ADSBM Module 2: Measuring School Performance

ADSBM Module 2: Measuring School Performance

Activities Log

Module 2: Measuring school performance

Each module, and unit within it, contains a series of learning activities. These are designed to help you meet the assessment requirements and learning outcomes for the module. The activities are not compulsory, and are non-contributory in terms of the formal assessment. As you progress through each module you will need to decide whether your learning will be advanced through completion of a specific activity. Some learning activities also involve a choice, such as focusing on a specific area of study relevant to your organisational setting.

Pupils' achievement: the standards that they reach and their progress is always at the heart of self-evaluation. It is a key element of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda..

The school understands how well its pupils are doing because it rigorously tracks the personal development and academic progress of individuals, particular groups and cohorts of pupils. In this way, the school identifies problems at an early stage and acts on them swiftly to counteract underachievement, poor behaviour and unsatisfactory attitudes to learning.

The school is outward looking and seeks to analyse the value it adds to its pupils' education by comparing the impact of its work with that of other schools.

The school identifies other successful schools in comparable circumstances and looks carefully at their practice in order to provide a benchmark for what it is doing. It values a third-party view of the school's strengths, weaknesses and key priorities for improvement.

The approach to review and improvement planning is systematic and structured, ensuring that it is well-paced throughout the school year and integral to the school's management system.

The school has simple day-to-day processes in place that are not overly bureaucratic. These processes allow it to integrate, within the cycle of school improvement planning and review, performance management, planning for professional development and assessment and target-setting for pupils' academic and personal development.

The school's management system allows a good range of telling evidence to be collected, analysed and evaluated. This enables the school to identify what steps it needs to take to meet the needs of individuals, groups and cohorts of pupils.

The school routinely monitors academic standards, progress and personal development, and teaching, learning and other aspects of provision to evaluate the extent to which it is adding to pupils' education, well-being and care. The monitoring is linked to evaluation and the identification of priorities for improvement.

Consultation helps the school to evaluate the impact of its provision against what it intended to achieve. The school seeks the views of its SIP and, where relevant, stakeholders, advisory staff from National Strategies and other external agencies, although not all at once.

It is up to the school, staff and governors to decide who to consult, why and when it would gain most from gathering the perspectives of others.

Areas for improvement are prioritised on the basis of their impact on the outcomes identified in the ECM agenda.

The school has long-term strategic aims while focusing on a few short-term, annual, operational priorities. It keeps a careful eye on the impact the actions it takes have on both long- and short-term priorities. Initiatives are limited in number. This allows time for them to become thoroughly established and for change to be managed effectively.

Activity 1: The role of assessment and evaluation in school accountability systems

Download and read the following OECD report:
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007, Evaluation and assessment frameworks for improving school outcomes: common policy challenges. Paris: OECD

This is available at February 2013]

The report seeks to address this overarching question:
“How can assessment and evaluation policies work together more effectively to improve student outcomes in primary and secondary schools?”
Summarise the key challenges for policy-makers set out in the report under 5 key headings:

Governance and implementation
Student assessment
Teacher evaluation
School evaluation
System evaluation

Pupils' achievement: the standards that they reach and their progress is always at the heart of self-evaluation. It is a key element of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda..

The school is outward looking and seeks to analyse the value it adds to its pupils' education by comparing the impact of its work with that of other schools.

The approach to review and improvement planning is systematic and structured, ensuring that it is well-paced throughout the school year and integral to the school's management system.

The school's management system allows a good range of telling evidence to be collected, analysed and evaluated. This enables the school to identify what steps it needs to take to meet the needs of individuals, groups and cohorts of pupils.

Consultation helps the school to evaluate the impact of its provision against what it intended to achieve. The school seeks the views of its SIP and, where relevant, stakeholders, advisory staff from National Strategies and other external agencies, although not all at once.

It is up to the school, staff and governors to decide who to consult, why and when it would gain most from gathering the perspectives of others.

Areas for improvement are prioritised on the basis of their impact on the outcomes identified in the ECM agenda.

Activity 2: Analysing key drivers behind the Coalition Government’s amendments to systems of school accountability

Refer to Section 6 ‘Accountability’ in the Department for Education, 2010, The Importance of Teaching: the schools white paper. London: DfE.
Available at [accessed February 2013]
What rationale is given for the amendments to systems school accountability proposed in this section of the White Paper?
What is the Government seeking to achieve through the proposed changes?
Summarise these as a series of bullet-points.

Pupils' achievement: the standards that they reach and their progress is always at the heart of self-evaluation. It is a key element of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda..

The school is outward looking and seeks to analyse the value it adds to its pupils' education by comparing the impact of its work with that of other schools.

