View Full Version : DfE UTurn on Baseline assessment
Simona
07-04-2016, 05:09 PM
The DfE has done a reverse on the baseline.
It looks as though they are hinting at some changes in the EYFS...in due course!
Baseline tests: Government abandons progress measure over lack of comparability | Schools Week (http://schoolsweek.co.uk/baseline-tests-government-abandons-progress-measure-over-lack-of-comparability/)
moggy
07-04-2016, 06:13 PM
The DfE has done a reverse on the baseline.
It looks as though they are hinting at some changes in the EYFS...in due course!
Baseline tests: Government abandons progress measure over lack of comparability | Schools Week (http://schoolsweek.co.uk/baseline-tests-government-abandons-progress-measure-over-lack-of-comparability/)
Where are they 'hinting at some changes in the EYFS'? Do you mean in this article? I can't see that...?
bunyip
07-04-2016, 06:25 PM
Where are they 'hinting at some changes in the EYFS'? Do you mean in this article? I can't see that...?
No, I didn't see any direct reference as such, but..............
P'raps we need to think logically along the lines of Yes, Minister.
If they scrap the plan for baseline assessments in schools, the D of jolly ol' E suddenly has a whole host of un-busy junior civil servants sat twiddling their pencils and scratching their hairy bits, pondering if they might be the subject of the next cost-saving Treasury analysis.
In order to avoid making the speedy transition from "un-busy" to "unemployed", the best thing the department can do is arrange for them to do something completely unnecessary but which can be dressed up in positive go-ahead terms. Speaking purely hypothetically, of course, but a favourite one might be, say, "conducting a review of EYFS in the light of recent research in order to provide improved outcomes for children."
Wuntcha say? :rolleyes:
FloraDora
07-04-2016, 06:45 PM
The 'hinting' suggestion is definitely there in the document.
I have just skim read ( as technically am on holiday and about to go for my evening meal) but already I feel the research is leaning towards a paper based and not observational assessment in the future through its analysis and surmising of the teachers having late training and not taking on board as a reason for justifying the results plus other data.
5 years ago I sat in a meeting with the dfee and we talked about compatibility results if more than one assessment is used ( which is obvious to everyone I think.) Yet they still allowed schools to have a choice 3 different baselines with completely non comparable scoring results!
I have a feeling this years baseline was just an excercise to enable a document like this to be produced which would then pave the way for the government dictating one baseline ( presumably CEM as it has government links) in the future. Otherwise they would have introduced it as a proper pilot using three, following through to KS1 assessments.
As another article in schools week says the magician in me thinks that you can't trust the hands of the government - they do one thing but it is really the other hand we should be watching!
Simona
07-04-2016, 07:15 PM
Yes ...it is there Flora Dora
I have been reading the reaction from EY and also from teachers...I just wish the DfE would listen to teachers and stop wasting money.
The hints come from another announcement on what the DfE is saying they are going to do with the EYFS...I think it is obvious what teachers are now expecting....and what we will get: an updated EYFS with reviewed expectations on assessment in the near future
Thank you for your comments....enjoy your dinner and time off !
FloraDora
09-04-2016, 03:26 PM
More information here and confirmation that a single test is on the horizon:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/ministers-plan-school-readiness-test-after-baseline-u-turn
Simona
10-04-2016, 08:34 AM
Thanks Flora Dora...that is exactly the message I was referring to....seems logical the EYFS will have a huge tweak to accommodate 'school readiness' :angry: :rolleyes:
No one will ever convince me ...and many others that children are ready for school at 2, 3 or even 4...but that's another discussion.
What is it with this govt which cannot understand when it is time to stop and listen?
why do we have to test children to destruction? when teachers are reporting 4 year olds stressed and worried?
Whatever happens I do hope they work with teachers in devising an 'appropriate' assessment :(
Last but not least ...can we have an apology from the DfE on the waste of money for this Baseline...I hope the word baseline gets banned....accountability is not this govt's forte!
