Assessment for Action
ASSESSMENT FOR ACTION
"Managing target setting
to support school improvement"
Assessment for Action
'Data is inert until someone handles it
and makes it powerful'
IBM
Assessment for Action
Contents
Foreword
What are targets and what is target setting?
Explaining the jargon
Indicators of good management practice
Developing and managing the learning culture
Making sense of data
Who does what with data
Setting performance targets
A process for analysing data
Assessment for Action
Foreword
Target setting has become synonymous with school improvement over recent years.
This booklet aims to clarify the various aspects of target setting, the part target
setting has to play in the day-to-day of classroom life and how target setting can
support school self-improvement.
This booklet has drawn from current legislation and government thinking. Ideas and
comments have also been gratefully received from many East Riding Primary
Headteachers and the Secondary School Target Setting Development Group members
who are working hard to implement statutory requirements and develop classroom
practice.
Geoff Mountain
Curriculum Project Manager
July 2001
Assessment for Action
What are targets and what is target setting?
A forecast is an expectation of an outcome, using professional judgement, if current
practice continues and maintains normal progress. In order to improve on this
forecast, changes must be made. This is the added challenge. This is a target.
Target = Forecast + Challenge1
Targets are therefore not predictions. They are aspirational, to be aimed for. There
should not be any recrimination if they are not reached. This is not to say that
professional discussion during evaluation cannot explore reasons for outcome
shortfalls and identify factors beyond control. At such times targets should be
reassessed and alternative ways forward should then be agreed.
Target setting has become an important addition to the vocabulary of schools over
recent years. Target setting is central in the Government’s drive to raise standards in
schools. Like the word assessment, its predecessor, which began to develop a high
profile in educational jargon around ten years ago, target setting is a catch-all phrase
and holds different meanings to different people. Currently it is likely to apply to one
or more of the following situations in a school:
 Setting whole school quantitative performance targets
These targets are all expressed numerically and refer to the achievements of a year
group some time (usually five terms) in the future.
School targets must be published in the Annual Governors' Report to Parents and the
local authority's Educational Development Plan.
At present there is only a requirement to set and publish
targets for:
English and mathematics at the end of KS2
English, mathematics and science at the end of KS3
GCSE (or equivalent) at the end of KS4
1
DfEE From Targets to Action PP98/30478/1197/353
Assessment for Action
These statutory targets will contribute to the national and local published targets.
National targets have been published by the government for literacy and
mathematics at the end of KS2 for 2002 and for GCSE (or equivalent) at the end of
KS4 . There are also national learning targets for post-16 students. LEAs publish a
range of targets in their Education Development Plan including targets for English
and mathematics at the end of KS2, GCSE (or equivalent) at the end of KS4,
unauthorised absence and exclusion. There are also targets for GCSE (or equivalent)
for looked after children on leaving public care.
 Setting subject/year quantitative performance targets
Schools are encouraged2 to set additional whole school targets within school to
support self-improvement, beyond the minimum requirements of statutory targets.
They will reflect the priorities for each school and indicate targets for the outcomes
of children. It is suggested that these targets feature in the school development
plans.
 Setting qualitative school/subject/year targets for improvement
Not all targets will be expressed as numbers. Although the main focus for school
improvement is in terms of the achievements of children, some targets might be to
improve other aspects of the school, such as behaviour or refurbishment, which will in
the fullness of time, have a positive effect on the children's outcomes.
 Setting ‘next steps’ learning targets with children
Learning targets and learning objectives are used with classes, groups or individuals.
Learning targets can be short term - defining the next steps to take in order to
improve, or medium term - for the end of a unit or piece of work. Expressed in a
meaningful way to children (‘childspeak’), they can be linked to progression in the NC,
key skills, behaviour etc. These are sometimes referred to as pupils’ attainment or
progress targets. Learning objectives (what a class, group or individual is expected
to know, understand or be able to do after a piece of work) can be expressed
appropriately and shared with children as learning targets.
2
DfEE From Targets to Action PP98/30478/1197/353
Assessment for Action
 Setting attainment or progress targets with children for the end of
year/key stage
Longer term, end of key stage learning targets can be set and expressed in terms of
NC levels. Sharing numerical targets with children and students is becoming more
common. Great sensitivity must be applied when having these discussions: targets
should motivate, be realistic but not limit potential.
To summarise:
Quantitative performance targets are an outcome of a ‘management’ process
responding to an identified issue. This process analyses data and develops a strategy
for improvement through change (in the curriculum or organisation). It summates
individual children's long term learning targets, views them alongside an historical
perspective and brings them together using professional judgement. A process for
setting performance targets is detailed in the last section of this booklet.
Learning targets are part of teaching and learning – the ongoing process in the
classroom and part of the relationship between the child and subject teacher or
tutor.
