DfE has at last supplied the missing piece in its assessment jigsaw. It has published for consultation a 44-page document listing its proposed performance descriptors in reading, writing, mathematics and science at key stages 1 and 2 and showing how these relate to the new arrangements for primary floor standards, tests and teacher assessment. The descriptors replace the levels that have been a feature of the national curriculum since its inception in 1988.
The DfE document is not amenable to a short summary and the devil is in the detail, so if you wish to know what is in store – and, better still, if you wish to tell DfE what you think about its proposals – you can view/download the document and discover the consultation procedure here.
NB. The consultation closes on 18 December 2014.
Here are the questions to which DfE invites your responses:
1. Do the names of the draft performance descriptors allow teachers and parents to understand the meaning of, and differentiate between, each performance descriptor?
2. Are the performance descriptors spaced effectively across the range of pupils’ performance to support accurate and consistent judgements?
3. In your opinion, are the performance descriptors clear and easy to understand?
4. In your opinion, does the content of the performance descriptors adequately reflect the national curriculum programmes of study?
5. Should any element of the performance descriptors be weighted (i.e. should any element be considered more important or less important than others?).
6. If you have any further comments regarding the performance descriptors, please provide details.