Until recently, there were no specific regulations governing the assessment of performance of children in pre-compulsory education, but the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) strongly recommended the monitoring of each child's progress as good practice. Children were then statutorily assessed on entry to primary education (under a system of baseline assessment) - see section 6.2.
In September 2002, the baseline assessment scheme was replaced by a new national scheme for summing up the progress and learning needs of children at the end of the foundation stage (aged around 5). This scheme, known as the 'Foundation Stage Profile' 279, was introduced during the 2002/2003 school year, and replaced the previous system of assessing children in the first few weeks of their entering compulsory education.260 The first Foundation Stage Profiles were completed in June 2003. Further information is available from the Foundation Stage Profile handbook available at: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs/site/profile/index.htm.
NB: From September 2008 the Foundation Stage Profile will be replaced by the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Profile. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides a single framework covering care, learning and development for children in all early years settings. Further information is available at: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs/site/index.htm and http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs/site/profile/index.htm
Responsibilities of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
Established under the terms of the Education Act 1997 (section 21-26),3 the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) came into existence on 1 October 1997 following the merger of the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA) and the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ). It is a non-departmental public body, responsible to the Secretary of State. Its remit is extensive and combines the SCAA's original role of promoting higher standards of achievement in schools by developing the curriculum and its assessment, and improving consistency and quality in public examinations, with additional responsibilities for pre-school matters and for work and school-based vocational qualifications and occupational standards. It has an overarching responsibility for ensuring that the curriculum and qualifications available to young people and adults are coherent and flexible. It keeps under review all aspects of the statutory and non-statutory curriculum including National Curriculum programmes of study, attainment targets and associated assessment arrangements.189 QCA's remit excludes higher education.189
Further information is also available online at http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs/site/profile/index.htm and http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs/site/index.htm.
Foundation Stage Profiles are completed for all children at the end of the foundation stage - the period of education from age 3 to the end of the academic year in which a child has his/her fifth birthday.279
The Foundation Stage Profile is a means of summing up each child's progress and learning needs at the end of the foundation stage. Practitioners assess each child's development in relation to the statutory 'early learning goals' by accumulating observations and knowledge of the whole child. (See section 5.1.2 for further information on the early learning goals.) The Foundation Stage Profile consists of a handbook offering practitioners advice on assessment and a Foundation Stage Profile booklet for each child. For most children, a Profile is completed at the end of the reception class in primary school, although Profiles are completed in any government-funded setting in which children complete the foundation stage. The first Profiles were completed for children reaching the end of the foundation stage in June 2003.279
Training for practitioners completing Foundation Stage Profiles took place between February and June 2003.279
Assessment for the Foundation Stage Profile involves grading children's ability on 13 nine-point scales in aspects such as social development and reading. Children are generally expected to reach between points 4 and 8 on the scale. Point 9 signifies that the child is working beyond the level generally expected. In a survey by Durham university, which examined the performance of 15,000 children in the first national Foundation Stage Profile assessment in June 2003, 47 per cent of pupils averaged 8 or 9 in the three maths scales and one in three did so in communication, language and literacy.281
Detailed information on the assessment scales for the Foundation Stage Profile is accessible via the Foundation Stage Profile handbook online at: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs/site/profile/index.htm.
See above and below.
Completed Foundation Stage Profiles are used to inform parents and Year 1 teachers (the first year of compulsory primary education) about each child's progress and learning needs. If they wish, practitioners may use the completed Profiles (either in their entirety or selectively) as their annual report to parents. The numerical results from the Profiles are collected annually.279