Assessment for Action
Indicators of good management practice
Developing the learning culture
Many of the elements which contribute to effective target setting are and always
have been, present in good schools. Teachers will recognise existing good teaching and
learning practice, now expressed in the new language of target setting.
It is the role of senior managers to make the most effective use of this good
practice by bringing together, linking and co-ordinating the different elements. They
can incorporate target setting into the school’s assessment policy and then manage
target setting to support school development.
Effective implementation
Target setting cannot be introduced overnight. Even at the simplest operational level,
for example, the management of data needs careful consideration. Many teachers
have difficulty in accepting the importance of target setting. There may well be a
need to win over hearts and minds. The introduction of target setting therefore
needs to be planned and its implementation phased.
At school level target setting will be supported if:
 There is an on-going commitment and support from senior management - it cannot be
delegated to staff without ‘authority’
 There is a programme of staff development at management, classroom teacher and tutor level
 Appropriate comparative benchmarking data is provided
 A consistent whole school approach to recording information is developed, in terms of subject
specific and general attainment
 The transfer of information between tutors, classroom teachers and managers is organised
 Time is built in for agreeing targets (and subsequently for reviewing progress towards them)
between senior managers and heads of faculty/subject/year, between subject managers/year
leaders and teams, and between classroom teachers/tutors and children
Assessment for Action
What are the essential characteristics of schools where effective target setting
takes place?
A target setting culture will only be effective and lead to improved pupil performance
if it is well managed. The various tiers of management within a school each have their
role to play.
Management at whole school level
At whole school level, the management and development of the processes of
assessment to inform target setting, requires the Headteacher and governors to
have a clear understanding of how target setting can raise standards and a
commitment to target setting, demonstrated through leadership and the priority it is
afforded.
Senior Managers need to ensure that:

There is a staff development programme to explain the purposes of the different aspects of target
setting
 Quantitative and qualitative performance targets appear in faculty, subject, year team and school
development plans
 The managers know and understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to achieving targets
 Target setting with children is integrated into the assessment, recording and reporting policy
 Classroom teachers and tutors understand what is expected of them, in terms of target setting with
children
Assessment for Action
Management at subject and pastoral level
Target setting with children in the classroom will only be effective if its introduction
is planned, phased and resourced.
Subject Leaders will need to ensure that:






Subject teachers have a clear understanding of progression through the key stage in terms of
National Curriculum levels
Lessons/blocks/projects are planned with clearly expressed learning objectives
Learning objectives are shared with children (learning targets
Class/group or individual ‘next steps’ (as appropriate) are shared with children (learning targets), to
help them make progress towards the learning objectives
Learning outcomes are shared with children (what the child will know/understand or be able to do
when they meet their learning target – how they will be assessed)
Children know their aspirational attainment or progress target (level) for the end of year/key stage
as appropriate
In secondary schools Pastoral Managers will need to ensure that:


There is pre-planned regular time for one-to-one/small group review
The tutor has information about pupils’ current subject specific and general strengths and
weaknesses
 The tutor has information about pupils’ potential from an analysis of prior and current attainment
 Class/group or individual ‘next steps’ as appropriate to make progress are shared with children
(learning targets)
 Children know their aspirational attainment or progress target (level) for the end of year/key stage
as appropriate
Assessment for Action
Making sense of data
Schools are faced with a plethora of data. External sources, such as examination
boards, key stage test agencies, the DfEE and the LEA provide data on an annual
basis and schools generate their own. How should it be used to inform target setting
and is it all necessary?
In the Autumn Package, the DfEE poses questions for schools to consider when
reviewing performance and recommends using data within a five stage cycle for
school improvement3. This publication links the school improvement cycle with the
performance management cycle and complements a similar wallchart published earlier
by the DfEE4. Ofsted commissioned a course on using data to inform judgements
about standards of achievement. This led to a useful publication providing further
insight into the use of data5.
A strong message coming from education analysts is that interrogating data does not
provide answers but often does raise issues worthy of further questioning.
Data certainly should not be ignored and outside bodies will use the data on your
school to make some initial assumptions about the children and teachers. A wise staff
will anticipate these assumptions and be able to support or challenge them through a
deeper analysis and interpretation based on their knowledge of their school and its
particular circumstances.
Who does what with data?
When suggesting appropriate sets of data to be used by those with different
responsibilities in school, it must be remembered that in small schools and small
classes, using percentages needs care.
In a group of 20 each child is contributing 5% to the figures, in a group of 10 each
child represents 10% of the figures etc. In these situations one child is sufficient to
have a big positive or negative effect when comparing with national results and it is
important to be able to explain results through a thorough knowledge of what lies
beneath the figures.