The approach to review and improvement planning is systematic and structured, ensuring that it is well-paced throughout the school year and integral to the school's management system.

The school's management system allows a good range of telling evidence to be collected, analysed and evaluated. This enables the school to identify what steps it needs to take to meet the needs of individuals, groups and cohorts of pupils.

Consultation helps the school to evaluate the impact of its provision against what it intended to achieve. The school seeks the views of its SIP and, where relevant, stakeholders, advisory staff from National Strategies and other external agencies, although not all at once.

It is up to the school, staff and governors to decide who to consult, why and when it would gain most from gathering the perspectives of others.

Areas for improvement are prioritised on the basis of their impact on the outcomes identified in the ECM agenda.

Activity 3: Researching key elements of the Coalition Government’s changes to systems of school accountability

Select 2 or 3 of the following key elements of particular relevance for your school setting:

Curriculum and assessment
Performance tables
Publication of information
Ofsted inspection
Floor standards
School-self evaluation
Support for school improvement

Research these selected areas to identify:

The rationale behind the changes;
The operational details of the changes;
The potential implications for your school setting

Pupils' achievement: the standards that they reach and their progress is always at the heart of self-evaluation. It is a key element of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda..

The school is outward looking and seeks to analyse the value it adds to its pupils' education by comparing the impact of its work with that of other schools.

The approach to review and improvement planning is systematic and structured, ensuring that it is well-paced throughout the school year and integral to the school's management system.

The school's management system allows a good range of telling evidence to be collected, analysed and evaluated. This enables the school to identify what steps it needs to take to meet the needs of individuals, groups and cohorts of pupils.

Consultation helps the school to evaluate the impact of its provision against what it intended to achieve. The school seeks the views of its SIP and, where relevant, stakeholders, advisory staff from National Strategies and other external agencies, although not all at once.

It is up to the school, staff and governors to decide who to consult, why and when it would gain most from gathering the perspectives of others.

Areas for improvement are prioritised on the basis of their impact on the outcomes identified in the ECM agenda.

ACTIVITY 4 Evaluating the current systems for lateral accountability in the UK

Refer to Gilbert’s Think-piece on emerging models of school accountability in England, and characteristics of a self-improving school system.

Gilbert, C, 2012,Towards a self-improving system: the role of school accountability. Nottingham, NCSL
[accessed February 2013]

What is your professional experience of the kinds of models for lateral accountability that Gilbert is describing?

To what extent have you seen these kinds of models developing in your locality?

What further developments are needed in your view?

Activity 5: Initial analysis of best practice in school self-evaluation processes
Read the report: Office for Standards in Education, 2006, Best practice in self-evaluation: A survey of schools, colleges and local authorities, London, Ofsted.
Available at: [accessed February 2013]
How well does your school match up to Ofsted's description of best practice in self-evaluation?
Use the following template (Table 5) to arrive at your own appraisal of the effectiveness of the self-evaluation system in your school.
You may be able to complete Table 5 on the basis of your existing knowledge of the process.
Alternatively, you may need to seek out some documentary information at the school.
You may wish to complete this by yourself or you could consult one or more colleagues to gain an insight into their perceptions.
Table 5: Initial analysis of best practice in school: the self-evaluation processes
Best practice in self-evaluation criteria / Are these features exemplified in your school?
Score 1-10 (where 10 is a high score) / Are you engaged with the process?
Score 1-10 (where 10 is a high score)
Headteachers/principals give priority to and lead self-evaluation personally.
Self-evaluation is integral to the culture of the organisation. People at all levels are committed to it and fully involved.
Self-evaluation is a continuous process, governed by the needs of the institution rather than the requirements of external bodies.
Self-evaluation is clearly built into management systems. External inspection supports but does not replace internal review. It provides, however, the main external source of validation.
An increasingly sophisticated use of a widening range of performance indicators enhances the quality of self-evaluation.
Rigorous analysis of strengths and weaknesses, particularly of teaching and learning, leads to the clear identification of priorities and strategies for improvement.
Sharply focused monitoring, based on clear indicators, helps institutions to measure the extent to which their work improves outcomes for children and young people.
The views of those who receive services, particularly learners but also parents and carers, are actively sought and influence decision-making.

Prepare a short statement to summarise the current strengths and weaknesses of your school's self- evaluation processes.

Pupils' achievement: the standards that they reach and their progress is always at the heart of self-evaluation. It is a key element of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda..

The school is outward looking and seeks to analyse the value it adds to its pupils' education by comparing the impact of its work with that of other schools.

The approach to review and improvement planning is systematic and structured, ensuring that it is well-paced throughout the school year and integral to the school's management system.