Getting the measure of SECONDARY MidYIS for ages 11-14 INSIGHT for ages 13-14 Yellis for ages 14-16
Getting the measure of SECONDARY 2 Getting the measure of SECONDARY 3 How to enable students to make the most of themselves all through Secondary school. Having children working through the questions at their own pace was a distinct advantage as is the interactive and adaptive nature of the questions which meant that weaker children did not feel disheartened when they could not answer the more difficult questions. Conversely the brighter children were able to demonstrate their higher ability by the more challenging questions (some of which challenged me!). Sheila Major, Headteacher, Manor High School, Leicester What is the potential of each student starting on their Secondary education journey? If this basic question can be answered promptly, precisely and objectively, teachers can tailor learning to individual needs and abilities. Then as students move through the school their year-on-year progress can be measured, and strengths or weaknesses can be identified and addressed. When GSCEs approach, if their range of likely grades can be predicted, teaching can be focused on achieving that outcome, or better. Value-added All this information and more will be revealed by CEM Secondary assessments - with ease, accuracy and reliability. When students are assessed using CEM Pre-16 assessments and the results compared to their scores in national tests, the value added over the course of a year, or several years, becomes clear. So rich is the feedback, you can analyse it at the level of any student, year group, department or the whole school. Trends and patterns will emerge to aid planning and decisions on future directions. Objective and practical In Secondary education students tend to be judged subject by subject. The CEM systems go deeper. MidYIS (ages 11-14) and Yellis (ages 14-16) uniquely measure what we call developed ability - students underlying raw learning potential, free of the influence of curriculumbased teaching. To establish a baseline, each student takes a test in four parts - vocabulary, maths, non-verbal and (MidYIS only) skills which contribute to an overall curriculum-free measurement. If you also want to measure specific ability in Mathematics, Reading and Science midway through Secondary you can choose the CEM system that does just that INSIGHT. This feedback from assessments allows teachers to reinforce their own views with objective data and take practical action to enable students to reach their individual potential. 2 3
Getting the measure of SECONDARY 4 Getting the measure of SECONDARY 5 CEM is different So you can make a difference. The Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) provides the means for schools to see how effectively they deliver learning and how they can improve. Remarkably, the results of these internal evaluations correlate strongly with the performance of students in external examinations. Why is it that a measure of general potential can predict the chances of attaining specific GCSE grades? The reason is research. CEM is part of Durham University, a World Top 100 university. It was in the 1980 s that we pioneered value added assessments. Since then we have continued to innovate to improve ease of use, range of feedback and quality of service. Proven worldwide The accuracy and reliability of CEM information systems are validated not only by our own evidence, but by the experience of nearly a third of Secondary schools in the UK and amongst over 3,000 schools worldwide. 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 assess the potential of over a million children in over 70 countries. We are one of the world s leading providers of computer adaptive systems. These automatically adjust the assessment process to a student s level of knowledge so that question difficulty can be targeted at individual ability. Exceptional Support To help you run CEM assessments we provide manuals for each system. Then, to enable you to derive the most benefit from your data we also offer support on the phone and by email. We are always happy to explain feedback and what it means directly over the phone. We also organise in-school training and teacher conferences either in Durham or at schools and centres around the world. Through such constant contact we learn from schools experience of using CEM systems. This refreshes the fund of knowledge and helps our team, who include qualified teachers, to develop even more cost-effective ways to make a positive difference to students prospects. How the CEM Secondary school family works for students and teachers Together MidYIS, Yellis and INSIGHT build up into a detailed profile of individual students as they develop from age 11 to 16 - in terms of underlying learning capability, subject-based performance and attitudes. MidYIS for ages 11-14 MidYIS (Middle Years Information System) measures developed ability on entry at Year 7, then early in Year 8 and/or Year 9 as required. An optional Attitude survey gathers students opinions on topics including school and study, motivation, bullying and peer pressure. MidYIS is available in computer adaptive or traditional paper-based formats. Yellis for ages 14-16 Yellis (Year 11 Information System) continues to measure developed ability with the same yardstick as MidYIS. The results are presented together with detailed GCSE or other national exam predictions. There