EARLY YEARSGetting the measure of

ASPECTS Pre-school Assessment

PIPS Baseline for Reception

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The CEM difference (we know what works)What sets CEM systems apart is their pedigree. They work in the classroom because they are based on evidence from over 30 years of scientific research as part of Durham University, a World Top 100 university. You can rely on our independence as a not-for-profit organisation dedicated solely to improving teaching and learning for children and young people.

Every year CEM systems measure the attainment and progress of over a million pupils from age 3 to 19 in around 70 countries. The results of assessments give teachers a broad and accurate picture of a class’s ability range. This enables them to provide appropriate learning opportunities for the level at which a child is working. For school leaders the feedback is a rich source of data for planning.

The earlier you can assess childrenthe better you can help them to achieve.

Support and trainingTo help you administer CEM assessments we provide manuals for each system. Then to enable you to derive the most from your data we offer support online and by email. We are always happy to explain feedback and what it means directly over phone. We also organise in-school training and teacher conferences both in Durham or on site and at centres around the world.

Through such constant contact we learn from schools’ experience of using CEM systems. This refreshes the fund of knowledge built up since we pioneered evidence-based measurement in 1981 and enables our team, who include qualified teachers, to develop even better products - more cost-effective for staff, more enjoyable for pupils and make a positive difference to their prospects.

A group of children fresh to the world of the classroom are unknown quantities. A teacher needs to get an idea of what individuals already know and can do as a starting point to help them develop their potential. But how?

Using experience and observation the teacher gradually builds up a picture of their capabilities. Although valuable, the process is of course subjective, and can take several weeks. To reinforce teachers’ insights the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) provides comprehensive, fast to use and reliable methods to measure what matters:

• ASPECTS Pre-school Assessment for Nursery up to age 4

• PIPS Baseline for Reception up to age 5

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When children enter Nursery education it’s a challenge to assess what they know or can do regarding language and maths or who they are as personalities. ASPECTS quickly makes their capabilities clear. Designed for children aged three at the earliest. The ASPECTS (Assessment Profile on Entry for Children and Toddlers) system is based on research on the value of establishing an objective baseline for key educational areas.

• Language – concepts of reading and print; letters, words and sentence identification

• Maths – concepts of maths (bigger/smaller, taller/shorter), number recognition, counting and simple sums

• Phonological awareness – repeating unusual words

and a friendly voice asking the questions. The child answers by pointing to one of the options or saying the answer. The teacher records the child’s response by selecting the answer on the screen and the program moves on to the next stage.

Computer adaptiveA special feature of ASPECTS is its computer adaptive design. That means it will continue on to new pages and ask questions until the child begins to get a few answers wrong, then it continues the story but does not ask more difficult questions. Thus the level at which the child feels comfortable is settled upon as the baseline for planning further learning. Children find it fun and are never stretched to the point of feeling failures.

The whole assessment takes around 20 minutes per child. Because it happens one-to-one, the process gives the member of staff the opportunity to engage with and get to know children early on in their education. There is no marking or paperwork involved. The program records everything.

The PSED and motor development elements of ASPECTS covers several areas of development. For each one the teacher observes the child around the nursery and selects from five alternatives the description which best fits the child’s behaviour. For motor development, the pupil performs simple actions.

ASPECTSPre-School Assessment. Now you can provide what’s right for the child right from the start.

Schools can also opt to measure• PSED - personal, social and emotional

development

• Motor development

Once ASPECTS has provided an accurate view of the spread of abilities, the teacher can confidently address the needs of individual children and organise pupils of similar attainment into groups to work together on appropriate learning activities.

Easy to use, fun to doTo assess early numeracy and literacy skills a teacher or another trained adult sits with individual pupils as the ASPECTS computer program asks them about a series of pictures on screen, for example “How many jars are there?” The presentation uses storybook style graphics

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“The idea of assessments that adapted the level of the questions to a child’s previous answers, while also offering key diagnostic indicators for reading and mathematics, as well as data for tracking seemed too good to be true.”

Meath Green Primary School

Feeding back pupils’ progressAs a measure of how children have progressed during their time in Nursery they take the ASPECTS follow-up assessments near the end of the last term. If the nursery is attached to the school, the follow-up can take the form of the PIPS Baseline assessment. This saves having to run this test at the end of Nursery.

When the ASPECT assessments are complete the school emails the class data to Durham or uploads it to the school’s own secure areas on the CEM website. Our system immediately generates scores for language and maths.

The feedback is made available on the CEM website as charts and tables for the class showing what each child has achieved in language and maths over their time in nursery. It also compares their performance with the same

age group in CEM’s large national sample. Both the current teacher of this cohort of children and their next teacher in Reception can see which pupils are falling behind, excelling or coasting.

More broadly the graphs reveal trends and patterns which can help with future lesson planning and direction for the whole nursery. We also supply similar charts for motor development and PSED profiles.

Count on the benefits• Easy to use, reliable, robust and proven

• Provides objective, independent baseline analysis

• Enables teachers to pinpoint those with specific needs or who are gifted and talented

• Supports practitioners’ own observations

• Measures hard to observe ability areas

• Informs planning

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How a child develops during the first year of school is crucial in determining progress throughout their school career. This has long been a truth universally acknowledged in the world of education. But not until 1991 did an objective, evidence-based system appear for measuring children’s capabilities when they first come to school.

Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPS) pioneered by CEM, was a milestone in educational assessment. It remains the benchmark. Used in schools worldwide, PIPS has proved to have very high reliability when children are tested at the start the year and re-tested at the end. It is also an excellent predictor as validated by measurements of progress later in school.

Adapts to ability levelThe questions progressively get more difficult until the child has got a few wrong, then it moves on to the next section of the assessment. This happens because PIPS is computer adaptive. It identifies the level at which the child feels comfortable as the baseline for planning further learning.

The whole assessment takes up only 20 minutes or so per pupil. For the child it’s like a game. For the teacher it provides a one-to-one opportunity to get to know each new pupil early on in their schooling. There is no marking or paperwork involved. The program records everything. Then CEM does the processing and generates the feedback.

Assesses what matters over timePIPS Baseline is made up of assessments which our research shows to be accurate predictors of later educational achievement - maths, reading, phonological awareness and attitudes to school. These are administered in the first few weeks and as a follow-up in the last weeks along with optional assessments for PSED (Personal, Social and Emotional Development), short term memory and behaviour. Scores for the original test are compared with follow-up scores in value-added charts showing each child’s progress. The version for Scottish Schools (PIPS Primary 1 Baseline) caters for differences in the national curriculum, but broadly speaking covers the same ground.

PIPSBaseline and follow-up for reception. A solid platform for planning and predicting children’s progress.

Quick, easy and accurateAt the start of Reception it’s a priority to find out what the different children already know and can do. The teacher can then plan lessons and organise the class into different ability groups. This can take time and involve value judgements. PIPS Baseline makes the process quick, easy and accurate.

To assess early numeracy and literacy skills a teacher or another trained adult sits with individual pupils as the PIPS computer program asks them about a series of pictures on screen. The presentation uses storybook style graphics and a friendly voice asking the questions. The child answers by pointing to one of the options or saying the answer. The teacher records the child’s response by touching the screen and the program moves on to the next page.

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Reading Vocabulary is assessed by identifying objects within a picture (Show me a carrot, a butterfly, a yacht etc.) Children’s concept of reading is gauged by identifying some writing, a letter, a sentence etc. Reading skills are revealed by letter and word recognition and comprehension.

Maths Understanding of mathematical concepts is covered by questions about objects on screen – bigger/smaller, taller/shorter. Other tests are about number identification, shape recognition, problem solving and simple sums.

Phonological Awareness This precursor to reading asks children to relate words to sounds by hearing and repeating unusual or nonsense words and asking them to find words that rhyme.

Attitudes To find out about children’s early impression of school they are asked about

various aspects such as “Do you like listening to stories?” Then they select either a sad face, a smiley face or a neutral one.

PSED The program presents eleven areas (e.g. “Adjustment to School environment”) each with five alternative statements. Based on day-to-day observation the teacher click on the one that best fits each child in turn.

Short term memory The program shows a series of coloured circles on the screen. The child is asked the order in which they appeared on the screen.

Behaviour At the end of the year the teacher marks the point on different scales (e.g. carelessness) which fits their observation of each child, helping to identify those with persistent problems, such as hyperactivity.

The value is in the feedbackWhen the PIPS Baseline assessments are complete the school emails the class data to Durham or uploads it to the CEM website. Our system generates scores for each child immediately. Then we process the information into charts which give a picture of each child’s performance in a class perspective for reading and maths over their time in Reception. We also supply PSED and behaviour profiles. In total the feedback comprises:

• Standardised scores for reading, mathematics and phonological awareness

• A box and whisker plot showing the group’s range of abilities. The majority of children are clustered in the centre “box” with high and low performers along the “whiskers” on either side

• A scatter plot showing how much progress a child has made compared with others with similar starting points

• Progress charts for reading and mathematics comparing the children’s and class’s attainment with the same age group in CEM’s large national sample.

• Predictions of the chances of each child achieving particular National Curriculum levels at the end of Key Stage 1

• An indicator of their attitude to school

Given this varied landscape of data, the class teacher can see which pupils are falling behind, excelling or coasting. They can then tailor activities to individual needs. The Key Stage 1 teacher inherits this information and gains a head start in educating the cohort. More broadly the school can identify trends and patterns to inform plans to improve future outcomes.

A unique set of benefits• Proven over more than 30 years to provide

a highly accurate baseline to gauge later progress

• No other system rivals its robustness in assessing cognitive development in just 20 minutes

• Test/retest reliability rating of 0.98 for maths and reading

• Excellent predictive validity – correlates at 0.68 level with age 11 assessments

• Motivating and enjoyable experience for young children

• Quick transfer of classroom data for processing into clear and comprehensive feedback reports

• Computer-adaptive tests provide a customised test for each pupil

• Well established, stable testing platform

“In the primary school we run both the ASPECTS for Preschool and the PIPS Baseline test for Reception. This has been an invaluable tool as it offers insight into the type of children making up our initial intake. There are many positive aspects to using CEM assessments:• They are easy to administer, particularly the online versions.• Data is returned relatively quickly.• The assessments are research driven so instil a confidence in their accuracy.• The support from the staff in Durham is superb.• Teachers, learning support, subject leaders, assessment managers have data for

prediction, tracking and identification of needs.• Value- added analysis”.The Alice Smith School, Kuala Lumpur

www.cem.org

For more information about these assessments,

telephone 0191 334 4223

or email primary.support@cem.dur.ac.uk