Has your school got teacher assessment sorted?

I have a suspicion that, for many, the answer to this question will be a resounding “no”. In my current role, I get to speak with teachers up and down the country, and I’ve been struck recently by the number who have told me that, three years on, their school is still struggling to get to grips with a post-levels world.

It’s hard to know for certain exactly how widespread an issue this is, but I have a feeling it’s more of a problem than we might think. Only last week, I heard of a school that was now onto its fifth assessment system in four years.

Such stories are at the extreme end of the spectrum, but I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me that they are still struggling to get a system in place that they are happy with. It’s not uncommon for teachers to tell me that they actually miss levels on the basis that “at least we know where we stood”.

Let’s be clear, a return to a system of levels would be a disaster and a massive backwards step. Thankfully, however, this is not on the cards. But, there is still work to be done if we are to make the most of the freedom a post-levels world offers.

My feeling is that we do have the solutions - we just need the confidence in our convictions to pursue them.

Too often, teacher assessment systems are still being designed with at least half an eye on how they can be used to quantify or “demonstrate” pupil progress, especially to outside audiences. The belief in the need for this sort of statistical evidence of progress remains pervasive and it’s holding us back.

We have to be brave. Our teacher assessment systems should have two basic criteria: do they provide useful information to improve our teaching and learning and are they manageable?

If the primary consideration is: “How can we use this to demonstrate progress?” then I’d suggest that you are asking the wrong question. We need to break free from the long-established mindset that numbers in a chart can act as a reliable proxy for learning having taken place.

The good news is that Ofsted themselves are on board with this. They have made it clear that they don’t expect to see data or tracking information presented in any particular form.

The reality is that in the absence of any nationally agreed system, an inspector simply cannot draw reliable conclusions from your in-school data anyway. Why not make it useful for you, and not them? The only real requirement from inspectors should be: can you articulate how your assessment system helps you to improve teaching and learning? This feels like a pretty reasonable expectation.

Taking such a bold approach is not easy. We are asking schools to break free from a deeply ingrained culture where assessment data became more about accountability than about learning. However, it’s exactly what we need to do.

While it turns out that taking back control of assessment hasn’t been as easy as many of us first assumed it would be, the opportunity to do so remains.

James Bowen is director of middle leaders’ union NAHT Edge. He tweets @JamesJkbowen

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