Unpicking the patterns of your students’ results after GCSE results day can be powerful for you, your school and your future students. In “normal” times, that is.
But in the middle of a pandemic - and when league tables aren’t going to be used - is it something that heads of department will still be expected to do?
Analysing exam data generated by teacher-assessed grades (TAGs) is still useful for schools to enable them to identify low-performing groups and potential problems that could arise in future years.
Individual schools will decide how extensive an analysis is needed and in what way it should be conducted, but here is how I would approach it if it were something we wanted to pursue.
Use the right tools
To start, you can use the results analysis tools for your exam board to look for patterns of achievement.
How to help students take the next steps after GCSE
It’s not a foolproof process, of course. There are variations within cohorts and fluctuations in national patterns of performance, but it’s worth a look - you may spot patterns specific to your context, especially if you compare in and between years.
There are also several other programmes for analysis out there - whether you use your own information management system or a bought-in results analysis tool, it is usually possible to manipulate the raw data to consider key groups.
What questions should you ask?
You may wish to consider gender differences, or look at your students in receipt of the pupil premium. You might want to compare with previous cohorts or between teaching groups. Come up with a list of questions first and then get into the data.
There may be crucial differences between teaching groups, but a word of caution here: when considering progress data, it is important to recognise that those at the top end of the prior attainment data are more likely to make expected progress.
This means that those in lower sets may not make the same contribution to your progress score, so it’s important to check how these key groups performed across the school, as well as in other similar schools, too.
The data for these comparisons can be found within the exam board analysis tools and on most bought-in data analysis programmes.
Contextualise everything
Of course, when the stakes are so high and accountability measures for teachers impact on pay and progression, it is always important to remember that these students have had 10 years of education prior to this year.
It is also vital to consider the variables with each child’s results.
It is unlikely that one teacher is entirely responsible for the overall grade, and that in showing professional trust in our teachers, we will retain teachers and continue to flourish as a profession.
Sarah Barker is a teacher of English at Orchard School Bristol. She has been assistant headteacher and head of English previously. She tweets at @mssfax and blogs at roundlearning.org
You need a Tes subscription to read this article
Subscribe now to read this article and get other subscriber-only content:
