Support for in-year monitoring grade analysis across the Autumn Term
The most powerful thing about Connect is that the functionality and modelling tools are available throughout the year for your monitoring grades. As we reach the second half of the Autumn Term, you will most likely have data collection points for your key examination year groups. This short blog gives you some tips on how to get the most out of Connect in analysing your in-year data.
What type of assessment grades do you have?
Schools and colleges will vary significantly in the types of data collected in the Autumn Term, for example:
- Predicted grade or most likely grade – the professional judgement as to what each student is realistically likely to achieve at the end of the course
- Current working at grades – usually a grade based on teacher assessment of student ability to that point in the course. Popular in vocational courses
- Raw mock examination grades / PPE grades – useful to highlight gaps between assessed performance and a predicted grade.
The type of grade will influence how you view the value-added analysis in Connect. The important message here is that all teaching staff are clear on your expectations on how they arrive at the assessment grade for each student if you are to make meaningful school improvement decisions.
Determining intervention priorities
Once your data is in Connect, you will be able to see your value-added grades at a strategic, subject and student level. The table below outlines some of the questions you may want to explore in the platform.
| ISSUE | SUBJECT PROGRESS TRENDS |
| Are predictions in line with previous predictions? | Has there been any significant change in grades across the gradepoints?
Do predictions differ significantly from previous outcomes indicating an issue in predicting accuracy? |
| Is there a discrepancy between predicted grades and raw/working grades? | If you are analysing a set of raw mock grades – Have mocks been prepared thoroughly and do they cover the key parts of the specification?
Have students been prepared thoroughly? |
| Have you reviewed the progress of your key groups of students? | Are there gaps in progress between any groups? Are there gaps in progress at a subject or teaching set level? Remember that Connect has standard comparison groups for gender, prior attainment, ethnicity, disadvantage, SEN and EAL. |
| Who has the ‘big picture’ on progress? | Have you planned a series of meetings where SLT and Subject/Faculty Leads review priorities? |
| Are your intervention strategies working? | Has intervention taken place since the previous gradepoint and what has the impact been?
Are your resources being distributed to the right subject areas / students? |
| Reviewing targets | Do subject targets remain aspirational/realistic? |
|
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR YOUR PASTORAL TEAMS AND LEARNING MENTORS |
| Are there students who are underperforming across all subjects in an in-year monitoring point? |
| Is there a place for a more holistic support plan for that student? |
| Are there groups of students who are underperforming because of a shared barrier to learning, for example, less well-developed numeracy skills? Is there a school/college wide strategy to address these issues? |
| Are students having positive learning conversations with their mentors/tutors to ensure that they are on track to achieve their aspirational targets? |
| Are predicted grades being measured against UCAS offers where and when relevant? |
Our short videos on Connect functionality on the Alps Champions page are designed to support you in exploring some of these questions within the platform. Access our Staff Checklists on the page for more analysis support for key members of staff across your school/college.
The most important outcome from any data analysis is the impact that it has on student progress. Connect is a simple and visually effective platform that allows you to quickly assess the strengths and weaknesses from your data drops. This means that teaching staff can spend more of their time on how to make an impact on student progress, implementing their teaching strategies almost immediately.
Need more information?
If you would like any further information, please contact one of our expert advisers.
