Preparing new teachers for
Curriculum for Excellence
The journey through the Senior
Phase: curriculum, qualifications
and assessment
Ronnie Summers,
Head of Qualifications Development
Overview
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Historical context and reasons for change
Senior Phase entitlements and qualifications
Learning not occurring in a straight line
Better gradient of learning and progress
Landscape of assessment and teaching
Developing teacher competence and skills
SQA Understanding Standards
Education Scotland website:
“The 3-18 curriculum is a forward looking, coherent
curriculum that provides Scotland's children and
young people with the knowledge, skills and attributes
needed for life in the 21st century.
The development process has involved unparalleled
engagement with teachers and practitioners. It has
built upon the existing good practice across all sectors
of Scottish education and ……. recognises the
professionalism of teachers.”
Improving Scottish Education (2009)
“The key to developing capacities, raising
standards and meeting the needs of all
learners lies of course in consistent, high
quality learning and teaching.”
“The current profile of attainment within and
across the different sectors of education
remains uneven. In particular, many young
people are not making the progress they
should…..”
What needed to change:
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Over-crowding of curriculum
Need for enjoyment – wonder and magic
Articulation and smoother progression
‘Academic’ and ‘vocational’ balance
Focus on skills application rather than
knowledge cramming
• Personalisation and choice
• Need for greater professional freedom
• Challenge that assessment was perverting
learning
New National Qualifications
• Build on strengths of current
qualifications
• Maintain current high standards and
credibility
• Better alignment of learning &
assessment
• Broader range of qualifications
• Maximise progression opportunities
Reminders….
 Qualifications contribute to:
 4 capacities –
Successful learners, confident individuals,
responsible citizens, effective contributors
 Skills for Learning, Life and Work
 Developing Young Workforce
 Raising attainment and closing the gap
 Improving life chances
BTC3– “a senior phase which…
 provides opportunities to obtain qualifications…
 continues to develop the four capacities
 develops skills for learning, skills for life and skills
for work (including career planning skills)….
 has a continuous focus on literacy, numeracy
and health and wellbeing
 has personal support
 supports moving into positive and sustained
destinations beyond school.”
Progression, not separation
 Skills and knowledge in CFE outcomes and
experiences a sound basis for outcomes and
assessment standards in senior phase
 P7 and S3 profiles important part of selfreflection and awareness of achievements: pupils
take their skills, knowledge and aptitude forward
 7 year CFE development programme marked by
continuous evaluation at the end of each year:
teachers must seek continuity for learners
BTC5
diagram
Process of developing new
qualifications
 CFE Management Board
 SQA’s18 design principles
 Involvement of stakeholders – CARGS and
QDTS and Subject Working Groups, Higher
Education, Education Scotland
 IROCCG and EROCCG
 Draft documents out to consultation
Do you climb a Munro in one go?
Rising spiral of difficulty for course
award N1 to Advanced Higher
Very much changed from the single terminal
examination of the past!
 N1to N3 – pass 3 units
 N4 – pass 3 units plus added value unit applying
knowledge and skills from units;
 N5 to AH – pass 3 units plus added value
coursework and usually examination paper/s
against the clock
What is assessment?
• In SQA qualifications, assessment is defined
as the process of evaluating how effectively
learning is occurring.
• It is the process of generating and collecting
evidence of a learner’s attainment of
knowledge and skills, and judging that
evidence against defined standards for formal
certification
Guide to Assessment (2014)
Assessment in the new qualifications
• Course assessment assesses breadth, challenge,
application of skills, knowledge and
understanding (added value) and provides the
basis for grading A-D.
• Units allow candidates to build confidence, are
stepping stone markers of progress
• Pupils need to work consistently over the year,
not cram at the end
• Importance of formative assessment and AIFL
They Learn
I Teach
SQA assesses
Does the curriculum happen to children or with them?
Personalisation and choice/ relevance?
Teacher as leader/ autocrat or facilitator?
A - Subject
Knowledge
and skills
A
B – Teacher
and lecturer
pedagogy
B
C - Qualifications
C
Principles of assessment
Valid
Practicable
Open and flexible
Credible
Reliable
Fair and inclusive
Relevant
Coherent
These should not be an add-on when
developing courses, but integral to them.
Purposes of assessment
Evaluative
Summative
Guidance
Selection
Formative
Monitoring
Qualification/Certification
Do we tend to over-focus on summative?
Unit assessment tasks - variation
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Assignments
Case Studies
Essays
Evidence accumulation
Matching
Multiple Choice
Objective response Oral responses
Practical work
Performance
Projects
Presentations
Portfolios
Selected response
Short answer questions
Assessing added value
For Course assessment and the assessment of
the National 4 Added Value Units, there are
seven agreed assessment methods which gives
greater consistency to assessment approaches.:
Assignment
Case Study
Practical Activity
Performance
Portfolio
Project
Question Paper/Test of Knowledge and
Understanding
Teacher roles…..
PGDE students have deep subject knowledge
but limited pedagogical knowledge
Need to respond to children’s social and
emotional needs
Collaboration with colleagues departmentally
and corporately
Know SQA qualifications for your subject – how
levels make different and progressive demands
GTCS Standard for Career-Long
Professional Learning
The key areas of career-long professional learning are:
(i) Pedagogy, learning and subject knowledge;
(ii) Curriculum and assessment;
(iii) Enquiry and research;
(iv) Educational contexts and current debates in policy,
education and practice;
(v) Sustaining and developing professional learning;
(vi) Learning for sustainability
Understanding Standards and QA
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Events for authority subject nominees
Events for subject staff November – February
Think of verification as educational MOT
Round 1 – units up to Higher – published
Round 2 – coursework and N4 Added Value unit
Internal verification toolkit, not mandatory
General support for staff
• Website reorganised some time back – each subject
area structured the same
• SQA Secure – password from SQA co-ordinator but
has terms and conditions attached
•Assessment Support materials (Packs 1-3, coursework)
• Understanding Standards materials used at events
• Centre-produced Prior Verified Materials
• Sign up for monthly newsletter
Closing comments
• Committed and well- qualified teaching staff BUT
• Do all colleagues and prospective teachers model the
4 capacities we seek in our young people?
• Importance of reflection, adjustment of practice and
innovation in senior phase but also S1-3 and in liaison
with primary colleagues (P5-S3 a faultline?)
• Knowing where pupils are and helping them achieve
their potential – “no child left behind”
•Hope that these thoughts will prepare you for the
contributions of other colleagues later today
“The real voyage of discovery consists not
in seeking new landscapes but in having
new eyes.”
Marcel Proust