Thank you everyone for telling us how the Principles have made a difference to your teaching. But what about the alternative Assessment Framework which goes hand in hand with the Principles?
We would love to hear your comments, either by leaving a reply on this blog or by emailing us (lucy.beharrell@education.ox.ac.uk).
Have a look at our proposed AF here:
Speaking and Writing Assessment Framework (revised Jan 13)
Listening and Reading Assessment Framework (revised Jan 13)
The skills focus of the level descriptors follows the Principles, of course, which is great. However, I can see several draw-backs and I am hoping very much that there will be a revised, user-friendly version soon.
1. Despite the glossary, the wording is rather difficult. Few teachers are going to use something they themselves cannot understand at a glance. The linguistics terminology and abbreviations unfortunately puts people off engaging with the important content. The main important point is the use of the levels with my pupils, so a very simplified version would be welcome.
2. As long as many schools are still using NC levels, it would be useful to have 8-9 to avoid MFL grades being even lower than they appear on reports already at the moment. Could the a/b sublevels be turned into levels in their own right? Able pupils in high achieving schools would need to be able to reach level 7/8 at the end of year 9 to not jeopardise uptake at GCSE, while it would be good for a level 5 to be within reach for the least able. If the levels do not correspond to other subjects’ NC levels, teachers would have to use them alongside the NC levels which would be confusing for them, pupils and parents.
3. Could the supporting strands be noted alongside the levels if integration is not possible (I understand that they are just ‘supporting’ and therefore separate)? Again, it makes the assessment criteria more complex to use while many teachers do not have the time to get their heads round anything else apart from the daily madness and initiatives essential for an Ofsted ‘outstanding’.
Dear Alex, many thanks for your comments; v valuable points! Re 2), we already decided to relabel the levels so there is no (or at least less?) confusion with NC levels. Best wishes for now, Heike