3
DfEE wallchart ‘Recognising progress – Getting the most from your data’ DfEE0253/2000 (primary),
DfEE0254/2000 (secondary)
4
DfEE wallchart ‘Getting the most from your data’ AUTLEAF 1-2 (primary), AUTLEAF 3-4
(secondary)
5
The Numbers Game, Hedger & Jesson ISBN 0 9536299 1 0
Assessment for Action
Senior Managers' use of data
The senior management team needs to have a strategic overview of academic
attainment within the school. In a large school it would be inappropriate for this team
to make a detailed analysis of all published data and teacher assessments. The SMT
should in this case delegate specific duties to subject managers and arrange for
feedback (see Indicators of good practice).
An analysis of the DfEE Autumn Package Sections 1 and 3 followed by discussions
with subject managers will help the senior management team to answer the following
questions6:






How do the results in any subject compare with national averages and with results in ‘similar’
schools?
How do boys' and girls' results compare within a subject?
How do boys' and girls' results compare between subjects?
What are the trends in results over recent years?
How do the results of particular groups (ethnic, looked after, more able etc) compare?
Are there any particular features (teaching, grouping etc) which contribute to one subject being
more successful than another?
These questions should lead to identification of emerging priorities across the school
and within subject areas and so feed the school development plans.
There might be further questions the SMT considers appropriate to ask across the
school or to certain subject managers, which reflect the particular circumstances of
the school. For example pupil mobility can result in published figures not reflecting
the true picture of the school’s performance and the school would need to consider
recalculating results to highlight any effects this might have had.
Senior managers will also have to set statutory targets. This process should be
informed by the analysis of data by subject managers and their teams.
Subject Leaders' use of data
Subject leaders need to have knowledge of the overall performance of children in
their area and be aware of how it compares with their performance in other areas.
They need to know how different classes or groups of children within their area
6
These questions are adapted from the DfEE Autumn Package Sections 1 and 3. The school’s PANDA
will provide data for core subjects (and most foundation subjects at KS4).
Assessment for Action
progress over time and their level of attainment over a key stage. It is for the school
to decide how best to ‘track’ children’s progress and when to make teacher
assessments against the National Curriculum.
When analysing end of key stage published data, subject leaders will need to be
aware of the relevant data in sections 1 and 3 of the Autumn Package and make a
detailed analysis using section 27. In a large school it would be appropriate for each
teacher to analyse the results of their own class and feedback to the subject
managers. This will help subject leaders answer the following questions8:






How do the results of different groups or classes compare?
How do the results of particular children (boys, girls, SEN etc) compare?
How does the progress of different groups or classes compare?
How does the progress of particular children (boys, girls, SEN, high prior attainment etc) compare?
Are there any particular features which contribute to one group or class making more progress than
another?
How does performance relate to the targets set for those children?
Using data to look back and reflect on past performance will help identify emerging
priorities within the subject areas and so feed the subject area and school
development plans. Subject leaders will need to look forward and set appropriate
targets for present cohorts of children. This process will be informed by the analysis
each classroom teacher undertakes.
Classroom Teachers use of data
The classroom teachers primary concern is 'tracking' the progress their current
class or teaching groups are making. The school should agree a manageable system
which provides sufficient essential data to enable teachers to do this without
requiring burdensome record keeping beyond the teachers own mark-book.
Many schools now routinely provide each teacher with a set of previous end of key
stage results, the latest teacher assessment levels in the current key stage and
standardised scores for reading, maths or non-verbal reasoning as available.
7
The school’s own records of end of previous key stage results will be needed to enable analysis
These questions are adapted from the DfEE Autumn Package Section 2 and the DfEE wallchart
‘Recognising progress – Getting the most from your data’
8
Assessment for Action
The Autumn Package suggests how teachers might use Section 2 to compare the
progress children in their current classes are making with the progress children, who
reached the end of a key stage in the last academic year, made nationally. This
analysis recognises that comparisons must be made with children of a similar prior
attainment.
Classroom teachers should ask themselves the following questions9:



Have I set appropriate expectations at the beginning of the year for the class?
How do children's (and their parents) own expectations differ from mine?
Are there any particular features I can identify, which contributed to one group or class making more
progress than another over recent years?
Teachers are, of course, free to make more use of data10.
Pastoral Teams use of data in secondary schools
The tutor or member of staff charged with having an 'academic overview' of children
should be examining analyses, provided by the subject teachers, for their general
strengths and weaknesses, progress across the curriculum and any areas standing out
as cause for concern.
9
10
These questions are adapted from the DfEE Autumn Package Section 2
Making pupil Data Powerful, Pringle & Cobb, Network Educational Press Ltd. ISBN 1 85539 052 3
Assessment for Action
Who does what with data - summary
Autumn
Package
section
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 2
Section 3
Who should analyse
What to look for
Identifying issues
SMT with subject managers
Strengths and weaknesses
Trends in attainment
Rates of progress
Classroom teachers with subject managers
Attainment and rate of progress
(At KS3 foundation subjects construct bar
by gender, SEN, groupings,
charts from section 1 data)
differentiation
SMT with subject managers
Comparing progress across
subjects
Setting targets
Individual and group targets – subject manager
Individual issues
with team
Groupings
Whole school targets – SMT informed by
Support and resources
individual and group targets
Questions to ask
Autumn Package
Autumn Package
p2 of DfEE poster
Autumn Package
Autumn Package
DfEE poster
Assessment for Action
Setting performance targets
Schools have a statutory duty to set numerical, end of key stage performance
targets. The DfEE five stage cycle for school improvement, referred to earlier,
details the steps to follow in order to arrive at any numerical target, through a series
of questions. It is suggested that these questions are applied to each subject or
group for which you wish to set a target.
“How well are we doing?” asks you to question the trend in results over recent years.
This in itself does not give sufficient information for deciding the next target as it
takes no account of the present cohort of children and is of little value in small
schools where large fluctuations in performance are commonplace. In larger schools
or those with broadly similar cohorts, however, it often indicates a pattern and, in
practice, schools must introduce radically different strategies to affect this pattern.
“How do we compare with similar schools?” asks you to ‘benchmark’ your results
against those from ‘similar’ schools. Two sets of benchmark data are provided by the
DfEE – free school meal and more recently, prior attainment which is being taken as a
fairer indicator. For target setting purposes there is nothing to stop schools
calculating the free school meal entitlement figures for a particular cohort (the
school PANDA uses the figure for the whole school) and choosing the appropriate
table in the Autumn Package for benchmarking. Similarly, it might well be appropriate
to calculate the prior attainment for a particular group of children (the school
PANDA uses a figure for those children tested at the end of the previous key stage,
some or many of whom may well be different from the present group).
Assessment for Action
“What more should we aim to achieve?” suggests that you consider each child in the
cohort and forecast their likely outcome. This involves the teacher using the Autumn
Package chances graphs, alongside information held by the school about each child’s
progress and ongoing teacher assessments, to make a professional judgement. The
forecasts can be aggregated for a class or cohort11.
Arriving at the numerical target requires you to consider these three pieces of
evidence together12 and make a sensible decision about the likely outcome and the
realistic degree of challenge you wish to add. This becomes the numerical target.
“What must we do to make it happen?” is the essential question to ask if the target
has any chance of being met. You should now look back at the difference between
the forecast for each child and the set target and ask the following type of question:
How many children will have to move up a level, in order that the school meets
its target?
Who are these children?
What do we need to do to make this happen in terms of changing our teaching,
curriculum, groupings, classroom procedures?
This is “target getting” and as it says in the last chapter of ‘The Numbers Game’ –
“it’s easy really”!
11
12
See table for aggregation of chances at the end of this section
See table for setting targets at the end of this section
Assessment for Action
Setting targets – table for considering data
School
trend over time
Subject
1998
1999
2000
National
FSM benchmark
UQ
Med
LQ
National
Prior attainment
benchmark
UQ
Med
LQ
Forecast from
present
performance
Agreed
target
Notes
Trends over time can have little relevance with small cohorts with fluctuating profiles
When choosing Free School Meal or prior attainment benchmarks from the Autumn Package, use the most appropriate for that
cohort if there is variation in entitlement across the school or the cohort has changed since the end of the previous key stage
Do not confuse a forecast of results based on the children’s present performance with any targets they might have
Assessment for Action
Forecasts from progress charts - example
KS3 aps
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 (n)
n
xn100
Name
Abe
Beth
Carrie
David
Emma
Fred
Garry
Herbert
Irene
John
Total
Group
Numbers
23
33
31
43
35
33
21
31
53
41
% chance
of children
at each
level
U
3
3
6
.6
0
G
12
1
1
1
12
1
28
2.8
0
F
29
2
2
2
2
29
2
66
6.6
1
GCSE English % Chances
E
D
C
35
17
3
10
34
40
10
34
40
2
16
15
44
31
10
34
40
35
17
3
10
34
40
2
16
2
16
112
191
258
11.2
19.1
25.8
1
2
3
B
A
A*
11
11
40
7
11
1
1
32
9
11
40
40
195
19.5
2
1
32
32
107
10.7
1
1
9
9
27
2.7
0
Notes
Each child’s chances are entered from their previous key stage average points score (aps) – in this case English KS3 aps to GCSE
English chances, Y2000 Autumn Package
The chances in each column are totalled, then divided by the number in the group, to give you the % chances for the spread of
levels across the group
The group chances are converted and rounded into the numbers of children forecast to attain each level