is also an optional Attitude survey and a choice of computer adaptive or paper-based formats. INSIGHT for ages 13-14 INSIGHT combines a measurement of what students have been taught in the Maths, English and Science curricula with a developed ability assessment. This provides a strategic view of students attainment and prospects at GCSE. It is also available as INSIGHT Core which is purely curriculum- based to give an added dimension to MidYIS. The format is computer only. Complete package of benefits Each of these information systems has value used on its own, but together as an integrated suite they deliver a complete and unrivalled package of benefits: Feedback allowing detailed student level analysis Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your students Feedback given at overall level and at individual test component level An indication of possible future exam performance of students School and subject level predicted analysis Discover the ability profile of your cohorts High level of additional support available Value added across Secondary school The computer adaptive advantage Today 85% of schools choose the computer adaptive format. Each student starts with a question suited to a contemporary of average ability. For those who get this right, the program moves to harder questions from a bank of hundreds of items. Those who get it wrong will be presented with easier questions. Everyone settles at the level at which they feel comfortable and completes the tests. 4 5
Getting the measure of SECONDARY 6 Getting the measure of SECONDARY 7 MidYIS Measuring what matters in the first three years at Secondary. More and more schools and colleges are joining nearly 2,000 schools worldwide using MidYIS. That s because of the proven power of this information tool not only to improve the performance of students, but to elevate the whole school. Typically schools use MidYIS as a baseline assessment of academic potential. Taken in Year 7, 8 or 9, it allows teachers to identify potential high flyers and ensure they make good their abilities, as well those struggling with an element of the test who may require additional support. MidYIS enables you to monitor students progress and predict their chances of achieving a particular exam grade. They can then be encouraged to think about what they will need to do in order to achieve or exceed the target. Easy to run, quick to process All tests are designed to fit into a lesson period (about 1 hour) and are strictly administered so that all students get the same instructions, explanations and examples, ensuring fair, high quality, reliable data. The tests are intended to measure aptitude for learning rather than achievement. They comprise: Vocabulary - measures fluency and understanding of words picked up from students backgrounds, not necessarily from English lessons. Maths - assesses logical thinking, manipulating numbers, numerical concepts without being geared to a particular Maths syllabus. Non-verbal measures ability to recognise shapes, match pictures, spatial awareness, and visual intuition. Skills is made up of tasks such as proof reading, perceptual speed and accuracy. Attitudes is an extra assessment that can be used to indicate a school s ethos. The student questionnaire includes attitudes to school and study, motivation towards subjects, bullying, extra-curricular participation, drug use, career aspirations, peer pressure, socioeconomic status and cultural capital from home. For the teacher there is no marking or paperwork involved. The MidYIS program remembers everything. The completed data is automatically sent to CEM where the data is then processed and feedback generated within one hour. Feedback is then available to download from the secure CEM+ website. 6 7
Getting the measure of SECONDARY 8 Getting the measure of SECONDARY 9 MidYIS provides an accurate and reliable indication of pupils academic strengths and weaknesses. This is an important first step in knowing what realistically to expect from them. Using the MidYIS test as a first filter, we can help pupils with learning difficulties that may not have been picked up. Ian Sanderson, Head of Academic Development, Trent College A wealth of feedback The feedback brings you all the dimensions of information you need to build up a rounded and detailed portrait of the students, the class, the year and the school, graphically presented to make it easy to interpret and act upon. Nationally Standardised feedback compares how your students have performed in relation to one another and the national average. It shows scales for Vocabulary, Maths, Non- Verbal and Skills and an overall score which is the best predictor of later academic achievements. Intake Ability Profiles provide Band Profile graphs which allow you to see how your pupils performed in relation to a nationally representative sample of schools whose pupils took the same MidYIS Test. Individual Pupil Record Sheets provide a visual breakdown summarising how a student fared on the various sections of the MidYIS baseline test. Performance differences can be easily identified. Pupil Level Predictions show predictions for each student for the three core and eight noncore KS3 subjects and the most popular GCSE subjects. Pupil Level Chances are produced for each student in each subject. This individual chances graph shows the distribution of predicted grades for a student of that ability. School level chances