JointheSSTA

Standardised Assessments Update - Members' Bulletin

Standardised Assessments Update

Overview

  • Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA)
  • Assessment contract with Australian Council for Education Research (ACER)
  • Funded by the Scottish Government
  • To be taken at P1, P4, P7 and S3
  • Trial involved 9,000 assessments in 66 schools in 5 local authorities
  • To replace current Local Authority assessments
  • Aligned to CfE and Bench Marks
  • To assess skills in Reading, Writing and Numeracy
  • A diagnostic report will be produced that will contribute to the professional judgement of the teacher
  • An online adaptive assessment
  • Inclusive for all pupils
  • A one-off assessment
  • Assessments are flexible and can be undertaken at any point in year and can be conducted by class or by an individual pupil
  • Timing of the assessment can be determined by Local Authority

Training

  • Training to be provided by Scholar
  • Training and professional development for teachers at P1, P4, P7 and S3
  • Training in the use of the ACER system and professional development in interpreting standardised assessment data
  • On-line and help desk support provided by TWIG
  • Information accessed through SEEMIS or Glow
  • Due to go live on 21 August 2017

Issues

  • Some Local Authorities are replacing existing assessment regimes with the SNSA but some are intending to continue current arrangements
  • It may be possible to translate existing data into the new SNSA system
  • Assessments at other ages are being considered by Local Authorities

SSTA concerns

  • All others assessments will need to be funded by Local Authorities in preference to other education priorities (i.e. funding to schools)
  • Teacher Workload - adequate time for training and implementation needs to be included in the schools Working Time Agreement