Assessment is the bridge between teaching and learning. When done well, assessment can drive improvement, shape behaviours and maximise student learning. Good assessment means good responsive teaching, and we should use assessments that meet where students are in their learning.
Baseline assessments help teachers and students find out what the student already knows and can do and then help the teacher make decisions about what the best next steps might be.
Using a baseline assessment is the beginning of a journey. Teachers know that it is particularly important to get to know students quickly at key turning points such as:
Take-aways for teachers:
Make sure you get the most value from your baseline assessment by using the insights immediately in your planning and resourcing. Tymms et al (2018) highlight the value of early intervention.
Teachers understand that students have different starting points for entering and moving through the curriculum. A good baseline assessment can show you a student’s starting point and generate feedback for both learners and teachers. The feedback should highlight successes, be integral to future teaching and learning, help teachers ask the right questions, and make the best decisions.
But the value of a baseline goes beyond the starting point. To really make an impact on teaching and learning, teachers can return to the insights from the assessment during the year to check progress, use as motivation, inform conversations with parents or governors, and understand what learning looks like in your school over years.
Take-aways for teachers:
A few good questions to ask to see how well your baseline assessment is supporting teaching and learning are:
‘Faulty’ or inaccurate teacher expectations have been found to be more likely to occur in the earlier years, at the beginning of a school year, and at times of school transitions - i.e. when there has been no time for teachers to really get to know their students and establish the relationship that is so important in understanding how best to guide them on their learning journey.
Research also shows that teachers’ expectations of students make a difference and that student motivation and learning outcomes are affected when teachers express high expectations.
Take-aways for teachers:
A baseline assessment is not a high-stakes test with a focus on the ‘score’ at the end of it. Rather, it focuses on the student’s starting point and helps to strategically set goals and targets that will drive student motivation and future teaching and learning.
Because our baseline assessments focus on the core skills needed for learning, the prediction data available in our secondary assessments provides insights on the capability and potential a student has to achieve in all subjects, regardless of which curriculum is followed.
Take-aways for teachers:
Research shows that students need to be provided with many opportunities to set short-term, specific, and moderately difficult goals in their classroom work. Short-term goals are more motivating than long-term because it is easier to judge progress toward proximal goals.
No single piece of data can tell the whole story of a student’s progress and performance, or about the quality of teaching they are receiving. Using baseline data in conjunction with other data points such as teachers’ observations, prior attainment and end of unit, term or year grades, builds a clearer picture.
Take-aways for teachers:
Data won’t give you all the answers, but it can be used to ask better questions. Understanding how to use data is important. It improves your understanding of assessment, what it can tell you, how it can inform your teaching and ultimately improve learning in your classroom.
A baseline assessment isn't intended to measure everything a student knows and can do but a sample of that knowledge. A baseline assessment can give you the insight it isn’t possible to find out in any other way and then helps you to make better choices for your students.