The Mysteries of APP

In response to a request for help by @oliverquinlan on twitter I shall try to write a short explanation of the APP process. Did I use short explanation and APP in the same sentence??? I'm going to write this as a beginners guide - so if you're really good, please read on and correct me by adding comments!

Ok. Here we go.

APP is part of a set of assessment tools that can be used by teachers. It is worth noting that they are not statutory. A school doesn't have to use them. However, if your school is using them as part of their assessment strategy and policy then as an individual teacher you should use the materials. The three stages of assessment are:

1. Formative assessment - ongoing day by day assessment, which is most commonly referred to as Assessment for Learning (AfL).

2. Periodic assessment - this is an assessment carried out at regular intervals during the school year. It acts as a judgment on progress, but can also be used to diagnose next steps in learning. In the last few years the National Strategies and QCA (now QCDA) have developed the Assessing Pupil Progress suit of materials.

3. Transitional assessment - this is an assessment made at a transition point. The most notable transition points are at the end of Key Stages, but a transition could as easily be between two year groups when a new teacher is taking responsibility for the learning of the class. At the end of Key Stage 2 the transitional assessment is supported by National Tests (SATs). Best practice in transitional assessment is moving towards robust and moderated teacher assessment, although at the end of each year many schools use Optional Tests (supplied by QCDA - however there will be no more optional tests written as QCDA move nearer to closure).

APP - what, when and how?

There are many urban myths that have already developed about APP. It is really important at this point to point out the following:

• It is not statutory (I think I already said that). Schools choose to use it. Since the election of May 2010, the new DfE are at pains to emphasise this point. There is no active discouragement for using the materials though).

• Where a school does choose to use APP, there are no set rules about how often it should be done, how many children should be assessed, or how the process should be managed.

• It is not recommended that a school or teacher should build up a portfolio of work similar to the Standards Files for every child in their class (quickest way to a nervous breakdown).

• The Assessing Pupil Progress materials should support Teacher Assessment, and professional judgment.

Ok, that said what should you do? Please note, this is my advice, and because of the points above it may not fit exactly with how your school is using the materials. Again, I am assuming that you are new to APP in writing this.

First of all, find out if your school has an APP leader. If so, check the advice below with them, and ask for their support in finding your way around the materials. Also, find out if your school is focussing on using one subject (reading, writing, speaking and listening, maths or science) or if they are more advanced in their use. If the materials and methodology are new to you, find out if you are expected to use all subjects or if you should start with just one.

I would then recommend getting to now the assessment foci in intimate detail. Each set of materials is broken down into assessment foci - link to assessment materials here (e.g. writing is broken down into 8 assessment foci (AFs) AF 1 is "write imaginative, interesting and thoughtful texts", AF 5 is "vary sentences for clarity, purpose and effect"). Each AF then has assessment criteria written for each level from Level 1 to Level 8. Within an AF you should be able to identify 'strands' going through the levels.

One activity that supports the development of this familiarity is to attack the AF with a set of different coloured highlighter pens. Find 'strands' and highlight them in different colours. Don't worry if you don't find a criteria statement in each level. When they were written, there may not have been a progression step in the missing level.

It is worth noting at this point that there are no guidelines about the strands that you would use, and it is of little consequence if your strands were slightly different from a colleague's. The purpose of finding the strands is to familiarise yourself with the assessment focus. The more familiar you are, the more quickly and accurately you will be able to make your judgments of pupil's work.
The next thing I would recommend doing is to use the Standards Files to rehearse your skills in using the assessment criteria. The Standards Files are a collection of work from a single pupil that have been used to make a standardised judgement. They give a Level based on a commentary by the teacher and evidence of work. Having been involved personally with the development of Standards Files I can assure you that the moderation process was rigorous and intensive!
Within the Standards Files section there are Training Files. These contain pupil work, teacher commentary on the context of the work but no judgements. Use the work and the Assessment grids to identify which AF and level criteria are evidenced by each piece of work. By using all the pieces of evidence, you will have highlighted or marked off a range of criteria in each of the AFs. At this point you are ready to make a judgment on the levelness of the work.
The Level is arrived at by making a best fit judgment. This is quite a visual judgment. You will arrive at a level, and then refine as low, secure, high (often reported as c, b or a mini-levels for pupil tracking purposes). A low (c) would be given if criteria have been met in most or all of the AFs, but less than half of the criteria overall. A secure (b) is when the majority of criteria in each AF have been evidenced. A high (a) would be awarded where almost all criteria have been met in all AFs, but not enough have been met in the next level up to justify the awarding of a low level at the higher level.
It sounds an inexact science, but as you begin to make assessments it does become clearer, and as you become more practiced, making the sub level judgment is much easier.
Having made a judgment against the evidence provided in the Training File, pull up the standardised assessment. Don't worry if your judgment doesn't match the level awarded in the training file on your first attempt. This is a good point to rehearse the process of moderation. Find a colleague, and talk through the differences between your judgment and that made in the training file. This discussion deepens understanding of the strands, and what type of evidence might allow you to assess against specific criteria. The level awarded in the training file is robust and has been very rigorously moderated at a national level!!
Next – start gathering your evidence for making your judgment. Remember the evidence can come from a variety of sources:
1. written work in books
2. observations of pupil conversations
3. videos of pupils working
4. notes made in peer reviews
5. things you have observed and store in your preferred method (mine is in my head as I hate writing things down!)
6. etc. etc.

Remember that you should not make a judgment based on one piece of work. APP judgments should be made against a range of evidence compiled between the two assessment windows (e.g. May and October).

You do not have to build a big portfolio of evidence for every pupil. As I said earlier, that is a quick way to insanity. However, one of the great strengths of APP is the moderation process. Your school is likely to have a moderation process in place at a set interval, and it is useful to have some evidence for a small number of focus pupils.

It is at this point that the mythology about 6 pupils comes in. You will have responsibility for ensuring that all pupils in your class make progress, and it is reasonable to expect that you can make a level judgment for all pupils. However, these judgments are based on your professional expertise, which will have been moderated by the evidence presented for your focus pupils.

Wow. That's clear as mud isn't it!!!

Let me summarise:
• find out your school's expectations for using APP
• find out who the APP lead is (they should have received some LA training)
• decide on your focus children (some advice from the previous teacher might help with this)
• familiarise yourself with the Assessment Foci – what strands flow through the AF from L1 to L5 (and beyond if necessary)
• use a Training File (link here) to rehearse using the AFs
• share your judgments of the training file with a colleague. Try to work out what the differences are between your judgments and the training files.
• Begin to collect evidence for your focus children (but don't make a Standards file. Short notes about context that evidence has been gathered in might make the moderation process easier)
• At the assessment point (determined by the school) use your evidence to make a level judgment, and moderate with colleagues.
• Use your professional judgement to make an assessment for the children in your class.
• Use your judgments and criteria to support deciding on next steps for the learning of individuals, groups and the class as a whole (looking for trends and patterns in barriers to awarding particular levels / AFs).

Take it steady. Learning how to use APP materials is not a quick fix. If you invest time into using them efficiently and effectively the rewards will be big – both for you and the learners in your charge.



Good luck.