
Every year, a new cohort of students prepares for their International GCSE, AS and A-level exams. Each individual has their own aspirations – like enrolling at a particular university, further study of a particular subject or entering the workplace – and all have their own unique requirements for success. But as they prepare in the classroom, how can they – and you as their teachers – best keep track of where they are and what they need to do to achieve their goals?
Data often gets something of a bad press in education, often seen as a dehumanising force that reduces real, living students to faceless numbers. However, I think these perceptions miss the point of its use; it is precisely by momentarily putting the ‘people’ to one side that we discover if any students have been overlooked and how we can improve the progress of all.
About the author
Jamie Kirkaldy, Head of Teaching and Learning Support, supports all schools delivering OxfordAQA qualifications. He was previously Head of English at an Oxford comprehensive school.
Recording the right information for student progress
Teachers have been recording information on student performance since, well, forever. Test scores, marks and grades are all dutifully recorded in the teacher’s mark book – be it paper or digital – and presented to students and parents at regular intervals. But are we recording the right information? Are we storing it in the right way? And, most importantly, are we sharing it in a way that enables students to get a better score, mark or grade the next time?
Viewing student data as a starting point for a discussion on strengths and weaknesses, rather than a final assessment of their ability, is key to understanding the role data can play in enabling student progress. To achieve this, it is essential to first break down the information you receive from their work into component parts – which could be the Assessment Objectives, particular skill areas or elements of curriculum content. When marking, the teacher needs to assign different ‘scores’ to different aspects of the assessment, so that they can demonstrate to the student which areas they are strong in and where they need to improve. This is much more empowering than simply receiving an arbitrary measurement of their overall ability.
This is why I contend that data isn’t cold or impersonal, but exactly the reverse. No two students are the same, so a single measurement of student progress is too vague to be of use. Once students can see why they are at their current level – and, crucially, where they can make gains – they can work towards success in a way that works for them, not the student sitting next to them. This way, students can focus their efforts where they are needed most, instead of wasting time practicing things they already do well.
Sharing data to motivate your students
A big part of the successful usage of data is shared data tracking, where both teachers and students can access the same information – often in the same format – and therefore have meaningful discussions about effective next steps to improve their progress.
When I was an English teacher, I had a particular method for this. My mark book had a list of students down one side and a list of tasks across the top, split into the various components I wanted to measure in each one. This normally related to the Assessment Objectives, so that there was consistency from task to task. I would then input the marks students got for each of those components, as well as their overall mark, and then evaluate these against each student’s personal target.
When evaluating, red meant below target, amber on track and green exceeding their target. This technique is known as a RAG rating.
Each student had a duplicate version of this in the front of their textbook, but with the Assessment Objectives at the top and the tasks down the left-hand side. They would colour in their RAG performance for each Assessment Objective on each task, meaning they could accurately track how they were getting on, and where their personal strengths and weaknesses lay.
Crucially, I didn’t give students the actual numbers or grades they received in each individual task, just the RAG rating. As such, students weren’t demotivated by comparing themselves to other students in terms of the marks they were receiving. A weaker student might be working hard and exceeding their (lower) target grade, and this hard work would be recognised and rewarded. On the other hand, a complacent higher ability student might be achieving higher marks but underperforming against their own targets. This way, every deserving student would get their pat on the back – not just those at the very top of the class.
Data as a collaborative tool for student progress
This kind of tracking student progress can then be extrapolated out to a departmental or even whole-school level, with regular check-ins of how certain groups of students are performing in specific aspects of their courses of study.
Mock exams are an obvious example. Instead of simply recording the overall mark students received, we can break down that information into specific elements and understand where teaching needs to be focused for the most significant impact.
Viewed in this way, data becomes a constructive, collaborative tool that enables us to see the individuality of our students and help them progress in a way that is all about them.
Analysing data with OxfordAQA’s resources
To help you develop your data practice, OxfordAQA provides two key resources. Firstly, our Enhanced Results Analysis (ERA)™ tool provides detailed and customisable analysis of student performance, both at high level and in granular detail. You can also compare within and across classes to identify aspects of successful teaching within your school.
Secondly, our Mock Exam Analysers (available for all our Mathematics and Science qualifications, alongside International GCSE English as a Second Language) enable you to take a closer look at mock exam performance and pinpoint areas for development in time for the live exams.