Assessment of Cross Curricular Skills

Anne Marshall

CCEA Key Stage 3 Programme Manager18 June 2009

‘Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.’Samuel Johnson

Email: amarshall@ccea.org.ukwww.nicurriculum.org.uk

PROGRAMME

Overview of Rationale Outline of Training Programme Decisions on Comparability Managing the Media Towards Policy

DE Circular 2007/11

“The revised curriculum… has literacy and numeracy at its core. The curriculum provides for a broad and balanced education and focuses on developing skills as well as teaching content through the wide spectrum of the curricular areas”

Circular Number 2007/11

LITERACY/NUMERACY

The Education (NI) Order 2006

Article 8: Skills

‘The curriculum for a grant-aided school must ensure, wholly or mainly

through the teaching of the minimum content of areas of learning and

religious education, the acquisition and development by pupils of- (1) the cross-curricular skills

(a) communication (b) using mathematics (c) using information and communications technology.

(2) any other skills specified under Article 8(1)(b).’

Assessment Support Programme – message from Stage 1

Legislative Requirements: Assessment

The Education (NI) Order 2006

Article 9: Assessment

(1) The curriculum for every grant-aided school shall require each pupil in each key stage at the school to be assessed in each school year in accordance with such stage.

assessment arrangements as are specified in relation to that pupil and that key stage under paragraph (2).

(2) The Department may by order specify, in relation to –(a) an area of learning;

(b) a cross-curricular skill; and(c) any other skill specified under Article 8(1)(b),

such assessment arrangements as it considers appropriate for pupils in each key

DE Circular 2008/22

Levels of Progression 12.“Currently the Levels of Progression are in draft

format and the Department will analyse advice, expected later in the autumn term, about how they relate to existing levels. Clearly principals and teachers need time to familiarise themselves with the Levels of Progression once they are finalised. Part of the advice expected from CCEA therefore is whether the intended timescale to introduce the Levels of Progression from the 9/10 school year is realistic and achievable in that context.”

Circular Number 2008/22CURRICULUM, ASSESSMENT AND

REPORTING ARRANGEMENTS 2008/9

http://www.deni.gov.uk/microsoft_word_-_department_of_education_circular_2008_22-2.pdf

Developments: Statutory Arrangements

Statutory Rules now in place: Curriculum minimum content Skills and Capabilities General assessment arrangements Transition reporting arrangements On www.opsi.gov.uk (2007: 43-46) or link from

www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Revised schedule for implementation Annual Report statutory for all years from 2009-10 Assessment of cross-curricular skills using levels of progression

– not statutory until at least 2011 Phased Arrangement starting with Communication and Using

Maths…. ICT to follow one year later

Changing Emphasisin the Statutory Requirements

From To

Detailed programmes of study and attainment targets

End of Key Stage assessment in English (Irish), Mathematics and Science:

- teacher assessment - use of assessment units (optional) - external tests

Levels of Attainment in English, Mathematics and Science

Annual Report

Minimum content (i.e. statements of requirement), including learning outcomes

Teacher assessment by end of each year (Years 8, 9, 10) in:- area of learning- cross-curricular skills- other skills (Thinking Skills and Personal

Capabilities)

Choice of assessment types integrated into teaching and learning

Data transferred to DE at end of KS

Levels of Progression in Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT

Annual Report

KS3

Legislative Requirements (Education Order, 2006)

‘each pupil in each key stage… to be assessed in each school year…’ in each cross-curricular skill, with reference to the levels of progression.

Proposal

Assessment evidence for each of the cross-curricular skills should be drawn from at least two areas of learning across the key stage. In Using ICT, evidence should be drawn from at least two areas of learning each year.

