no level available; new entrant from abroad

Issues for discussion

Reviewing attainment levels at regular periods raises issues which you can then follow up by looking at more detailed records and at examples of the work of individual pupils.

1. How does attainment at the end of P3 compare with standards set out in 5-14 Guidelines?

2. On balance, has this class been making good progress?

3. Which individual pupils have made good progress over the period chosen?

4. At whose attainment would the teacher wish to take a closer look and why?

5. What would you do about assessing the attainment of a new pupil with no 5-14 records like Graham Smith?

6. Which of the pupils are likely to achieve the next level by May 1998?

7. Is it possible to predict what the overall attainment in this class will be by the end of P5?

Activity 1: Notes for the in-service presenter

Organising the activity

This activity presents attainment information for a whole class as a resource for you to use to suit your own requirements. A similar activity relating to a composite class is included in the small schools pack.
If you think participants might find it preferable to look at information from a smaller group, select the examples you want from the list.
Even better, ask participants to bring along records from their own class and use them for analysis and/or discussion.

Features you might identify

Out of the 30 pupils, 23 are attaining or exceeding Level A at P3, that is, 77% (national 5-14 guidelines indicate that almost all pupils, i.e. 90% or more, should attain or exceed Level A at this stage).

Good progress

Colin Grant, Chin Peng, Andrew Shand, Marianne Sim - who attained Level B during the course of P3. Also Jan Blazek, Kay Kaczinski, Jenny Maxwell, Kirsty McDonald, Jamie Maclellan, Angus Palmer - who attained Level B by mid-P4.

Cause for concern

John Hunter, Greg Masters, Fiona Parker. Also Karen Harper whose early promise has not continued.

Other pupils who may also need learning support

Rani Desai, Graeme Urquhart, Jane Young - attained Level A some months into P4.

Confirm whether ready to achieve the next level and be tested soon

Emma Gordon, Mark Lawrie, Morag Mackay, Patrick May, John Taylor, Colin Mitchell.

Activity 2

Taking a closer look at the progress of groups of pupils

Context

Below is the cumulative assessment record in mathematics for five pupils from the Blue group and five from the Red group in a P6 class. The groups are those they were in at the end of P5. Their new teacher is reviewing the record on the first day of the new session. It gives the dates each level was attained, as confirmed by National Tests.

Blue group	P2 1994/95	P3 1995/96	P4 1996/97	P5 1997/98	P6 1998/99
Ahmed	A May 95	B May 96	B	C April 98
Anne	A March 95	B May 96	B	B
Diane	A May 95	A	B Nov. 96	C May 98
Isla	A March 95	A	B Nov. 96	C May 98
Seonaid	A May 95	A	B March 97	C April 98

Red group	P2 1994/95	P3 1995/96	P4 1996/97	P5 1997/98	P6 1998/99
Carol		A Nov. 95	B May 97	B
Claire		A Jan. 96	B May 97	B
Jamie		A Nov. 95	B Nov. 96	C May 98
Peter		A Nov. 95	A	B May 98
Kirsty		A Oct. 95	B March 97	B

Issues for discussion

1. How does attainment at P3 and P4 in each group relate to the standards set out in 5-14 Guidelines?

2. Have each of the groups made the kind of progress you would expect by the end of P5, bearing in mind their attainment at earlier stages?

3. Given their rate of progress to date, what individual targets might you set for each pupil to achieve by the end of P6?

4. Are there any pupils who you think:

might need a greater degree of challenge?

are taking longer to move between levels than earlier in their school experience?

might join a different group either now or later in the session?

5. If this were your class, how would you use the other evidence of attainment available to you when planning Next Steps?

Activity 3

Taking a closer look at attainment in writing across the school

Context

Promoted staff in a school of 431 pupils collated attainment levels in writing from all classes for the June 1998 national survey of attainment against 5-14 Levels.

Level	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7
NYA*	54	11	4
A	12	49	13	13
B		2	45	43	31	6
C				4	26	28
D					4	24
E						2
F
Roll	66	62	62	60	61	60

*NYA = Not yet attained Level A

Issues for discussion

1. When attainment levels are presented in this way, what features about pupils' progress come to your attention?

2. How does attainment in this school compare to the standards set out in 5-14 Guidelines?

3. If this were your school, what other records of attainment would help your planning for improvement?

4. What are the main factors which may influence success in writing?

5. How is your school trying to address these?

6. What are the most effective ways of evaluating attainment in writing so that teachers can identify:

quality of attainment in different kinds of writing - functional, personal and imaginative
degree of mastery of key writing skills
progress in writing from P1 to P7?

You might find some of the following helpful:

programmes of study, pages 46-49, English Language 5-14
AAP Summary Report or Feedback on English Language
writing criteria for 5-14 National Tests
pages 6-8 from Taking a Closer Look at Writing.

