The Foundation Stage ProfileThe Foundation Stage ProfileEffective and purposeful assessment in the Early Years

19th 20th January 2006

Jan DubielPrincipal Officer Foundation Stage ProfileNational Assessment Agency

Worcestershire LA

Definitions…

• Assessment• What is there to see?• How best can we understand what we

see?• How can we put our understanding to

good use?Mary Jane Drummond

“The purpose of the assessment process is to make explicit children’s achievements, celebrate their achievements with them, then help them to move forward to the next goal”

Vicky Hutchin

Developing the foundations for curricular target setting in ISP

schools: Birth to five

Download from

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/publications/isp/1200475/

Why do we need to assess?

• Assessment, planning and development are inextricably linked

• Assessment is an essential part of meeting children’s needs

• Children have different starting points and rates of development

• It informs planning for the group or the individual by identifying strengths and areas of development

• It enables practitioners to evaluate their setting

What do we need to assess?• Demonstrations of skills, knowledge, understanding

and attitudes• All six Areas of Learning• What is said, done or shown as an individual or as a

participant in a group• Adult directed and child-initiated activities• What is SIGNIFICANT

How do we put this information to good use?

• To plan appropriate provision to meet the needs of individuals and groups of learners

• To reflect on and evaluate the quality of existing provision and identify areas for development

What does the Foundation Stage guidance say?

• “To be effective, an early years curriculum should be carefully structured…”

• “Provision from the different starting points from which children develop their learning building on what they can already do”

• Practitioners must be able to observe and respond appropriately to children – informed by a knowledge of how children develop and learn and a clear understanding of possible next steps in their development and their learning”

• “Effective teaching requires…skilful and planned observation of children”

The process of assessment in the Foundation Stage

• Evidence collected through:• Knowledge of the child• A range of contributors • Observation• Anecdotal “significant moments”• (Focussed Assessment)

– Judgements made through assessing behaviour that is demonstrated:

• Consistently• Independently

– Moderation– The role of supplementary assessments

The Foundation Stage Profile is an important part of this implementation.

• It builds on the curriculum guidance.

• It reflects the key role of skilful and well-planned observations in providingreliable assessment information on young children.

• It recognises the important contribution parents and children can make toAssessment

• It has been developed drawing on the extensive expertise of that same group of early education specialists who contributed to the development of the curriculum guidance.

• It sets out a way of summarising young children’s achievements at the endof the foundation stage and provides important information for parents andyear 1 teachers.

(FSP Handbook Foreword)

Key features of the FSP

• Statutory scales and points of Assessment• An assessment of the end of the Foundation Stage

Curriculum covering all Areas of Learning• A Summary of children’s achievements by the end of

the Foundation Stage• A basis for planning to meet the needs of children at

the start of Key Stage 1• Assessment scales arrange ELGs and composite

Stepping Stones as manageable assessment criteria• Specific guidance to ensure access for children with

SEN and EAL

Structure of the FSP

• 13 Scales covering aspects within all 6 Areas of Learning:PSED 3 CL&L 4 MD 3KaUotW 1 PD 1 CD 1

• 9 points on each scale– Points 1 – 3 represent composite Stepping Stones– Points 4 – 8 represent the ELGs; split where

appropriate and are not hierarchical– Point 9 is above the ELGs

• Yes / No judgement against each point

FSP is…

Reflection and consolidation of the CGFS

A vehicle to support transition to Y1 and the development of effective pedagogy

The process of assessment for learning

Utilising the results of the process to support individual learning journeys

13 nine point scales that record children's attainment on entry to Y1

FSP isn’t….

A tick list of skills and knowledge

A standardised assessment

Discussion

• In conclusion; despite the existence of significant barriers to the full implementation of the FSP and the degree of misunderstanding and misperception of its process and purpose that still exists amongst some stakeholders, major advances in its operation, moderation and pedagogical use are clearly apparent in the evidence available. Where it is used appropriately, primarily as a tool with which to record children’s achievement within the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage and identify the next steps in their learning, use of the FSP has progressed considerably.

2005 report – Summary and Conclusions

Effective LA implementation, training and Support

Discrepancy in perception between LA and practitioners over role and purpose of FSP

“practitioner misunderstanding of the assessment process in some parts of the Foundation Stage”

– Use of FSP Scales as numerical entry assessment– The anatomy of individual scale points– Observation– Evidence– Effective pedagogy

Role of Headteachers and Senior Managers

Supplementary assessments

OFSTED

2005 report – Summary and Conclusions

Key issues for Implementation

Ensuring the process is embedded• Appropriate ratio of observational / focussed assessment evidence• Participation in collecting evidence• Accuracy of judgements

Scale points• Interpreting Scale points• Point 9• Practitioner judgement

Evidencing judgements

Supplementary assessments

Entry assessment and value added

Use of FSP• As whole year record• As end of year report

Key issues for Moderation: Internal Moderation

• Principles of:– ‘A little often’– Involvement of expertise and knowledge of all staff– Collection of evidence through focussed and

anecdotal assessment to inform judgement

Access to visits / meetings

Support for single form entry YR / PVI Settings

Demonstrating Progress in the Foundation Stage

• Words of warning:– Numerical scores– Test based systems

• Key principles and effective practice– Individual child’s development– Use of moderated Stepping Stones judgements– The importance and interconnection of all 6 Areas of

Learning– Attainment on entry

• Initial observations and judgements• Information from Pre-school settings• Stepping Stone expectations

• Statutory requirements– No baseline– Evidence of using assessments to inform planning

• Ofsted expectations– 2002 circular– PNS website FAQs on the FSP– New Framework

Understanding and using FSP Data

Basic operational principles of FSP assessment

• Observational and Focussed assessment evidence• 13 scales• 9 scale points

• Schools submit data to LA• LA submit data to DfES• DfES use of data

• School use of data• Teacher use of data

• What does it mean? What do we do with it?

Using the FSP data for…

• Identifying areas for development in practice and provision in

– YR– Y1

• Performance management

• School improvement planning

• Comparisons of achievement

What data is generated

Two types of data

1. Statutory data – data collection chart; submitted to DfES via LEA

2. Individual / class data – individual, transferred to Y1

•What does this data tell us? What are the implications for:

–Provision in Y1?

–practice in the Foundation Stage?

–School improvement?

•What does this data tell us? What are the implications for:

-Practice in the Foundation Stage

-Provision in Y1?

–School improvement?

• What does this data tell us? What are the implications for:

-Practice in the Foundation Stage

-Provision in Y1?

– School improvement?

Tracking Pupil Progress

Do I have to specify the point at which a positive assessment was made ?

No – but it will prove useful for both future reference and performance management purposes if you do. There are two E-profile graphs (which can be printed) showing how pupils have made progress over the foundation stage – these will only show any useful information if you record assessments chronologically.

Summer term 2006

Spring term 2006

Autumn term 2005

Summer term 2005

Don’t use

2006

2005

Change in procedure

• No change in making assessments and recording.

• In June/July send a file to the LA (as last year), but it will be a different file to that submitted in previous years.

• In March send the ‘different’ file of your 2005 data to the LA, to;

1. pilot the new procedure

2. enable analysis of the 2005 data ahead of the 2006 data