Thanks Flora Dora...that is exactly the message I was referring to....seems logical the EYFS will have a huge tweak to accommodate 'school readiness' :angry: :rolleyes:
No one will ever convince me ...and many others that children are ready for school at 2, 3 or even 4...but that's another discussion.
What is it with this govt which cannot understand when it is time to stop and listen?
why do we have to test children to destruction? when teachers are reporting 4 year olds stressed and worried?
Whatever happens I do hope they work with teachers in devising an 'appropriate' assessment :(
Last but not least ...can we have an apology from the DfE on the waste of money for this Baseline...I hope the word baseline gets banned....accountability is not this govt's forte!
The problem is (in my humble opinion) that the term 'school readiness' is such a subjective concept anyway. To me it is more about attitudes, characteristics of learning, emotional independence (in a four year old way) etc. These things cannot easily be measured. Instead, they test them on daft things like 'can they point to the number 8'. So if a child guesses and gets it correct they get credit presumably.
I just hope that the person who designed the tests now feels embarrassed and either gets retrained (properly) or isn't given such responsibility again.
Simona
10-04-2016, 09:00 AM
The problem is (in my humble opinion) that the term 'school readiness' is such a subjective concept anyway. To me it is more about attitudes, characteristics of learning, emotional independence (in a four year old way) etc. These things cannot easily be measured. Instead, they test them on daft things like 'can they point to the number 8'. So if a child guesses and gets it correct they get credit presumably.
I just hope that the person who designed the tests now feels embarrassed and either gets retrained (properly) or isn't given such responsibility again.
I agree...so another test looms that will 'label' children
Also the new test will be from the DfE and there will be no choice of providers....this is worrying it itself as few ministers at the DfE have a clue on education!
The provider who designed the most used Baseline is about to bill the DfE for around £2 million...without considering what it cost the schools to purchase that particular Baseline...or so we read!
I agree...so another test looms that will 'label' children
Also the new test will be from the DfE and there will be no choice of providers....this is worrying it itself as few ministers at the DfE have a clue on education!
The provider who designed the most used Baseline is about to bill the DfE for around £2 million...without considering what it cost the schools to purchase that particular Baseline...or so we read!
Plus schools would have to pay for supply cover whilst the teacher carries out the tests. I did quite a bit of supply work covering Year 1 classes whilst the teachers carried out the phonics tests, so I shouldn't moan too much (being selfish now, lol).
Simona
10-04-2016, 09:38 AM
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Plus schools would have to pay for supply cover whilst the teacher carries out the tests. I did quite a bit of supply work covering Year 1 classes whilst the teachers carried out the phonics tests, so I shouldn't moan too much (being selfish now, lol).
Good point Maza...but we know DfE has a habit of wasting money on various policies.
that is why it is so important to consult with teachers and EY settings too when devising this new 'test'
Getting children ready for school is a 2 way system...it starts in EY where we do our best to prepare those poor little young kids and teachers pick up from us and from what we put in our final assessment in their Transition document to school.
I have a vision of all LAs dashing to prepare new paperwork for us....they are good at that!
The alternative would be to look at Finland where there is not a test in sight!!...wishful thinking!
FloraDora
10-04-2016, 10:44 AM
So, the mistrust in the government around testing I have makes me wonder if this is the outcome they expected and wanted.
As I said earlier, professionals warned them that these results would happen if the tests were scored in different ways. At the same time the professionals were also arguing against baseline testing anyway and then when it was inevitable, the argument changed to 'not testing' but through observations....which is why they gave in to different tests - they were concerned that teachers would boycott them altogether so popped in an observation based one ( but didn't offer training until very late).
In reality, despite all the discussions and arguments around the testing and how observing play was important, a big amount of schools chose the more test baseline as they could see that it would take the least amount of time.
Now what was predicted happened, the tests are fine to establish where a child's starting points are but not good for monitoring progress which is what the government wanted them for.......so they are going to do what I suspect they wanted to do initially and have a one test situation produced by their approved folk, like the optional KS1 sat papers and the compulsory KS2. Only now they can say they tried to give us what we wanted and it didn't work. They will not be admitting this but actually, the 'everyone does the same test' will slip through now and they have a research document to back them up.
