WEST YORKSHIRE colleges and schools are blazing a trail into the complex world of using measurements of students’ progress to improve teaching and learning.

It is well known that institutions high in the league tables may not be those whose students make the greatest gains. The Government is committed to publishing value-added performance data - but it has yet to decide how this can be done.

Value-added data can be a powerful tool in college improvement because it brings the academic distance students have travelled into sharp focus. While some staff may initially find value-added intimidating, the Learning and Skills Council says most institutions using it improve their performance, and that staff accept it once its effectiveness has been demonstrated.

In Targets: A-level value-added measures, the LSC says it:

* motivates students by setting more realistic targets;

* identifies areas of good practice;

* identifies staff training needs;

* allows for fairer comparisons between institutions, and;

* encourages improved performance.

Work on measuring improvement made to students’ attainment between GCSE and A-level has been going on for decades. Many colleges have used value-added data for years to measure their own performance. It is now embedded in their quality assurance systems, and the Office for Standards in Education expects them to use such data in self-assessment.

The two main methods are the A-level Information System (ALIS) and the A-level Performance System (ALPS).

ALIS was established at the Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre at Durham University in 1983. Schools submit data and receive an analysis of their performance against national benchmarks at individual, subject and institutional level.

Students get target grades in each subject. ALIS also provides “chance graphs“which plot the probability of getting each A-level grade against GCSE grades based on national performance in each subject, and alternative baseline testing for those with no GCSEs.

ALPS was developed by Dr Kevin Conway at Greenhead sixth- form college, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, from 1987 onwards. It began by benchmarking information sent by schools and colleges against a database of the nine top-performing colleges.

Like ALIS, ALPS allows comparisons between individuals, subjects and institutions. It differs in setting student targets with an overall grade combination rather than specific subject grades. It also allows colleges to compare themselves with the average and top and bottom 25 per cent of institutions.

ALPS is about to come under scrutiny in West Yorkshire where the LSC has invested pound;45,000 in a study of 18 colleges and 96 schools using the method. Executive director Margaret Coleman believes the money has been well spent.

Schools and colleges send in their data and receive one-to-one consultancy. Curriculum areas will then be brought together and departments with outstanding practice identified and encouraged to share ideas, raise standards and increase participation.

“We are trying to get a systematic approach to this, understanding how value added can be a management tool to raise the quality of teaching and learning,” said Ms Coleman.

Dr Conway thinks performance tables based on added value would be very different from those using raw data. “It would vastly change the rank order. The top independent schools will still be up there, but so will many state schools.”

It would also affect teacher morale. “People will feel better if there is a recognition of what they have achieved. Some schools and colleges are doing wonderful work and not getting that recognition.”

The Department for Education and Skills provides national data broken down into many areas, such as types of institutions and individual subjects, which schools and colleges can download from its website. LEAs provide each of their schools with benchmarking data for use in target-setting.

The DfES aims to introduce a value-added indicator into performance tables for schools and colleges offering A and AS-levels and Advanced Vocational Certificates of Education to 16 to 19-year-olds - but not immediately. In 2000, it studied 155 institutions using two types of value-added calculations. The findings are on the website, but no method was decided on.

However, Avril Willis, LSC director of quality and standards, said: “We do have a long-term goal of introducing a performance indicator for value added and is looking at various methodologies.”

The LSC plans another pilot in 2004, and value-added performance tables may be introduced in 2005 “if the pilot goes well”, a spokesperson told FE Focus.

Useful websites include: “Targets: A-level value-added measures” (LSC), on: www.lscdata.gov.ukqualityqual_pdfValue_Added_02.pdf. For information on ALIS: www.cem.dur.ac.uk For information on ALPS: www.greenhead.ac.ukbeacongc_systemfull_report.pdf For DFES 2000 pilot study: www.dfee.gov.ukperformancevap_00.htm For DFES national data: www.dfes.gov.ukstatisticsDBSBUb0321stvalfin.pdf