Activity 4

Taking a closer look at attainment in mathematics across the school

Context

Near the end of session, staff in a school of 240 pupils reviewed attainment in mathematics. They recorded the number of pupils who attained the standards set out in 5-14 Guidelines.

Stage	Stage roll	Level	No. at level		% of roll	National 5-14 Guidelines
P3	36	A	27	(29)	81%	Level A should be attainable in the course of P1-P3 by almost all pupils.
		B	2
P4	30	B	22	(23)	77%	Level B should be attainable by some pupils in P3 or even earlier, but certainly by most in P4.
		C	1
P6	31	C	20	(21)	68%	Level C should be attainable in the course of P4-P6 by most pupils.
		D	1
P7	39	D	22	(25)	64%	Level D should be attainable by some pupils in P5-P6 or even earlier, but certainly by most in P7.
		E	3

Issues for discussion

1. When attainment levels are presented in this way, what features come to your attention?

2. The teachers then looked at attainment in P5 to gain a fuller picture of progress between stages. Are pupils making good progress?

Stage	Stage roll	Level	No. at level
P5	35	B C	23 10

Issues for discussion

1. If this were your school, would you aim to improve mathematics across all stages or would you focus on a particular stage?

2. What other records of attainment would help your planning?

3. How would you set about improving these attainment levels by:

focusing your development plan and forward plans on specific aspects of mathematics
looking at the attainment of individuals or groups
introducing some of the approaches suggested in Improving Mathematics Education 5-14
accessing resources and/or expertise in the school, area group or authority?

You might find some of the following helpful:

programmes of study, pages 42-61, Mathematics 5-14
pages 15-17, Improving Mathematics Education 5-14
AAP Feedback pack on mathematics (forthcoming)
a pack from Taking a Closer Look: Mathematics.

Activity 5

Tracking the progress of boys and girls in the same class

Context

Promoted staff tracked the attainment of one class of 15 boys and 15 girls from P1 (1991/92) to P7 (1997/98). They compared attainment at each stage with the standards set out in 5-14 Guidelines for P3, P4, P6 and P7. P2 and P5 were also included as they wanted to see the rate of progress through the stages.

Level	Reading in this school	National 5-14 Guidelines
P2	23% attained A
P3	80% attained A or above	Level A should be attainable in the course of P1-P3 by almost all pupils.
P4	73% attained B	Level B should be attainable by some pupils in P3 or even earlier, but certainly by most in P4.
P5	93% attained B or above
P6	83% attained C or above	Level C should be attainable in the course of P4-P6 by most pupils.
P7	60% attained D or above	Level D should be attainable by some pupils in P5-P6 or even earlier, but certainly by most in P7.

Issues for discussion

1. When attainment levels are presented in this way, what features come to your attention?

2. Over half the class attained Level A in reading in P2. Has this good start in reading been maintained?

Staff then looked at the attainment of boys and girls separately to evaluate the extent to which the needs of all pupils were being met as a step to planning to achieve school targets. They analysed the levels attained and produced the table below .

Stage	Minimum 5-14 level for stage	Pupils attaining or *exceeding the minimum levels for their stage**				*Pupils exceeding the minimum levels for their stage**
		Boys		Girls		Boys		Girls
P2						1	(7%)	6	(40%)
P3	Level A	9	(60%)	15	(100%)	2	(13%)	7	(47%)
P4	Level B	9	(60%)	13	(87%)	3	(20%)	8	(53%)
P5						7	(47%)	9	(60%)
P6	Level C	12	(80%)	13	(87%)	4	(27%)	6	(40%)
P7	Level D	6	(40%)	12	(80%)	1	(7%)	2	(13%)

* Pupils are considered to be exceeding the minimum levels for their stage if they attain at least Level A by P2, Level B by P3, Level C by P4 or P5, Level D by P6 or Level E by P7.

Issues for discussion

1. What differences in the levels of attainment of boys and girls do you observe at each stage?

2. Scan the information and work out the extent to which girls achieve the standards set out in national attainment levels compared with boys. What implications does this have for achieving overall school targets?

3. Collecting the information was the first step the teachers in this school took in developinga strategy for improvement. What do you think they should do next, for example:

investigate possible reasons for the differences in boys' and girls' attainment
take the information they have gathered into account when planning how to achieve their target for reading
address the implications for learning and teaching?

4. This school carried out its analysis in reading, writing and mathematics and found that the differences between the attainment of girls and boys varied between one area and another. What differences between the attainment of boys and girls are you aware of in your school at present?

Are they apparent across the board or only at certain stages?
Are they more pronounced in some areas than in others?
What information are you able to draw on as a basis for your judgement?
What other information do you need in order to carry out this kind of analysis?