Reading Time: Approx 3mins
By Mark S. Steed, Director, JESS, Dubai
This week sees thousands of students receiving their GCSE results.
Now is also the time when many anxious parents hope that their children have the best possible exam results that will allow them to progress to sixth form or college, and join the path they hope will take them to university and into successful and fulfilled employment...
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By Sue Holt, Vice Principal, New Cairo British International School
It would be an easy task to list the benefits of working in an international school.
Less easy would be finding ways to meet some of the unexpected and complex challenges that face senior leaders in an international education...
Has the removal of national curriculum levels in England created a broader interest in assessment practices?
The removal of levels back in 2014 caused chaos, confusion and consternation amongst many educators. To some, levels were a secure, reliable, dependable way of scaffolding a child’s journey through school. To others, they represented the limitations of people’s understanding about learning and assessment practice...
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Mark Steed, Director of JESS, Dubai
There is broad agreement in research that effective use of data is vital to school improvement. We know that the effective use of data can promote better teaching and learning through practices such as tracking pupil progress, setting targets, identifying where students need further support, strategic planning and performance management.
Therefore, it stands to reason that there is also a need for school leaders to have high levels of assessment and data skills...
Reading Time: Approx 3mins
How many webpages, teacher forums and parent chat rooms abound with acerbic, defensive and downright despondent comments on the system of accountability in schools?
It’s an understatement to say that the accountability system in England is complex. With schools held under 7 types of accountability (professional, hierarchical, market, contractual, legal, network and participative), it is little wonder it can engender a range of dysfunctional and demoralising side effects...
Video Duration: Approx 42mins
At the end of December, Professor Peter Tymms retired from his role as a Director of CEM.
In 1996, Peter and Professor Carol Taylor-Fitzgibbon brought CEM to Durham University where it grew from a small and focussed research centre to one of the most influential organisations in the field of educational assessment and research – a position that it still holds today...
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Since the early 1990s CEM has offered a baseline assessment for primary schools.
We know it is vital that teachers have access to reliable information throughout reception, to help them make informed decisions so they can transform the academic outcomes of the children they teach...
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By Robert Cooper, IT Manager
If you work in a school, you’ll probably be just about into the rhythm of things with the first half term under your belt.
A new school year is always a busy time for everyone and it can be stressful. Part of that stress can be caused by your school technology not working the way you want; your classroom projector has changed since last term, you can’t print your notes for the next lesson; or your PC starts up on your first day back with an operating system you’ve never seen before...
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By Lydia Cuddy-Gibbs, Head of EYFS, Ark
At last, September has arrived and the start of a new school year. As the Early Years Lead across 23 schools with Early Years settings, I’m excited about opening our doors to new reception pupils across the Ark network.
A big part of my role is to ensure that all our children are assessed carefully and accurately at every stage of their EYFS journey.
To collect data at the start and end of the reception year, schools in the Ark network have been using the BASE assessment from CEM for the last two years...
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There’s plenty to cry ‘unfair’ about in teaching right now.
Your classes are getting bigger; there was no money for decent CPD again this year; and you were given bottom set Year 11 for the fourth year running.
And now the value-added results are in. Negative value-added for those Year 11s again? It’s bad enough that they have not met expected progress, but how can they have actually gone backwards? All that extra work you’ve done. All the lunchtimes you’ve missed for those catch up sessions. You are exhausted and now, it seems, you are a terrible teacher....
Reading Time: Approx 6mins
By Kirsty Younger
CEM wants to hear from you on practical work in science.
Policy and practice rarely stand still in the world of education, and science teaching is no exception. Recent years have seen changes to the way that science subjects are assessed at GCSE and A level in England. Importantly, the assessment methods for practical work in science have changed...