Understanding School Performance
Data (Secondary)
to improve effectiveness
John Mc Cann
Assistant Director of Schools
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
3 Core Functions of Governance
• Setting the vision, ethos and strategic
direction of the school.
• Holding the headteacher to account and
strengthening and challenging their
leadership.
• Ensuring finances are managed well.
CES Document September 2014
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Present State Of Play
• What data do you presently get?
• When do you get it?
• How do you get it?
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Why/How should data be used?
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To understand the strengths and weaknesses of the school
what is working well and what could be improved
with a focus on pupil results (attainment), pupil progress (achievement),
pupil groups and performance across different subjects
School improvement development planning
identifying areas for future improvement and ensure these are firmly
embedded on the SDP (school development plan)
Ofsted inspection
Ofsted inspectors will expect governors to have a good understanding of
pupil results and progress & see evidence of support and challenge of SLT
Performance management
RAISEonline provides an external view of school performance which can be
used to support headteacher performance management.
Setting the strategic vision for the school
Requires an understanding of past performance and present strengths and
weaknesses of the school
Using historical performance
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Aims for today’s session
• To understand main sources of data for governors
• FFT ( Ficher Family Trust bands) & target setting
• To look at RAISEonline analyses – and identify six
key questions that school governors should ask
• To be familiar with key analyses in RAISEonline
• To be aware of the general health warnings
regarding, data, league tables, and target setting
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Sources of Data For Governors
Internal school analyses
• Tracking pupil progress, term by term
• Teacher assessment – latest estimate of likely pupil performance
Data Dashboard (Ofsted)
Simple/simplistic snapshot, attempting to put school historic performance in
a national context – identifying trends over time
Fischer Family Trust (FFT) FFT Governor Dashboard
• Estimates of future school and pupil attainment based on pupils’ prior
attainment
• Used to inform target setting
RAISEonline (DFE/Ofsted)
• Attainment, progress, attendance and school context
• Understand strengths and areas for improvement
• Compare school performance to national averages
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Using School performance Data
• No single source of data or analysis can provide a
comprehensive overview of school performance
• It’s not the source that matters (as long as it’s
accurate), it’s the question you ask of the data
When several sources say the same thing,
it’s a basis for action
When several sources give conflicting messages,
it’s a cause for investigation
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Six key questions for governors
1. How does attainment and progress at my school
compare to national averages and the Government’s
floor target?
2. How are we performing in the core subjects (English,
Maths and Science) and in other subjects?
3. Do we have any under-performing groups of pupils, or are
there wide gaps in attainment between some groups of
pupils?
4. How might the context of our school affect our
performance?
5. How does pupil attendance compare to national
averages?
6. What are the strengths and weaknesses of our school?
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
FFT Governor Dashboard
Copies of handouts distributed:
• FFT Data Dashboard - Quick start guide and
introduction for school governors
• FFT Data Dashboard for a seconday school
Reference was made to the fuller support materials to
be found at www.fft.org.uk
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Measuring Attainment
Threshold Measures:
Primary: % of pupils gaining Level 2 at KS 1
% of pupils gaining Level 4 at KS2
Secondary: % of pupils gaining 5+ A*-C including English & Maths
English Baccalaureate
Points Score:
Convert a level or grade to a point score for each pupil:
test mark  level or grade  point score
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Calculating Points Score
Primary
Level
1
2
3
4
5
6
Secondary
Points
9
15
21
27
22
29
Grade
Points
A*
58
A
52
B
46
C
40
D
34
E
28
F
22
G
16
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Attainment Secondary
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Attainment Secondary
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Attainment Secondary
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Pupil Progress (Best 8 &EBACC)
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Pupil Progress (Best 8 & EBACC)
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Pupil Progress – Value Added
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Pupil Progress (Value Added)
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Five key questions for governors
1. How does attainment and progress at my school
compare to national averages and the Government’s
floor target?
2. How are we performing in the core subjects (English,
Maths and Science) and in other subjects?
3. Do we have any under-performing groups of pupils, or
are there wide gaps in attainment between some
groups of pupils?
4. How might the context of our school affect our
performance?
5. How does pupil attendance compare to national
averages?
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Subject Performance
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Subject Performance
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Subject Performance
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Subject Performance
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Five key questions for governors
1. How does attainment and progress at my school
compare to national averages and the Government’s
floor target?
2. How are we performing in the core subjects (English,
Maths and Science) and in other subjects?
3. Do we have any under-performing groups of pupils,
or are there wide gaps in attainment between some
groups of pupils?
4. How might the context of our school affect our
performance?
5. How does pupil attendance compare to national
averages?
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Pupil Groups
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Five key questions for governors
1. How does attainment and progress at my school
compare to national averages and the Government’s
floor target?
2. How are we performing in the core subjects (English,
Maths and Science) and in other subjects?
3. Do we have any under-performing groups of pupils, or
are there wide gaps in attainment between some
groups of pupils?
4. How might the context of our school affect our
performance?
5. How does pupil attendance compare to national
averages?
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
School Context
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Five key questions for governors
1. How does attainment and progress at my school
compare to national averages and the Government’s
floor target?
2. How are we performing in the core subjects (English,
Maths and Science) and in other subjects?
3. Do we have any under-performing groups of pupils, or
are there wide gaps in attainment between some
groups of pupils?
4. How might the context of our school affect our
performance?
5. How does pupil attendance compare to national
averages?
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Pupil Absence
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Pupil Exclusions
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Health Warnings
• Size of cohort and impact on comparison/statistical significance
• Ensure you know what is being analysed and if comparisons are
being made between subjects/schools they are using the same data
set
• Be aware of national changes to entry policies - linear
• Is there ‘ like for like’ between awarding bodies?
• Are the results given based on best or first?
• Are measures of progress made only taking account of results
where a student’s previous scores are known or the whole cohort.
• Looking for trends over time is very important – but becoming more
difficult in terms of results due to national changes in entry policy –
it is difficult to asses like for like.
• Core /Best 8/ English Baccalaureate
• Changes to the points awarded system to be introduced in core
subjects from next year 2015 on a 1-9 scale
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education
Diocese of Shrewsbury
Department of Education