observations. Elaine Williams reports

Government officials use the phrase “a silent revolution” to describe the new assessment system for early-years children that came into force in England this month. The new foundation stage profile, replacing statutory baseline assessment, marks a radical shift, according to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). The set tasks in literacy and numeracy are dropped to give more emphasis to teachers’ professional observations on the development of the whole child. These will be recorded at the end of the reception year, rather than during the child’s first seven weeks in class.

A QCA official said: “This profile is a celebration of children’s achievement. It encapsulates best practice.”

The profile acknowledges developments in the early-years curriculum by incorporating the six key early-learning goals (see above right). This one national statutory assessment replaces the 91 different baseline schemes that recorded only three of the early-learning goals.

Although teachers welcome its wide-ranging observational brief, some fear that the new profile will prove unwieldy and increase workloads. Unions are also concerned that few teachers realise that, even though the profile will not be officially introduced until January, they should already be adapting their practice to accommodate this change.

Nansi Ellis, an adviser for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, says: “I don’t think the QCA has done enough to make people aware of the implications. They did send out a leaflet to schools last term but we know that many stayed in the bottom of envelopes.” However, the union welcomes the QCA’s profile handbook, available on its website, as very “teacher-friendly”.

Professor Peter Tymms, of Durham University, adopts a more critical stance. He believes assessment based solely on observation is flawed since no two teachers observe alike. He also points out that no account has been taken of the “halo effect”.

“It is a known fact that once an assessor has seen a child in a good light in one area, they are likely to give high scores in another,” he says.

Professor Tymms, whose Performance Indicators in Primary Schools project at Durham was a contender for the contract to create the profile, says: “We need to mix and match observation with set tasks which can give objective results.”

He also fears that the abilities of gifted children may be overlooked, especially in mathematics. And he is concerned that moderation will fail to bring consistency. Local education authorities will be required to pass on the profile data to the Department for Education but both critics and supporters warn that the value of the new system could be negated if the information is used for target-setting. The QCA says that there is no intention to use the profile as a value-added instrument. Nor has the Government finalised who will conduct the moderation and how it will be done.

The QCA is suggesting that 50 per cent of nurseries and schools should be moderated in the first two years. Thereafter a four-yearly cycle of visits will be established. Informal moderation, such as meetings between teachers and clusters of schools to ensure consistency, will take place more regularly.

There is no doubt that the profile is an attempt to incorporate best practice in early-years education into an assessment format. Whether it turns out to be user-friendly or effective remains to be seen.

Schools in Wales are to continue with baseline assessments pending the introduction of a new 3-7 foundation curriculum. Formal learning will not begin until seven. Scotland has no statutory early-years assessment, but two years ago piloted an observational scheme called the transition record, passed with the child from nursery to school. It is now in general use. However, the Scottish Executive does not require schools to provide levels of achievement to government until children reach the end of Primary 2 (aged 6-7)