Really good query - we obviously no longer have levels or attainment targets so it does take a bit of a shift in thinking to work out the best way to track the progress of individuals. There is also the relationship between formative assessment (AfL) and summative assessment that will need clarifying perhaps.
As you say, there is a lot going on in each unit - however it is sliced up, the curriculum needs to be covered in the number of weeks we have each year. I have organised the 18 units in each year so that there is a clear maths focus and not too many objectives to manage, but there is still quite a lot.
This is where it is important to make decisions over what you are teaching and what you are assessing in each unit. For some units it may be that you are giving your class opportunities to learn a new skill and consolidate it (e.g. multiplying a decimal by 10 or 100 in Y5 Unit 1), but you don't necessarily need to make a summative assessment decision at the end of the unit. You will use AfL opportunities to check understanding and monitor progress, but mastering the skill may take a little longer and you may want to give opportunities to use the skill later. The next unit on number (unit 15) actually includes this on the tracker.
This is where it is important to make decisions over what you are teaching and what you are assessing in each unit. For some units it may be that you are giving your class opportunities to learn a new skill and consolidate it (e.g. multiplying a decimal by 10 or 100 in Y5 Unit 1), but you don't necessarily need to make a summative assessment decision at the end of the unit. You will use AfL opportunities to check understanding and monitor progress, but mastering the skill may take a little longer and you may want to give opportunities to use the skill later. The next unit on number (unit 15) actually includes this on the tracker.
So when I worked out the statements for the tracker with Ben (headteacher of one of our schools) and some schools trialling it, we wanted to focus on starting, developing and mastering specific objectives related to the main outcomes (success criteria) of each unit. It needed to be manageable and also needed to build up so that by the end of the year the expected PoS statements for each year would be covered.
The PoS are not statements of attainment - the NNC says for attainment targets:
'By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and process specified in the relevant programme of study.'
So, by the end of each KS - two years to get key aspects mastered.
We have tried to build up the progression, link different aspects of maths where possible and not summatively assess every objective in every unit so that you can concentrate on making the teaching as effective as possible and not worry about curriculum coverage. The tracker is intended to give you the key statements (not all of them at once - but they do get covered by the end of each key stage) to assess and monitor progress - a broader picture perhaps than we've had in the past, but one that will give a good picture of what individuals are able to do.
I would suggest the best way to use the progress tracker is to use the 'started' (red) drop-down menu for a unit that you have just taught for all the children, to show that they have all been introduced to the concepts, skills and procedures for that unit. You can then use your AfL information - ongoing notes on individuals, possibly small steps of progression self-assessment if children use them, responses to AfL questions etc - to decide on those children that are 'developing' well (yellow) or 'mastered' (green).
This is for all the statements for an overall summative view, so, for example, for Y5 Unit 1 they need to have good feel of large numbers and decimals, being able to partition them, know the value of each digit, round them and order them - that's what the focus is. If they are a little hesitant in any aspect or need arrow cards for example to partition, then they are 'developing' rather than 'mastered', and you should have annotated notes in your planning or an AfL document for each child to show where the gaps are. Over the next few weeks (or longer) you have an opportunity to reinforce these gaps or give further teaching as needed. When it comes to the next time you re-visit the topic or use it to solve problems, then you may want to update the tracker from 'developing' to 'mastered' if needed.
It is all about the ongoing assessment informing your teaching so that you can move the children on and make sure there are no gaps in understanding or knowledge. Involve the children in it as well - 'mastering' involves monitoring those very small steps of progress and making summative judgements alongside the on-going formative assessments. This has never been easy, but not having levels has at least made this all about individuals making mathematical progress and building up a firm base of understanding rather than the previous model of ticking off levels and sub-levels.
Sorry this reply was a bit long - I do hope it helps. By the way, the latest version of the tracker on the site (v2) has pattern and algebra on Y5 and Y6 which weren't on the earlier version.
The PoS are not statements of attainment - the NNC says for attainment targets:
'By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and process specified in the relevant programme of study.'
So, by the end of each KS - two years to get key aspects mastered.
We have tried to build up the progression, link different aspects of maths where possible and not summatively assess every objective in every unit so that you can concentrate on making the teaching as effective as possible and not worry about curriculum coverage. The tracker is intended to give you the key statements (not all of them at once - but they do get covered by the end of each key stage) to assess and monitor progress - a broader picture perhaps than we've had in the past, but one that will give a good picture of what individuals are able to do.
I would suggest the best way to use the progress tracker is to use the 'started' (red) drop-down menu for a unit that you have just taught for all the children, to show that they have all been introduced to the concepts, skills and procedures for that unit. You can then use your AfL information - ongoing notes on individuals, possibly small steps of progression self-assessment if children use them, responses to AfL questions etc - to decide on those children that are 'developing' well (yellow) or 'mastered' (green).
This is for all the statements for an overall summative view, so, for example, for Y5 Unit 1 they need to have good feel of large numbers and decimals, being able to partition them, know the value of each digit, round them and order them - that's what the focus is. If they are a little hesitant in any aspect or need arrow cards for example to partition, then they are 'developing' rather than 'mastered', and you should have annotated notes in your planning or an AfL document for each child to show where the gaps are. Over the next few weeks (or longer) you have an opportunity to reinforce these gaps or give further teaching as needed. When it comes to the next time you re-visit the topic or use it to solve problems, then you may want to update the tracker from 'developing' to 'mastered' if needed.
It is all about the ongoing assessment informing your teaching so that you can move the children on and make sure there are no gaps in understanding or knowledge. Involve the children in it as well - 'mastering' involves monitoring those very small steps of progress and making summative judgements alongside the on-going formative assessments. This has never been easy, but not having levels has at least made this all about individuals making mathematical progress and building up a firm base of understanding rather than the previous model of ticking off levels and sub-levels.
Sorry this reply was a bit long - I do hope it helps. By the way, the latest version of the tracker on the site (v2) has pattern and algebra on Y5 and Y6 which weren't on the earlier version.
The full 'Ask Paul' question
We are finding it difficult to use the online progress tracker. We realise that the tracker is a summary of children's attainment in each unit which is fine if the child has a good understanding.
What we need is something which tracks each objective within the unit and that we can give a 'measure' of attainment to what the children have learned directly relating to the national curriculum objectives. The reason we ask for this is that it can help us to identify where children are achieving and pin point where they are not.
Take for example unit 1 of number in year 5. There is a lot going on. Large numbers, negative numbers and also decimal numbers, but it's not all tracked. We've been using the progress trackers and annotating in pencil so that we can see how children are progressing in each sub-part of the unit, but it's now becoming very difficult to monitor. We've got some children in the red in general, but they have attained some of the objectives and that can't be tracked because the unit objectives are in general terms.
We are finding it difficult to use the online progress tracker. We realise that the tracker is a summary of children's attainment in each unit which is fine if the child has a good understanding.
What we need is something which tracks each objective within the unit and that we can give a 'measure' of attainment to what the children have learned directly relating to the national curriculum objectives. The reason we ask for this is that it can help us to identify where children are achieving and pin point where they are not.
Take for example unit 1 of number in year 5. There is a lot going on. Large numbers, negative numbers and also decimal numbers, but it's not all tracked. We've been using the progress trackers and annotating in pencil so that we can see how children are progressing in each sub-part of the unit, but it's now becoming very difficult to monitor. We've got some children in the red in general, but they have attained some of the objectives and that can't be tracked because the unit objectives are in general terms.
