How we help children’s learning recover from the impact of the pandemic is a major concern for every educator, and all of us here at Supporting Education Group.
That’s why we’re proud that SEG business EdPlace has added to our understanding of learning strategies and support that can make that recovery happen with a new in-depth impact report.
Student progress – and particularly the progress of students from disadvantaged backgrounds – suffered from the disruption of temporary school closures. Then, as schools returned, educators across the UK worked on bridging the attainment gaps with the help of the school led tutoring programme.
This was the driving force behind the launch of EdPlace’s dynamic assessments; a tool that would aid educators in their efforts and help them to demonstrate the impact of their tuition.
Designed to quickly help students, parents and teachers identify areas of National Curriculum understanding most affected for each child, these assessments enhanced the personalised intervention that EdPlace is renowned for, while at the same time capturing vital data about student progress.
A cohort of students across Key Stages 1 to 3 completed an assessment at the start and end of a three-month period – structured and weighted so that the two points could be accurately compared – using EdPlace activities to support their understanding in the areas that they found more challenging.
The main headline from the report is that Key Stage 1 and 2 children on average improved their progress score (across core subjects, English, maths and science) by 37%, and by 34% at Key Stage 3.
Findings from the study showed that on average, across Key Stage 1, 2 and 3, students made the most progress in maths (45%), followed by English (24%).
Across Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, the maths initial assessment score was the lowest of the three subjects on average, followed by English and then science. EdPlace CEO and founder, Will Paterson, says that this isn’t surprising as nationally, both maths and literacy have been found by Ofqual to be the most negatively affected subjects following the events of the pandemic.
EdPlace found that Year 2 made the most progress in the three-month window in English, maths and science. This group improved their progress by 53% across the three subjects.
The greatest gains for this year group were in English, where the average progress score increased by 61%. The report says that this is especially impressive as this cohort of students missed out on the first two years of their formal school journey.
Recent research from the Education Endowment Foundation suggests that children transitioning into Key Stage 2 are struggling to read fluently, and the report notes that the National Curriculum objective where the greatest progress was made between the two assessments was in reading comprehension.
“The findings from this initial study show that the engaging and concise assessments provided through EdPlace can play a vital role in supporting student progress in areas of less secure understanding,” says Will Paterson.
“When they are coupled with targeted intervention and relevant activities between assessments, it has been proven to be an approach that produces a clear and considerable impact on student progress.
“The data gives us real insight into approaches that work when it comes to catch-up learning, and this is just the beginning. We’re continually working to use this data to further improve our assessment offering so that parents, teachers and tutors can have the most efficient diagnostic tool available to support student progress and intervention planning going forwards.”
