Why numbers only tell us so much

When we are making judgements about whether pupils and students are making progress, there can be a tendency to think that data on a spreadsheet can indicate something absolute about standards.

I think the reason this happens is that the data generated through public tests and examinations at the end of primary and Key Stages 4 and 5 is able to tell us something about standards.

It’s never 100 per cent, but we can talk with some confidence about pupil and student outcomes.

We can do this because pupils have taken the same tests and papers as hundreds and thousands of other pupils. The papers have been marked and moderated at a national scale, and while not perfect they do give an indication of performance.

The same cannot be said for internally generated data. This is because same conditions don’t apply in terms of the scale and moderation which sit behind the national tests.

I think we have got to stop making out that they do have the same currency as externally validated data.

The only issue is - that better information doesn’t sit neatly on a spreadsheet!

I have run two webinars to unpick this in relation to Key Stage 3, the first webinar on:

• Some of the paradoxes of assessment

• The difference between external and internally generated data

• Why the data on a spreadsheet only tells part of the story

• The role and impact of formative and summative assessment

• Why we are better at making judgements than we think we are

The second session considers alternative options for making judgements about what students achieve at KS3.

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Until next time

Mary