Testing Times - New scheme allows schools to accurately assess & predict pupil progress throughout schooling
In response to a growing demand for high quality pupil level information systems to support learning and teaching in Scotland, a Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre, linked to the CEM Centre at the University of Durham is being developed within the new Faculty of Education at the University of Aberdeen. Since it opened in 1983, the CEM Centre at the University of Durham has consistently provided value-added information for schools.
The new CEM Centre in Aberdeen will accept responsibility for activity in Scotland from May 2002. Dr Michael Cowie is to lead the development in Scotland and will work in close collaboration with the CEM Centre in Durham. Linked to this, there is also an international dimension as the CEM Centres are also being established across the globe in Australia and New Zealand.
Dr Cowie said: “The attraction of all CEM Centre information systems is the focus on the individual pupil. The intention is to support teachers and promote school improvement in both primary and secondary schools by providing high quality, robust, reliable and meaningful information on individual pupils.”
Professor Carol Fitz-Gibbon, Director of the CEM Centre in Durham, said: “This is an exciting development, with several education authorities in Scotland currently engaged with CEM centre, value-added information systems and a distinct Scottish dimension is important.”
CEM Centre information systems provide primary and secondary schools with highly reliable test materials for different age groups of pupils as well as a test analysis and feedback service designed to provide schools with retrospective and predictive information on pupil progress on a value added basis.
The PIPS Project (Performance Indicators in Primary Schools), directed by Professor Peter Tymms, tracks a number of aspects of schooling as pupils move through primary school. PIPS baseline assessment, with a measure of progress during the first year at school, is now used in eight education authorities throughout Scotland. New assessments, developed with teachers in Scotland, are now available for use in Primary 3, Primary 5 and Primary 7 classes and these materials are attractive, quick and easy to administer.
Data is processed at the CEM Centre and the results passed back to schools. The results allow schools to look objectively at the progress and attitudes of individual pupils. They also let schools judge their own performance within the context of the others in Scotland who used the assessments at the same time. The confidentiality of each individual school, however, is protected.
PIPS gathers information on a range of variables that can be broadly grouped into measures of academic attainment, developed ability and attitude (self-concept). These are used to calculate measures of relative progress or value. Value-added measures enable fair comparisons because they take into account important factors that are outside the control of the school.
Secondary school projects include a baseline assessment (Middle Years Information System [MidYIS]) and an assessment for use in the third year of secondary school (Year Eleven Information System [YELLIS]). These are designed specifically for value-added studies in relation to standard grade.
MidYIS is designed to measure ability rather than achievement and fluency rather than knowledge. Standardised administration conditions across participating schools provide a measure of developed abilities and a fair standardised baseline from which value-added measures can be made from first or second year through to most Standard Grade subjects. Chances graphs and individual reports are provided at four levels of detail: bands A, B, C and D; Stanines; Standard Scores; and Percentiles. Feedback software is also available to enable schools to conduct further analysis.
A wide range of attitudinal and behavioural indicators are also available in the secondary sector. These include questions about homework, satisfaction with school, liking for various subjects and levels of aspiration.
Further information is available by contacting Dr Michael Cowie, Faculty of Education, University of Aberdeen, on (01224) 273269 or email: michael.cowie@abdn.ac.uk
Issued by Public Relations Office, External Relations, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen. Tel: 01224 272014 Fax: 01224 272086.
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-272960 or email a.begg@abdn.ac.uk.