What is Progress 8, and how are Teachers Measuring Progress in 2021?
What is Progress 8? It’s a statistic used to measure pupils’ progress between Year 6 and Year 11, effectively measuring their attainment across eight subjects/qualifications. It is relatively new, and many parents do not fully understand it. However, most people know that it’s an important metric for analysing a pupil’s progress over time. As part of the Department for Education’s (DfE) response to the Coronavirus (Covid 19) pandemic, the Key Stage 2 SAT’s exams were cancelled for a second year. Parents and teachers are now questioning how the Progress 8 score is applied when measuring performance at school and how they can effectively track progress in the future.
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What is a Progress 8 score?
Progress 8 is a new value-added measure that compares pupils’ progress made between their Key Stage 2 tests and GCSE results. Progress 8 is combined with Attainment 8, which measures a pupil’s achievement across eight different subjects. These two come together as part of the new system based on students’ attainment in their best eight subjects at GCSE and the progress made from the end of Year 6 when the Key Stage 2 SAT’s in reading and maths are taken.
Covid 19’s impact on measuring Progress 8
The official cancellation of this year’s Sats will make it very difficult to calculate Progress 8 in the usual way in 2025. There will be missing data for pupils who have missed the SAT’s exam and may lead to unfair future possibilities.
The school minister Nick Gibb has already stated that the government is still deciding how pupil performance will measure the Progress 8 score. Some sources suggest that schools reinstate the CAT tests (cognitive abilities tests) at the start of Year 7. Or they may look at the KS1 SAT’s results as a way to possibly assess pupils.
Tes reported that Gibb has stated during a meeting of the Commons Education Select Committee on the GCSE and A-level grading plans for 2021 that they will be making decisions regarding this issue in due course and addressing the consequences for Progress 8.
The government has also stated that any qualification grades achieved using alternative assessment arrangements in 2020 and 2021 will not be used to produce the usual suite of institution-level performance measures.
The news of the cancellation of SAT’s exams may have given many a breather. However, it has also put a strain and uncertainty on the new system. Many are unsure if and how the Progress 8 system can survive this pandemic.
Primary school assessments in 2020 and 2021
The government has set out clear guidelines and has said that they will not publish institution-level data based on 2021; this includes
● Key stage 1 and 2 assessments
● GCSEs
● AS levels, A levels
● Other regulated general qualifications or vocational and technical qualifications.
This means that any data collected will not be available for anyone, including Ofsted, Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) or local authorities, to hold schools and colleges to account.
How will this impact primary school education?
To better inform parents about student progress, schools will continue to report students’ qualification results to their parents.
The government has also stated that they intend to temporarily change the performance tables for 2021 to provide a transparent information set. This is on schedule for publication in Autumn 2021.
Furthermore, many see the SAT’s cancellation as a blessing in disguise as it relieves many from the pressure of exams and focuses on helping make up for missed learning due to lockdowns.
Teachers can concentrate on assessing their pupils through a more subtle, stress-free assessment and can view where progress is being made and what the next steps should be.
There have been so many gaps in the last year, and many have fallen behind, the cancellation can help your child progress.
It should also be stated that there were no SATs in 2020, and so far, everything seems to be running ok. Secondary schools catered for their new students and the Year 7s soon found their feet in their new schools. These assessments will come along, and so far, the government has decided not to let them affect any future possibilities or affect your child’s future education.
Unfortunately, there is no way right now of knowing how the future will plan out with Progress 8 and the SAT’s but, the steps that have been taken so far might have been a necessity and may help your child progress better than before.
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