Tracking the progress of pupils with SEND

Here at Insight, we get asked a lot of questions about SEND, especially methods for tracking the progress of pupils working below expectations. The following post aims to address some of the key issues.

Most schools using Insight have an approach to teacher assessment that involves recording whether pupils are in one of four bands: working below, towards, within, or above curriculum expectations, or words to that effect. As pupils tend to stay in the same band over time, there is no constantly variable expected rate of progress that has to be tailored to the time period in question. And using the same simple terminology regardless of year, term or subject, makes the system incredibly easy to understand for all audiences, including non-experts such as parents and governors. This point in time assessment (PITA) approach is justifiably popular because it is clear and accessible, and is broadly comparable with the results of other forms of assessment, such as those carried out at the end of key stages 1 and 2. This means that there is less ambiguity and everyone is talking the same language.

An important point about PITA: the PITA approach is deliberately broad and is therefore quick and easy for teachers to record. Because pupils do not rise up a ladder scale as they did with levels, you can simply copy the previous assessment and adjust those that have changed. This – along with ease of understanding – is the big benefit of the relative nature of PITA. What it is not is a tool for measuring progress. You can think of PITA as a coarse filter. If a standardised test is a detailed map, PITA is more like an atlas.

For pupils who are accessing the age-appropriate curriculum – who are working towards, within, or above age-related expectations – this approach is sufficient. These are the pupils who can achieve expected standards with the right support in place; those who most likely will achieve expected standards; and those who we might expect to achieve high scores and the greater depth standard. It is the fourth group – the pupils who are working below age-related expectations – that the PITA approach is less effective for, and this can cause schools to re-consider their teacher assessment strategy. But should they?

Measuring Progress?

A pupil may, of course, remain in the below band for a long period of time or even throughout their entire time in school. The perceived issues are threefold: 1) it does not tell us how far below their peers they are, 2) it does not give a sense of the ‘small steps’ of progress they are making, and 3) it’s depressing, particularly when reporting to parents. A common – and understandable – reaction to this ‘stuck’ situation is to return to a system of levels, either wholesale – for all pupils – or just for those that are working below. If you use Insight, the system can accommodate such approaches – and many schools use them – but we need to consider a few important points before leaping to any decisions:

• Is there really an expected rate of progress that applies to all pupils? For example, have we devised a system that assumes that all pupils should make a curriculum year’s-worth of progress, regardless of starting point and needs?
• Is teacher assessment the most accurate measure of progress, or are there more effective tools at our disposal?
• If, for example, we classify a Y5 pupil with SEND as ‘Y2 Emerging’ (i.e. working at an entry level in the Y2 curriculum) is there a risk that they will be automatically moved to the next band at the end of the following term to show the required amount of progress?
• Using that same example, is the pupil really accessing the Y2 curriculum in its truest sense? Can a Y5 pupil be secure in the Y2 curriculum and progress through it in the same way a Y2 pupil would?

All forms of assessment are flawed but a system that assumes a linear, expected rate of progress for all pupils – especially those with SEND – is particularly problematic. Whilst a system of levels may seem an attractive option, there are better, more appropriate, and precise methods for tracking pupil progress.

Splitting up the below band

An alternative to adopting a system of levels might be to subdivide the below band to make it more meaningful, but there are some things that do work and some things that don’t. Having bands that indicate how many years below peers the pupil is working – 1 year below, 2 years below etc – does work because it is in keeping with the relative nature of a PITA approach. Having bands that have year prefixes – Y2 Emerging, Y2 Developing etc – does not work because these relate to specific points in time and are therefore at odds with the relative nature of PITA. If you want the latter, then we at Insight advise having that set up as an additional assessment, which can be applied solely to pupils that are working below expectations. Another consideration is to have an extra below band named something like ‘personalised curriculum’, which might be preferable when it comes to reporting to parents. It may also be tempting to use pre-key stage bands but that should also be avoided for the reasons outlined in this post. In the end, no degree of breakdown is going to adequately show the small – and often unique – steps of progress these pupils make, and inventing more bands is not in itself proof of progress.

So what should we do instead?

Suggestions for tracking the achievement of pupils working below expectations

Sorting pupils into four broad groups is just the start of the process – the coarse filter mentioned above. We then use other forms of assessment as a series of increasingly finer filters to provide us with more specific detail about pupils’ context, barriers, and achievements. Here are some suggestions:

1. Record an effort grade. This is useful for all pupils but perhaps even more so where attainment is low. They may be working below their peers academically, but they are trying really hard and making great progress in their own way, towards their own targets. An effort grade is entirely relative and is a really valuable piece of data.
2. Record the results of standardised assessments. A teacher assessment can monitor how well a child is doing, but if we want to measure something, we should always seek to use standardised tools. Standardised and age-standardised scores, reading ages, scaled scores, phonics scores – if we have a baseline and a further assessment, then we can measure progress between two points, and continue to track over time. We can also use the right tool for the job depending on the pupil’s needs, areas of focus and barriers to learning.
3. Use an appropriate set of objectives to track small steps and set targets. In Insight we can add additional assessment grids for you to track smaller curriculum achievements which can be reported to parents and set as targets in a learning plan.
4. Use provision mapping to keep tabs on support. Insight’s provision system allows you to assign pupils to provision groups, and monitor the cost and effectiveness of provision across the year. This is all neatly summarised on the pupil page, and provision groups can be used to filter in reports.
5. Create a learning plan. Pupils on the SEND register are likely to have an individual learning plan (IEP) which pulls together an array of information enabling SENCOs and teachers to efficiently follow the assess, plan, do, review cycle. A learning plan template in Insight can combine commentary alongside other types of data including attendance records, contextual information, and assessment outcomes. Targets can be set and monitored, and these can now be linked to objectives. Learning plans can then be easily shared with parents who can provide their own thoughts and observations.

Pupils with SEND are not all the same. They are not a homogeneous group whose progress can all be measured on the same scale. When monitoring this key group, it’s all about the details – their needs, barriers, targets and achievements. The initial teacher assessment is just the start point, beyond which the data becomes increasingly specific and personalised. Ultimately, the best proof of progress is whether pupils have met the individual targets set out in their learning plan.

Further reading:

Assessment tracking for pupils with SEND (part 1)

Assessment tracking for pupils with SEND (part 2)

Measuring the progress of pupils working below expectations

Can we use pre-key stage standards to track the progress of pupils with SEND?