graphs indicate the possible distribution of grades that students in the yeargroup are likely to achieve at KS3/ GCSE/ Scottish Qualification. Value-added feedback is provided at the student and subject level. When a school increases students achievement level relative to other schools, this relative advantage is called value-added. Once students have taken GCSE or INSIGHT or have KS3 teacher assessed grades, their results are collected for value added analysis. Attitudinal feedback provides graphs of student attitudes against those in other schools. Putting feedback to work At times feedback data will cause teachers to re-examine their assumptions about a student, providing insight into various aspects of a student s abilities. There are many aspects of the feedback which can act as a touchstone for action: Cohort profiles Pupil profiles Subject performance School performance Identify potentially gifted students Get an indication of possible future exam performance Information to aid target setting and monitor progress Evidence for discussion with parents and/or inspectors 8 9
Getting the measure of SECONDARY 10 Getting the measure of SECONDARY 11 INSIGHT The information-rich tool to help improve teaching, learning and school planning. The unique power of INSIGHT is that it assesses what students have learned from the curriculum together with a measure of developed ability. This combination produces a more rounded profile of the student. Feedback can reveal when performance in class is inconsistent with underlying potential at a crucial milestone which can determine their future direction Key stage 3. INSIGHT offers a choice of two variants INSIGHT and INSIGHT Core. INSIGHT is the full suite curriculum based assessments in Reading, Mathematics and Science plus Developed Ability and Attitudes. INSIGHT Core assesses Reading, Mathematics and Science without the Developed Ability element. Across-the-board assessments Being computer adaptive, INSIGHT allows students to work at their own ability level. The program does the marking too for easy administration. The user-friendly interface is designed to make the tests both exacting and enjoyable for students. Each of the four INSIGHT tests takes 45 minutes to complete. 1. Reading Consists of three parts: Speed Reading - Students reply to questions about a passage after it disappears, testing ability to process information quickly and accurately. Text Comprehension - Students replace words in passages from a choice of 3 words, testing ability to manipulate information, understand words within context and grammatical rules. Passage Comprehension Students answer multiple-choice questions about passages, probing understanding of the language and content. 2. Maths Questions are drawn from an item bank consisting of questions of varying difficulty on the topics taught and studied within the curriculum. Feedback gives scores in each curriculum area plus an overall Maths score. 3. Science Questions are presented with a range of difficulties to suit the topics. These are packaged as a set of three adaptive tests, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. With a high graphics content, the questions appeal to students. Afterwards students are given a questionnaire on attitudes to Science. 4. Developed Ability INSIGHT also includes this section which contains non-curriculum measures of vocabulary, skills and non-verbal ability in the same way as MidYIS. The testing takes place in a four-week window from mid-april to Mid-May. The completed data is automatically sent to CEM where the data is then processed and feedback generated shortly after the assessment window closes. Feedback is then available to download from the secure CEM+ website. 10 11
Getting the measure of SECONDARY 12 Getting the measure of SECONDARY 13 An aspect of the testing that we find most useful is the attitudinal responses. These can be quite insightful, and in the light of the overall profiles from other schools, are very useful for departments in gauging different aspects of the delivery of their courses. These responses are also helpful at a whole-school level in giving us a picture of how the school is perceived by the students. Dr. Richard Harwood, Aiglon College, Switzerland A wealth of feedback As you would expect from the most advanced system in the CEM portfolio, INSIGHT feedback is unrivalled in range, depth and value to improve students subject performance and fulfilment of their potential. Baseline information is standardised on a national sample of UK schools using INSIGHT. Feedback includes Band Profile Graphs, Individual Pupil Record Sheets, Box Plot Profile of what students know and can do; Individual Key Stage 3 Equivalences (INSIGHT Core only) Cohort Achievement in terms of Key Stage 3 Levels. Value-added Feedback provides a measure of progress made by students over time. Progress is measured based on a student s MidYIS and INSIGHT scores compared to their GCSE performance. This is then compared to the average performance of all students sitting the assessments and is available for the majority of GCSE subjects. Value added feedback is available as: Summary Worksheets for each pupil in each subject; Subject report Scatter Graphs; Value-added Summary Graph. Attitudes to Science shows each student s average score (scale of 1-5) on each subsection and overall score, compared with all pupils in the INSIGHT sample. Predictions of what grades