Replacing pupil progress with school improvement

Hobby believes current assessment in schools to be 'riven with contradiction', with the relationship between assessment and accountability being 'dysfunctional'. Hobby's controversial proposal, published on the NAHT blog, follows recent government intentions to places a stronger focus on progress as a measure of schools, and the introductions of the new Progress 8 measure at GCSE and baseline tests at the beginning of a child's formal education. He states that the time is right for a dramatic rethink on school level accountability

Hobby continues to suggest that the government's decision to remove levels does not tackle the greater, underlying problem as schools are simply left to 'invent their own approaches to assessment', creating a 'stasis as schools hang poised between their own professional instincts and the demands of their stakeholders'.

Hobby believes that schools can create a level playing field by replacing pupil progress with school improvement, thus creating a higher level of school level accountability. He said: " We hold schools accountable for improving their overall attainment over time. The lower the current performance, the greater the improvement we expect, tapering off as schools get better and better, and the scope for improvement becomes smaller."

The advantage of Hobby's suggestions is that they would aim to return formative assessment back into the hands of the profession. Hobby continued: "The government plays no role on assessment other than the key summative tests at KS2, 4 and 5. Assessment in schools is used to check what children understand and decide how teaching should be adapted. It doesn't need to be transferable or standardised as that is not its purpose. But let's be clear, the simple removal of levels in the face of accountability systems demanding standardised data has not achieved this aim."

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