The argument to do or not may still continue......but it is futile as they are going to do what they planned.
Currently they fund it.
In the 90's baseline was brought in , several companies offered them, ofsted liked you to use them to measure progress
It measured progress in the reception year only. It was a quick way of establishing a baseline, but this was before the EY curriculum and outcomes came in. To start with I was really bothered that it was too early to really show a child's level of attainment as, like Maza has said, some children don't settle as quickly due to their characteristics and personalities....then it dawned on me at the end of a year when I had a particularly sensitive group that they scored wonderfully higher at the end of the year, therefore making huge progress on paper. I knew by the end of September that the scores did not reflect their ability on entrance , but because of a confidence issue they couldn't give me the answers needed in the half hour that I tested them. I looked good as a classroom teacher though as the data showed that they had made lots of progress with me!
When they brought in the EY levels and the nursery gave you information, I still did a baseline of my own, through obs and play to establish what their next steps would be as only a few came from the same nursery and sometimes one particular private nursery had over inflated levels. But the system itself measured the progress through the input the teacher put in throughout the year. Eventually these levels were translated into where a child had to be at the end of reception to score a 2b + ( expected attainment) at the end of year2. ( a EY score of 6/7 usually meant they got 2b/2a, an 8+ child was expected to get a level3). Schools created their own tracking system to show they came in at this level and the school created lots of progress.
It all worked fine until they changed these to the current outcomes! Now they haven't got an accurate number scoring system and statisticians don't like that. They can't change the EY curriculum and outcomes again so soon so they have to now create this test to get number data to measure schools attainment and progress. This isn't now to do with the child ( although the cover line is that it's to help the teachers establish a baseline ), it's about performance of schools. It is in the best interest of the school for the child to score lower on a baseline than they are, as the school then gets the credit for the progress made.
I am in agreement with others about testing being wrong and am following Michael Rosen in dismay around the spag test too.
But my professional energy to protest has been drained as I know from experience that the government will do exactly what they want to ...and do it deviously like this years baseline...so that they get to do their own thing.
Sometimes I wonder about this democratic society that I am supposed to live in in the UK!
Simona
10-04-2016, 10:59 AM
Well said Flora Dora...you speak as a teacher and now EY provider....you know how it works
It is a bit like those working in nurseries not understanding the childminding set up...and the other way round too!
I totally understand...and feel it... that we are drained and may not have the energy to challenge the DfE...but we must.
This govt is under a lot of pressure and we have had several Uturns in various depts.
I hope EY never gives up and joins the teaching profession in future challenges.
Michael Rosen...where would we be without him! SPaG is the latest of his fights....and he is spot on while being also hilarious in his responses...it lifts our spirits :)
Yes, Floradora, I agree with the feeling that schools were tempted to not give accurate results in order to make school progress look better. I remember a Year 2 teacher stressing that one of the children in her class (who I had given a high grade to on her baseline) wasn't going to get her predicted grade in the SATS and although nothing was said I did feel that she was questioning my judgement from two years ago. Not her fault - she was under pressure to get good SATS results. Predicted grades are a whole other story! The other gripe amongst reception teachers on the training was that they wanted the results from baseline to be as 'raw' as possible. So whilst you had 6 weeks (I think it was) to do the tests, people wanted to do the tests in the first few days, because many children can learn an awful lot in 6 weeks at school.
Simona
11-04-2016, 02:24 PM
For those interested an open letter from Better Without Baseline campaign was released recently following the Uturn
http://www.betterwithoutbaseline.org.uk/uploads/2/0/3/8/20381265/bwb_open_letter_%E2%80%93_april_2016_.pdf
Also Cathy Nutbrown responded...listen to teachers...who would disagree with that?
https://theconversation.com/after-government-u-turn-on-tests-for-four-year-olds-its-time-to-trust-teachers-57498