Stage 1 Training

Understand and audit the requirements for the CCS

Select departments for formal assessment

Map assessment

opportunities in Yr 8/9/10

Identify and develop

assessment opportunities

Carry out assessment activities as part of L&T

Whole school level

SMT/Curriculum team in

consultation with departments

Departmental level

Making a summative judgement for a pupil

Stage 2 Training

Use evidence to make

judgements

Discuss and agree

standards in school

Departmental / Interdepartmental level

Assessment Support Programme

Assessment

Reporting

Acquisition

Development

Promoting

Demonstrating

Applying

Transferring

The Cross-Curricular Skills

Acquisition

May be focussed in certain discrete subjects or may be across the curriculum

Coherent programme of learning for the pupil What do pupils need to know and when Where is the most natural place How will they recognise it again

Co-ordinated/mapped Method of communicating this

Development

Responsibility of everybody Learning Outcomes Build on existing good practice Aiming to infuse and integrate skills into

everyday business of the classroom Recognition of where these skills can enable

and enrich learning Encourage transferability, application and

connections

Assessment

Probably fewer contributors Link between development of skills and their

assessment It should:

sit comfortably within planned units of work; be relevant to the subject; facilitate Continuing Professional Development

(CPD).

The Northern Ireland Curriculum

Cross Curricular Skills are embedded and infused throughout the Northern Ireland Curriculum

They are bedrock skills through which young people access knowledge. Shift in emphasis away from perceiving these as ‘subjects’ taught discretely (within English, Mathematics and ICT) towards skills that are developed across the curriculum and are therefore the responsibility of all teachers.

Communication

Using Mathematics

Using ICT

Specified in terms of Levels (1-7 in draft form)

Levels of Progression

The Levels of Progression: are for Communication, Using Mathematics and Using

ICT. will be used to make holistic summative judgements

about pupil progress each year; form the basis for reporting on the skills; also provide a continuum of development and

progression directly linked to the requirements; are competence based - ‘Pupils can’ ; are mapped to National Qualifications Framework

(Functional/Key/Essential Skills); are currently in draft format, until detailed legislation is

in place.

Commonly asked questions

How are LoP different from LoA? What is the link between UM , Numeracy and Maths and

English and Communication and Literacy? When should Maths assess UM? When should English assess Communication? How many pieces? What is the coverage? Can Tasks be designed to cover more than 1 Cross

curricular skill? What methods of departmental partnerships are most

effective? What is the view of the proposal ie 2 AoL per key stage? How to reach consensus in making a judgement? How can we trust other schools? What about the feeder schools?

Developments: Tasks

Debate around Tasks – should these be generic no subject home specified

Associated rubric – specific criteria eg what would a Level 4 website contain?

Different Approach across the key stages Compromise – 3 exemplar tasks

What are they for?

The assessment tasks are intended to: provide opportunities for pupils to demonstrate,

apply and transfer their competence in the cross-curricular skills;

help teachers to make judgements about the level at which a pupil is working;

be integrated into planned work, so that tasks are carried out within meaningful contexts within the learning and teaching that provide a reason for pupils to apply their skills.

What they aren’t…

Time-limited tests. External bolt-ons completed in isolation of

ongoing learning and teaching. An end in themselves. Tasks which deliver the prior learning as well as

the opportunity to demonstrate learning. Step-by step instructions (we need to assess

what we really want to assess).

The tasks provided will be:

Generic - so that they can be contextualised; Holistic - in that pupils may have to draw on

different aspects of a skill; Standardised - in that assessment criteria are

based on the level descriptions and remain the same regardless of context.

Range of Evidence Methods of Assessment

Oral…Written….ICT/digital; Practical/experiential; Expressive/performance; Process…Review…Product; teacher observation of groups and individuals –

both planned and incidental; teacher interaction with groups and individuals; observation/evidence of peer and self

assessment.

CommunicationCommunication

Levels of Progression:Format

www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Progression in

Requirements: colour-

coded

Level Standar

d:Pupils can…

Context Statements Requirements

Communication

Three strands Talking and Listening Reading Writing

Two Questions What am I looking for? What does the standard look like?

