Assessing and tracking the progress of the children in your class is a key part of the planning - teaching - assessing - reviewing cycle.
The eight levels used to assess children's progress have been 'removed' and not replaced, the void that has been left gives us an opportunity to focus on assessing what the child is able to do or understand in order to consider the next steps in their learning.
Schools are now being given the responsibility of finding the most suitable method of assessing the progress of their children.
Schools are now being given the responsibility of finding the most suitable method of assessing the progress of their children.
Many schools will continue using the levels for this year until they feel more familiar with the changes in the maths PoS. However, I think this is an opportunity for schools to look at the purpose of assessment and focus on what the children know, understand and are able to do:
For a number of years the child's attainment level has been the driving force in the classroom, with the end of key stage tests the final endorsement of a child's achievements summarised into a level (and sub-level).
Striving for Level 4 or 5, or even level 6, in the past few years has been the focus for a Y6 class with children, parents and teachers buying into the process. The Y6 national test, and more importantly the league tables that followed, created a climate of teaching to the test, gap-filling and booster programmes. This was something that teachers agreed wasn’t the way to teach but in reality there seemed little choice.
A movement away from levels must be welcomed, as it should mean that teachers can re-focus on teaching and learning. They won't be teaching to hit levels; instead schools are being given the responsibility of finding the most suitable method of assessing the progress of their children.
Striving for Level 4 or 5, or even level 6, in the past few years has been the focus for a Y6 class with children, parents and teachers buying into the process. The Y6 national test, and more importantly the league tables that followed, created a climate of teaching to the test, gap-filling and booster programmes. This was something that teachers agreed wasn’t the way to teach but in reality there seemed little choice.
A movement away from levels must be welcomed, as it should mean that teachers can re-focus on teaching and learning. They won't be teaching to hit levels; instead schools are being given the responsibility of finding the most suitable method of assessing the progress of their children.
Maths Progress Tracker
To support Broadbent Maths Planning Menu users, I have written a Maths Progress Tracker for the assessment and record keeping of individual children in each year group for each strand of maths.
There is a choice of 'Starting', 'Developing', 'Mastered' for outcomes based on expectations for each year, so it is year-based, not level-based. Class teachers will be able to assess and then monitor the progress of individuals and the whole class based on what the children are able to do or understand. It can be used to track the progress of children over the complete primary phase, with each maths strand showing the expected outcomes from Y1 to Y6.
Take a look at the Maths Progress Tracker.
