Assessments for the foundation stage

PIPS and ASPECTSAssessments for the Foundation Stage : 

PIPS and ASPECTSAssessments for the Foundation Stage Christine.Merrell@cem.dur.ac.uk www.pipsproject.org C

Designing Baseline Assessments : 

Designing Baseline Assessments For value-added purposes, need items that are good indicators of later development/achievement. The items in the baseline assessment should be strongly correlated with later development/achievement. For language and mathematics, ASPECTS/PIPS baselines have included items that past research have shown to be strongly related to later reading and maths achievement.

Designing Baseline Assessments : 

Designing Baseline Assessments Should be reliable and manageable. The longer the assessment, the more reliable it tends to be. But …… The longer the assessment, the greater the chance of a young child losing motivation/concentration. Aware of the time taken by teachers to complete the assessment. Ideally, the assessment should be tailored to the ability of each child and have an easy method of recording observations – ASPECTS/PIPS CDs.

Foundation Stage Options : 

Foundation Stage Options Start End Start End Nursery Nursery Reception Reception ASPECTS ASPECTS PIPS On-Entry PIPS On- Baseline Entry Follow-up

ASPECTS : 

ASPECTS Baseline for the Foundation Stage of children age 3 years and over from which progress can be monitored. Personal, social and emotional development Language and mathematics development Fine and gross motor development

Personal, Social & Emotional Development : 

Personal, Social & Emotional Development 11 areas of development, each with a five point scale: Comfortable Independence Confidence Concentration (teacher directed activities) Concentration (self directed activities) Actions Relationship to peers Relationship to adults Rules Cultural awareness Communication

Motor Development : 

Motor Development Gross motor skills: Static Balance Walking Sending and Receiving Fine motor skills: Finger movement Finger painting

Language & Maths Development : 

Language & Maths Development Tymms and Middleton (1995) Gathercole (1995) Language: Vocabulary Concepts about print Repeats of non-words Letter identification Writing Maths: Ideas about maths Counting Number identification Shapes Sums

ASPECTS Feedback : 

ASPECTS Feedback

Slide 10: 

LANGUAGE & MATHEMATICS DEVELOPMENT Carmel Cherry [First Assessment] Total Scores 22/80 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: 20/51 Mathematics: 2/29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Handwriting: 0/5 Ideas about maths: 0/9 Vocabulary: 4/9 Digit identification: 0/8 Repeats: 14/14 Number problems: 0/6 Sounds: 0/3 Shapes: 2/4 Word choice: 0/4 Counting: 0/2 Concepts about print: 2/3 Letter identification: 0/13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Question No. Question Type Response -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Vocabulary 1 0 0 6 Number problems 0 7, 8, 9 Ideas about maths 0 0

Feedback : 

Feedback

Reliability 2000/2001 : 

Reliability 2000/2001 Language and Mathematics Development Internal reliability () 0.94 Test/Re-test Correlations: Language 0.66 (28 items) Mathematics 0.84 25 items) Total language and mathematics 0.82 (53 items)

On-Entry Baseline : 

On-Entry Baseline Format: Multimedia CD-ROM program Booklet Assesses: Early reading Early maths Phonological awareness Attitude (at End of Year only) Short term memory (CD version only) Personal, social and emotional development Behaviour (at End of Year only) Test/Retest Reliability: 0.98 (CD version)

Feedback : 

Feedback Phonics: 2 Maths: 19 Reading: 30 Handwriting 4 PV Kitchen 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 PV Country 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 PV Toy Shop 0 0 0 IAR Classroom 1 1 1 IAR Book 1 1 1 0 0 0 Repeating Words 1 0 0 0 Rhyming Words 0 1 0 0 0 Letters 1/A 1/S 0/o 1/c 0/K 0/t 0/B

Correlation between assessments : 

Correlation between assessments ASPECTS – ASPECTS Language and Mathematics Total Score = 0.68 (1029 pupils with English as First Language) ASPECTS – PIPS Language and Maths Total score = 0.72

ASPECTS, PIPS and the FSP : 

ASPECTS, PIPS and the FSP Can use ASPECTS and PIPS to help complete the FSP. Questions from ASPECTS and PIPS have been mapped to the levels of the FSP. ASPECTS and PIPS do not cover all points on the FSP. FSP scores available for all children on PIPS + secure website.

Potential reliability and validity problems with the FSP : 

Potential reliability and validity problems with the FSP Halo effect. Distribution of scores. Interpretation of levels in the Foundation Stage Profile.

Halo Effect : 

Halo Effect Correlations between FSP sections: Correlations between PIPS sections:

Distribution of FSP scores : 

Distribution of FSP scores

Interpretation of FSP scales : 

Interpretation of FSP scales Straightforward judgement: In the ‘Numbers for counting’ scale, Counts reliably up to 3 everyday objects.

Interpretation of FSP scales : 

Interpretation of FSP scales More difficult judgement: In the ‘Writing’ sub-scale of the ‘Communication, language and literacy’ scale, Writes own name and other words from memory. Accompanying guidance states these may be key words currently featured in literacy sessions and/or words that are important to him/her such as ‘mum’, ‘dad’, ‘cat’ ….. But, names vary in length (e.g. Tom, Christopher, Kushalpreet) Exactly how many words are some other words, 2, 6, 9? Should spelling be correct or is letter formation more important?

Interpretation of FSP scales : 

Interpretation of FSP scales Even more difficult judgement: In the ‘Physical Development’ scale, Uses small and large equipment, showing a range of basic skills. Accompanying guidance states the child should demonstrate increasing control in using equipment for climbing, scrambling, sliding and swinging. S/he shows a range of skills in handling objects e.g. rolling, throwing, catching, kicking, using balls, bats, hoops, bean bags etc. When catching a ball, from what distance was it thrown? How accurately should a child be able to kick or throw a ball? The term demonstrate increasing control suggests an improvement rather than the attainment of a particular standard.

Slide 26: 

Observation can be a reliable method of assessment, but items in the rating scale must be unambiguous.