What is the next step for this student?

At the end of this post, please comment on whether writing instruction in KS3 science lessons is an appropriate use … More

End of Year Assessments – what do we want to know and how much time is it worth?

It’s the end of the school year, and many teachers are drowning in marking. It’s a tradition and perhaps we … More

A Comparison of Two National Year 6 Science Assessments

The Independent Schools Examination Board: Common Entrance Examination at 11+ (Science) Below is the 2018 common entrance exam taken at … More

How do we grade scientific writing at KS2 at Paradigm Trust?

Over the past four years at Paradigm Trust, we have developed and implemented a knowledge-rich science curriculum for EYFS to … More

Using Multiple Choice Questions to Assess High-Level Thinking in Science

We are very good at assessing retrieval through multiple choice questions (MCQs): they are easy to write and quick to … More

Using the Rasch Model to Analyse Multiple Choice Questions

This is the final post in my week long series on assessment and reporting at Paradigm Trust schools. Monday: Exploring Comparative … More

What Do We Do With the Multiple Choice Data?

I am writing a week of blogs about assessment and reporting at Paradigm Trust, where I work. Today’s post is … More

Communicating Assessment Scores with Parents and Carers

Schools have a duty to let parents and carers know how well their children are doing. But assessment is complicated and … More

Exploring Comparative Judgement Data With Charts

Comparative Judgement (CJ) has transformed the way we assess writing at Paradigm Trust – we use it from key stage … More

The Impossibility of Reliable Setting by Ability

In principle, I don’t like the idea of setting by ability. It feels like segregation. But I also don’t like … More