The DfE have released further changes to the KS1&2 writing assessment frameworks this term. It is inevitable that these will have real impact on students’ knowledge and language acquisition as they reach KS3. Here are 10 amendments with potentially longer lasting impact.
10 changes and their impact:
1. KS1&2: Proof reading
At the end of Year 2, ‘proof reading’ has been added to the ‘greater depth’ level. To achieve this, students will be expected to make simple revisions to their own writing, checking for errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. This continues into KS2.
KS3 impact:
It may be that embedding this practice at such an early age will result in students who are better able to use self-assessment as they move through the primary years. It will largely depend on how much investment individual schools put into this – Will the process be modelled? Will students be expected to do this regularly? Do students get effective feedback to know how and where to look for errors, and what to do when they find them?
2. KS1&2: Secure fit vs. Best fit
Having previously worked from a ‘best fit’* model prior to 2017, there will be a return to this following the attempt at a ‘secure fit’** model in Summer 2017.
*Best fit: T’s make a fair judgment of a S’s ability based on their own knowledge of the student and the work they consistently produce.
**Secure fit: T’s must ensure that S’s have met every single criteria from the assessment framework before claiming they have reached a certain level. The DfE states,
“A pupil’s writing should meet all the statements within the standard at which they are judged. However, teachers can use their discretion to ensure that, on occasion, a particular weakness does not prevent an accurate judgement being made of a pupil’s attainment overall. A teacher’s professional judgement about whether the pupil has met the standard overall takes precedence.”
KS3 impact:
There may be greater variation in the opinion of a collection of pupil’s written work. If you have a number of different feeder schools (some secondaries in London have up to 60 of these…) you may find that students arrive with conflicting grades. Schools are moderated at random to ensure accuracy of assessment is upheld, but there will naturally be some discrepancies as a result of greater flexibility. This will also directly address the fact that many students could not reach ‘greater depth’ last year due to poor spelling/handwriting.
3. KS1&2: Writing Conventions
Students will continue to learn writing conventions of different styles and genres. This includes knowing that an autobiography requires first person narrative, in contrast to 3rd person narrative for a biography.
4. KS1&2: Literary Devices
Teachers are expected to embed the explicit teaching of literary techniques such as similes, metaphors and analogies in their teaching of reading and writing.
5. KS1&2: Awareness of Reader/Author’s Intentions
Students are expected to comment on the impact of certain words and phrases chosen by the author and suggest what effect they may have on the reader.
KS3 impact: points 3-5
Teachers may consider revising their approach to tackling these areas above, reviewing how these are currently mapped out within the KS3 curriculum. It may be that KS3 Leads explore ways to dig deeper into some of these concepts if there is already a surface level understanding. It’s vital that KS3 leaders are mapping their own plans against the KS2 expectations in order to minimise unnecessary overlap, as well as reaching back to ensure students are recalling knowledge learnt previously.
6. KS1&2: Increased use of dictionaries
The use of dictionaries has now been added as an explicit statement on the 2018
writing assessment.
KS3 impact:
Students may reach KS3 with greater familiarity of a dictionary – and how they work. Students are sometimes presented with a dictionary or thesaurus at KS3 unable to locate the words they need, having not been shown explicitly how to use one. This addition to the framework may reduce issues around this at KS3.
7. KS1&2: Greater emphasis on composition
Having moved away from a focus on composition in 2017, the DfE have returned to this point for 2018. Students will be required to produce pieces of writing that contain an element of style once again – rather than working solely to a clinical list.
KS3 impact:
Students who may have reached expected standard or greater depth as a result of their ability to meet each piece of criteria on a checklist last year will now need to demonstrate that they can write with style. This may have direct impact on students who are tutored for grammar schools, or EAL students who can use a ‘subordinate clause’ or a ‘fronted adverbial’ but continue to find the syntax of regular sentences particularly difficult.
8. KS1&2: Reduced focus on SPaG in the writing assessment*
In combination with the point above, it seems as though the DfE have realised that the ‘recipe’ model of writing they had moved towards might not be the best answer after all. In ensuring written pieces contain a checklist of certain features with such precise specifications, students are losing the ability to write with style and flair, thus churning out cohorts of students who use endless amounts of extended noun phrases but only produce bland, clinical pieces of work. *Students will still be required to complete the discrete spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) test.
KS3 impact:
Students may arrive to KS3 able to use subject terminology to identify SPaG techniques, but less able to apply them to their own writing. It may reveal that students can demonstrate their understanding of such tools in a discrete way on demand, but less able to embed them. This will be largely dependent on the approach of individual schools.
9. KS1&2: The DfE are exploring comparative judgment
In the DfE’s ‘Government Consultation Response‘ document to Primary Assessment
(Sept 2017) it states,
“A significant number of respondents were interested in the potential of comparative judgement as a method for assessing writing. We know that there is promising work taking place amongst the sector to explore the use of comparative judgement in the assessment of writing, notably the Sharing Standards pilot run by No More Marking. We were encouraged by the results of this year’s pilot, which involved 199 schools. We will work with No More Marking to evaluate larger pilots in the near future, to explore the potential of comparative judgement in the assessment system.”
KS3 impact:
These exciting developments in comparative judgment (see the work of @daisychristo and her team) may have direct impact on assessment at KS2, changing the entire process of transition from KS2 to KS3. It makes you wonder whether there will be opportunity here to reduce the vast chasm between primaries and secondaries, promoting greater collaboration of assessment in the best interests of our students.
10. KS1&2: The DfE are exploring local peer moderation
In the same document mentioned above, the DfE mention that they are looking into a local clusters model for peer-to-peer moderation. The consultation says,
“Many respondents expressed interest in a peer-to-peer model of moderation that would involve schools working together in local clusters, overseen by a local moderator. It was felt that this approach could further encourage the sharing of best practice, and support teachers’ professional development on moderation. To explore this model, we intend to run a small-scale pilot in the 2017 to 2018 academic year.”
KS3 impact:
As with point 9, we may see these models cascade beyond KS2 if results from the pilot stage look successful and methods are deemed fit for purpose. More information is due to be released later this academic year.
References:
DfE Consultation Response:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/644871/Primary_assessment_consultation_response.pdf
Shareen Mayers:
http://rsassessment.com/2017/09/27/9-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-ks1-and-ks2-teacher-assessment-framework/
Comparative Judgment:
https://www.nomoremarking.com/
https://twitter.com/daisychristo
KS2 Teacher Assessment Framework:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/647107/2017_to_2018_teacher_assessment_frameworks_at_the_end_of_key_stage_2_PDFA.pdf
KS2 Exemplar Writing Materials:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2018-teacher-assessment-exemplification-ks2-english-writing
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