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EARLY YEARSGetting the measure of
ASPECTS Pre-school Assessment
PIPS Baseline for Reception
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The CEM difference (we know what works)What sets CEM systems
apart is their pedigree. They work in the classroom because they
are based on evidence from over 30 years of scientific research as
part of Durham University, a World Top 100 university. You can rely
on our independence as a not-for-profit organisation dedicated
solely to improving teaching and learning for children and young
people.
Every year CEM systems measure the attainment and progress of
over a million pupils from age 3 to 19 in around 70 countries. The
results of assessments give teachers a broad and accurate picture
of a classs ability range. This enables them to provide appropriate
learning opportunities for the level at which a child is working.
For school leaders the feedback is a rich source of data for
planning.
The earlier you can assess childrenthe better you can help them
to achieve.
Support and trainingTo help you administer CEM assessments we
provide manuals for each system. Then to enable you to derive the
most from your data we offer support online and by email. We are
always happy to explain feedback and what it means directly over
phone. We also organise in-school training and teacher conferences
both in Durham or on site and at centres around the world.
Through such constant contact we learn from schools experience
of using CEM systems. This refreshes the fund of knowledge built up
since we pioneered evidence-based measurement in 1981 and enables
our team, who include qualified teachers, to develop even better
products - more cost-effective for staff, more enjoyable for pupils
and make a positive difference to their prospects.
A group of children fresh to the world of the classroom are
unknown quantities. A teacher needs to get an idea of what
individuals already know and can do as a starting point to help
them develop their potential. But how?
Using experience and observation the teacher gradually builds up
a picture of their capabilities. Although valuable, the process is
of course subjective, and can take several weeks. To reinforce
teachers insights the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM)
provides comprehensive, fast to use and reliable methods to measure
what matters:
ASPECTS Pre-school Assessment for Nursery up to age 4
PIPS Baseline for Reception up to age 5
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When children enter Nursery education its a challenge to assess
what they know or can do regarding language and maths or who they
are as personalities. ASPECTS quickly makes their capabilities
clear. Designed for children aged three at the earliest. The
ASPECTS (Assessment Profile on Entry for Children and Toddlers)
system is based on research on the value of establishing an
objective baseline for key educational areas.
Language concepts of reading and print; letters, words and
sentence identification
Maths concepts of maths (bigger/smaller, taller/shorter), number
recognition, counting and simple sums
Phonological awareness repeating unusual words
and a friendly voice asking the questions. The child answers by
pointing to one of the options or saying the answer. The teacher
records the childs response by selecting the answer on the screen
and the program moves on to the next stage.
Computer adaptiveA special feature of ASPECTS is its computer
adaptive design. That means it will continue on to new pages and
ask questions until the child begins to get a few answers wrong,
then it continues the story but does not ask more difficult
questions. Thus the level at which the child feels comfortable is
settled upon as the baseline for planning further learning.
Children find it fun and are never stretched to the point of
feeling failures.
The whole assessment takes around 20 minutes per child. Because
it happens one-to-one, the process gives the member of staff the
opportunity to engage with and get to know children early on in
their education. There is no marking or paperwork involved. The
program records everything.
The PSED and motor development elements of ASPECTS covers
several areas of development. For each one the teacher observes the
child around the nursery and selects from five alternatives the
description which best fits the childs behaviour. For motor
development, the pupil performs simple actions.
ASPECTSPre-School Assessment. Now you can provide whats right
for the child right from the start.
Schools can also opt to measure PSED - personal, social and
emotional
development
Motor development
Once ASPECTS has provided an accurate view of the spread of
abilities, the teacher can confidently address the needs of
individual children and organise pupils of similar attainment into
groups to work together on appropriate learning activities.
Easy to use, fun to doTo assess early numeracy and literacy
skills a teacher or another trained adult sits with individual
pupils as the ASPECTS computer program asks them about a series of
pictures on screen, for example How many jars are there? The
presentation uses storybook style graphics
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The idea of assessments that adapted the level of the questions
to a childs previous answers, while also offering key diagnostic
indicators for reading and mathematics, as well as data for
tracking seemed too good to be true.
Meath Green Primary School
Feeding back pupils progressAs a measure of how children have
progressed during their time in Nursery they take the ASPECTS
follow-up assessments near the end of the last term. If the nursery
is attached to the school, the follow-up can take the form of the
PIPS Baseline assessment. This saves having to run this test at the
end of Nursery.
When the ASPECT assessments are complete the school emails the
class data to Durham or uploads it to the schools own secure areas
on the CEM website. Our system immediately generates scores for
language and maths.
The feedback is made available on the CEM website as charts and
tables for the class showing what each child has achieved in
language and maths over their time in nursery. It also compares
their performance with the same
age group in CEMs large national sample. Both the current
teacher of this cohort of children and their next teacher in
Reception can see which pupils are falling behind, excelling or
coasting.
More broadly the graphs reveal trends and patterns which can
help with future lesson planning and direction for the whole
nursery. We also supply similar charts for motor development and
PSED profiles.
Count on the benefits Easy to use, reliable, robust and
proven
Provides objective, independent baseline analysis
Enables teachers to pinpoint those with specific needs or who
are gifted and talented
Supports practitioners own observations
Measures hard to observe ability areas
Informs planning
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How a child develops during the first year of school is crucial
in determining progress throughout their school career. This has
long been a truth universally acknowledged in the world of
education. But not until 1991 did an objective, evidence-based
system appear for measuring childrens capabilities when they first
come to school.
Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPS) pioneered by
CEM, was a milestone in educational assessment. It remains the
benchmark. Used in schools worldwide, PIPS has proved to have very
high reliability when children are tested at the start the year and
re-tested at the end. It is also an excellent predictor as
validated by measurements of progress later in school.
Adapts to ability levelThe questions progressively get more
difficult until the child has got a few wrong, then it moves on to
the next section of the assessment. This happens because PIPS is
computer adaptive. It identifies the level at which the child feels
comfortable as the baseline for planning further learning.
The whole assessment takes up only 20 minutes or so per pupil.
For the child its like a game. For the teacher it provides a
one-to-one opportunity to get to know each new pupil early on in
their schooling. There is no marking or paperwork involved. The
program records everything. Then CEM does the processing and
generates the feedback.
Assesses what matters over timePIPS Baseline is made up of
assessments which our research shows to be accurate predictors of
later educational achievement - maths, reading, phonological
awareness and attitudes to school. These are administered in the
first few weeks and as a follow-up in the last weeks along with
optional assessments for PSED (Personal, Social and Emotional
Development), short term memory and behaviour. Scores for the
original test are compared with follow-up scores in value-added
charts showing each childs progress. The version for Scottish
Schools (PIPS Primary 1 Baseline) caters for differences in the
national curriculum, but broadly speaking covers the same
ground.
PIPSBaseline and follow-up for reception. A solid platform for
planning and predicting childrens progress.
Quick, easy and accurateAt the start of Reception its a priority
to find out what the different children already know and can do.
The teacher can then plan lessons and organise the class into
different ability groups. This can take time and involve value
judgements. PIPS Baseline makes the process quick, easy and
accurate.
To assess early numeracy and literacy skills a teacher or
another trained adult sits with individual pupils as the PIPS
computer program asks them about a series of pictures on screen.
The presentation uses storybook style graphics and a friendly voice
asking the questions. The child answers by pointing to one of the
options or saying the answer. The teacher records the childs
response by touching the screen and the program moves on to the
next page.
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Reading Vocabulary is assessed by identifying objects within a
picture (Show me a carrot, a butterfly, a yacht etc.) Childrens
concept of reading is gauged by identifying some writing, a letter,
a sentence etc. Reading skills are revealed by letter and word
recognition and comprehension.
Maths Understanding of mathematical concepts is covered by
questions about objects on screen bigger/smaller, taller/shorter.
Other tests are about number identification, shape recognition,
problem solving and simple sums.
Phonological Awareness This precursor to reading asks children
to relate words to sounds by hearing and repeating unusual or
nonsense words and asking them to find words that rhyme.
Attitudes To find out about childrens early impression of school
they are asked about
various aspects such as Do you like listening to stories? Then
they select either a sad face, a smiley face or a neutral one.
PSED The program presents eleven areas (e.g. Adjustment to
School environment) each with five alternative statements. Based on
day-to-day observation the teacher click on the one that best fits
each child in turn.
Short term memory The program shows a series of coloured circles
on the screen. The child is asked the order in which they appeared
on the screen.
Behaviour At the end of the year the teacher marks the point on
different scales (e.g. carelessness) which fits their observation
of each child, helping to identify those with persistent problems,
such as hyperactivity.
The value is in the feedbackWhen the PIPS Baseline assessments
are complete the school emails the class data to Durham or uploads
it to the CEM website. Our system generates scores for each child
immediately. Then we process the information into charts which give
a picture of each childs performance in a class perspective for
reading and maths over their time in Reception. We also supply PSED
and behaviour profiles. In total the feedback comprises:
Standardised scores for reading, mathematics and phonological
awareness
A box and whisker plot showing the groups range of abilities.
The majority of children are clustered in the centre box with high
and low performers along the whiskers on either side
A scatter plot showing how much progress a child has made
compared with others with similar starting points
Progress charts for reading and mathematics comparing the
childrens and classs attainment with the same age group in CEMs
large national sample.
Predictions of the chances of each child achieving particular
National Curriculum levels at the end of Key Stage 1
An indicator of their attitude to school
Given this varied landscape of data, the class teacher can see
which pupils are falling behind, excelling or coasting. They can
then tailor activities to individual needs. The Key Stage 1 teacher
inherits this information and gains a head start in educating the
cohort. More broadly the school can identify trends and patterns to
inform plans to improve future outcomes.
A unique set of benefits Proven over more than 30 years to
provide
a highly accurate baseline to gauge later progress
No other system rivals its robustness in assessing cognitive
development in just 20 minutes
Test/retest reliability rating of 0.98 for maths and reading
Excellent predictive validity correlates at 0.68 level with age
11 assessments
Motivating and enjoyable experience for young children
Quick transfer of classroom data for processing into clear and
comprehensive feedback reports
Computer-adaptive tests provide a customised test for each
pupil
Well established, stable testing platform
In the primary school we run both the ASPECTS for Preschool and
the PIPS Baseline test for Reception. This has been an invaluable
tool as it offers insight into the type of children making up our
initial intake. There are many positive aspects to using CEM
assessments: They are easy to administer, particularly the online
versions. Data is returned relatively quickly. The assessments are
research driven so instil a confidence in their accuracy. The
support from the staff in Durham is superb. Teachers, learning
support, subject leaders, assessment managers have data for
prediction, tracking and identification of needs. Value- added
analysis.The Alice Smith School, Kuala Lumpur
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www.cem.org
For more information about these assessments,
telephone 0191 334 4223
or email [email protected]