each student is likely to achieve at GCSE in a wide range of subjects plus Chances graphs to provide an incentive to students by showing the range of grades achieved by students with similar scores. A host of benefits The scope of the assessments, their ease of use and the value of the feedback add up to a unique set of benefits. Be Informed on what students know and can do, their achievement, developed ability, attitudes and GCSE predictions, their progress from the start of Secondary school and over KS4. Ease of Use through choosing computer delivered and adaptive assessments that are enjoyable and user-friendly with valid, reliable and objective feedback Save Time and Resources using tests that are easy to administer in three or four lesson periods with no teacher marking and are a cost effective option Aid Planning and Monitoring to facilitate school self-evaluation and target setting. 12 13
Getting the measure of SECONDARY 14 Getting the measure of SECONDARY 15 Yellis Helping students to fulfil their potential as they finish Secondary. The Yellis data is used extensively in the analysis of examination performance across the school and within departments. All heads of department write a detailed report which is presented to the senior management team and much of the report centres around the performance of individual students, groups and cohorts in comparison to the Yellis data. The school also uses the Yellis data and examination data to provide an evaluation of individual teacher performance, department and whole school performance. St. Christopher s school, Bahrain Yellis (Year 11 information System) is designed to measure the underlying potential, progress and achievement of students aged 14-16 in the last two years of schooling. The paper-based version which has been in use since 1992 is rapidly being replaced in popularity by the more convenient and less exam-like computer based format. This has the extra advantage of being computer adaptive. Students can work through the baseline tests at a level consistent with their ability - not bored by questions which are too easy nor frustrated by anything too hard. Yellis is made up of Baseline tests and the Attitudinal questionnaire. The Baseline Measurement The Year 10 test is taken early in Year 10 and/or Year 11. Assessments include: A compulsory vocabulary section A compulsory maths section A non-verbal section A brief questionnaire The results can be used to identify students strengths and weaknesses in each area, identify high fliers or those who are struggling, and to highlight those who have made progress. They can also usefully be applied for target setting and to provide predicted grades for each student. The Attitudinal Questionnaire In addition to the short questionnaire in the Baseline Test about attitudes towards education and aspirations, we also offer three Online Attitudinal Questionnaires for Year 10 or Year 11 students and their parents - an induction survey, Core survey and a parental survey Taking students less than 45 minutes to complete, the Core survey questions cover many areas including: attitudes to school, particular lessons and homework, quality of school life, feeling of fear in school, home background and support for education from parents/guardians, career plans and aspirations. Far-reaching Feedback Yellis feedback is available within 1 hour of computer based testing and within four weeks for the paper based version. Baseline Feedback gives nationally standardised scores comparing their performance in relation to one another and the national average for Vocabulary, Maths, Non-Verbal and an overall score. Predictions Feedback and Chances Graphs show how baseline scores can be used to give an indication of potential performance at KS4 (GCSE). Attitudinal Feedback from the questionnaire takes the form of a set of Attitudinal Comparison Graphs comparing the responses of your students to all Yellis students. Value Added Feedback is available once pupils have taken their GCSE exams. CEM conducts a Value Added analysis at student, subject and school level to provide a fair comparison of the progress made by your students with that of the tens of thousands of other students in the Yellis system. High level analysis is provided through our Predictions and Reporting Interactive Software, PARIS, which brings all your baseline and value-added data together for a given cohort to enable you to carry out detailed analysis. Practical benefits Teachers can use Yellis as a tactical tool to address individual student needs and the school can apply the information strategically to assist with planning and policy all with the goal of enabling young people to reach their potential. Track progress Monitor and measure students performance at subject level throughout KS4 and how their progress compares with similar students. Set goals KS4 (GCSE) subject predictions for each individual to be used, together with Chances Graphs, to agree target grades with students and parents. Get advance information If the computer based baseline test is taken at the end of Year 9, the cohort s next teachers get valuable data on their intake at Year 10 Provide targeted support Identify strengths and weaknesses, such as students who are: eligible for Gifted and Talented schemes; may need additional support; benefit from more challenging teaching; can be helped by mentoring. 14 15
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