Communication: Writing

What am I looking for?

Language and register matched to audience, purpose and form

What does the standard look like?

Communication: Reading

What am I looking for? ability to decode / read common sight vocabulary (Levels 1 – 3) picking up the literal (Levels 2- 3) picking up on the implicit (Levels 4 &5) analysing / evaluating / synthesising (Levels 6 & 7)

What does the standard look like? difficulty of text importance of question-setting

Communication: Talking and Listening

What am I looking for? Contribution Interaction (including listening) Use of language

What does the standard look like?

Using MathematicsUsing Mathematics

Using Mathematics

Focus on the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’. Can pupils ‘do the maths’? Can pupils ‘use the maths’?

Pupils demonstrate both their knowledge of the coverage/range and their ability to use and apply this as appropriate.

Role of the Maths teacher

Levelling a piece of work

Identify the requirements assessed by this sample Identify the coverage/range assessed by this

sample Observe how the requirements and coverage/range

progresses through the levels Identify which level descriptors best match this

evidence and annotate on the sample Look for evidence of the requirements and

Coverage/range in the sample Ensure the context statement is also reflected in the

sample Assign a level to the sample

Identify the requirements and the coverage/range that are covered in the activity

Demonstrate how the requirements and coverage/range progress through the levels

Identify the range of levels appropriate to the activity

Highlight the context statements that will impact on the level of the piece

Assessment Grids

Activity 2: Levelling Work

Activity 3: Nature of Evidence

What do we need to know about pupil work in order to decide/agree the level it has achieved?

Assessment evidence can be in a range of forms, including: Written (pupil work, both process and product) Annotation of pupil work Observational (of practical and oral activities) Planning documentation (e.g. activity outline, pre-agreed

assessment grid, learning outcomes/success criteria for pupils)

Assessing teacher will have access to a broader range of evidence that ultimately inform judgements.

Activity 4:Creating Enabling Tasks

How can we ensure that assessment activities:

• are accessible to pupils?• allow pupils to demonstrate

achievement at a range of levels?

• encourage pupils to use their mathematics at an appropriate level?

Making Summative Judgements

‘Best fit’, holistic Communication/Using Mathematics level

Based on the pupil’s performance as a whole

Evidence likely to be drawn from a range of activities and tasks

Pupils demonstrate both their knowledge of the coverage/range and their ability to use and apply this as appropriate.

The Challenges for CCEA

Professional development – Subject purists

Dumbing Down vs falling standards - managing the media message

Link with Primary – lack of trust

Dependency Culture

Creating Enabling Tasks embedded in the learning and teaching – resisting a bank of tasks

Comparability

Clear messages

The Challenges for Schools

Competing priorities – Post primary Education/Selection

Legislation Outcomes – vacuum of uncertainty

Target Setting

Mismatch – lack of alignment

Genuine discomfort ie the teacher who has literacy/numeracy fears

Cascading Training

Perceived Progression/Regression

Accountability

Equity of Workload

What’s Under Development?

Support Planned for Schools Departmental support for planning meetings –

requests processed through CCEA to provide additional guidance on task development and task

design guidance on making a judgement

Exemplification Database of standards. fully populated resource ongoing examples of pupils’ work plus commentaries to

illustrate performance at a level Support through Online Forum in Moodle Flow chart of the planning process ie what

departments need to do Preparation for moderation – clustering.

Guidance and Support Materials

NICurriculum: KS3: Assessment & Reportinghttp://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/key_stage_3/assessment_and_reporting/

index.asp

Training materialsNorthern Ireland Curriculum: KS3: Regional Pilotshttp://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/key_stage_3/regional_pilots/index.asp

Case Studies on Planning for Assessment 6 Case Studies of ReportingExemplification DatabaseTask Writing ToolOnline ModerationOnline Moodle Support – Standards Discussion Forum

Ni Curriculum Web Site

www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.’

Samuel Johnson

Closing Thought