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“Am I A Level 6 Yet?”

Alex Ford

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Alex Ford

Head of History, Guiseley School

Author of www.andallthat.co.uk

@apf102; @andallthatweb

How do your schools report on pupils’ attainment or progress in history?

Which of these are measures of ATTAINMENT? Which are measures of

PROGRESS? Which measure something else?

Common means of feedbackEffort grades on

workEffort grades over

a termComment marking

on work Annual reports

One to one discussions with

students

Generic taxonomies eg.

Bloom / SOLO etc.

NC/GCSE Levels at the end of a year

NC/GCSE Levels each half term

NC/GCSE Levels on pieces of work

NC/GCSE Levels each lesson Etc. etc.

A recent example…Y6 Y7 Y8 Y9 Y10 Y11

9 = A**

8 = A* 8.0-8.9

7 = A 7.0-7.9 6.6-7.5

6 = B 6.0-6.9 5.6-6.5 6.0-6.9

5 = B/C 5.0-5.9 4.6-5.5 5.0-5.9 5.6-6.5

4 = C L6 4.0-4.9 3.6-4.5 4.0-4.9 4.6-5.5 4.0-4.9

3 = D L5 2.6-3.5 3.0-3.9 3.6-4.5 3.0-3.9

2 = E L4 2.0-2.9 2.6-3.5 2.0-2.9

1 = F L3 1.6-2.5 1.0-1.9

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What does making progress in History actually look like?

Key Definitions• Attainment – a measure of

understanding at a particular point

• Progress – the development of a child’s abilities, knowledge and understanding over time

• Progression Model – the system which underpins how students improve their understanding of the subject

Problem with NC Levels: Progression

• The 10 statements all come from the National Curriculum Level Descriptions of 1991.

• They all relate to the concept of causation and theoretically form a hierarchy from Level 1 to Level 10

Demonstrate a clear understanding of the complexities of the relationship between cause, consequence and changeDemonstrate an awareness of human motivation illustrated by reference to events of the past

Demonstrate an awareness of the problems inherent in the idea of causationDemonstrate, by reference to stories of the past, an awareness that actions have consequences

Produce a well-argued hierarchy of causes for complex historical issuesRecognise everyday time conventionsUnderstand that historical events have different types of causes and consequencesUnderstand that historical events usually have more than one cause and consequenceWhen examining historical issues, can draw the distinction between causes, motives and reasons

When explaining historical issues, place some causes and consequences in a sensible order of importance

Problem with NC Levels: Progression Level 1 – Recognise everyday time conventions

Level 2 – Demonstrate, by reference to stories of the past, an awareness that actions have consequences

Level 3 – Demonstrate an awareness of human motivation illustrated by reference to events of the past

Level 4 – Understand that historical events usually have more than one cause and consequence

Level 5 – Understand that historical events have different types of causes and consequences

Level 6 – When explaining historical issues, place some causes and consequences in a sensible order of importance

Level 7 – When examining historical issues, can draw the distinction between causes, motives and reasons

Level 8 – Produce a well-argued hierarchy of causes for complex historical issues

Level 9 – Demonstrate an awareness of the problems inherent in the idea of causation

Level 10 – Demonstrate a clear understanding of the complexities of the relationship between cause, consequence and change

Problem with NC Levels: Attainment• Never intended to measure

attainment in individual pieces of work

• Too broad and lack specific focus – difficult if not impossible to measure individual pieces of work against – eg. “Can understand how different

periods of British and international history overlap and fit together.

• Don’t offer a description of what improvement looks like

Problem with NC Levels: Progress• Never intended to be used to

measure progress AT ALL! Do not describe change over time.

• Using numerical system suggests linear progress should be made

• Confuses students and parents and focuses on the wrong thing – grades not descriptions

Y7 1 Y7 2 Y7 3 Y8 1 Y8 2 Y8 30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Assessment Grades

Assessments Progress

Problem with NC Levels: Progression• Fail to describe what progression in

historical understanding looks like:– Second order concepts– Historical knowledge

• Stuck in the generic: Level 4 “Describe”; Level 5 “Explain”; Level 6 “Analyse”; Level 7 “Evaluate”

• ‘…moving from National Curriculum Level 4 to Level 5 (or whatever) is not an adequate description of progress let alone a prescription for progress.’ (Counsell, 2000, p. 41)

It’s no different with GCSEObjective Requirements

AO1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the periods studied.

35%

AO2 Explain and analyse historical events and periods studied using second-order historical concepts.

35%

AO3 Analyse, evaluate and use sources (contemporary to the period) to make substantiated judgements, in the context of historical events studied.

15%

AO4 Analyse, evaluate and make substantiated judgements about interpretations (including how and why interpretations may differ) in the context of historical events studied.

15%

How can we tell if kids are making “progress?”• Assessment does not need to fit on

a unified, linear scale – more powerful if it does not! MESSY MARKBOOK

• Assessing Attainment– Task/Topic specific – focus in terms

of historical thinking and knowledge

– Tasks should get harder over the key stage – demands/content

– Simple task specific marks eg. Percentage, grade etc.

Other Aspects

Historical Knowledge

Historical Thinking

A “messy” markbook

Pupil APupil BPupil CPupil D

Pupil EPupil FPupil GPupil H

Pupil I

How could we assess?• Assessing Progress

– A holistic measure over time based on all aspects of student work

– Needs to trust teacher judgment

– Descriptive of progress over time ie. little, slow, good, rapid

– Linked to formative feedback

Good Students are making good progress because they: grasp new ideas and concepts in line with their peers for

the most part, although they may not always be fully confident in their understanding.

deploy new ideas and concepts in their work with limited prompting

have an awareness of the links between ideas and concepts previously studied and newer ones being introduced.

communicate their ideas effectively most of the time. respond to feedback in the majority of tasks, modifying

and refining their ideas and work with reasonable effectiveness.

work on overcoming misconceptions about the subject meaning that repeated mistakes about ideas or concepts are uncommon.

Show sound understanding in assessments, with some variation over time.

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What are we REALLY trying to assess in history?

Progression & Conceptual Understanding

• Establishing how students move from weaker to more powerful ideas in terms of key second order concepts

• Eg. “How significant was the Norman Conquest?” or “Why did William win the Battle of Hastings?

• Seixas and Morton: Historical Thinking Project – Guideposts of concepts for students to

master– Misconceptions they need to overcome

NOT ladders to climb– Based on research and experience

Causation Change and Continuity

Mindsets (Similarity & Difference)

Historical Evidence

Historical Interpretation

Historical Significance

Causation: Mastery Model (Scott, 1990; Morton & Seixas, 2012)

Signpost 1Causal Webs

Causation is attributed to a single cause, usually ST, or multiple causes are given but not explained.

Multiple short term and long terms causes of events are identified and explained. Relationships between causes are recognized

Signpost 2Ranking Causes

There is no differentiation between the influence of various causes.

The causes of historical change are analysed and different causes are ranked by their influence

Signpost 3Underlying Causes

Historical causes are personalized to be the actions of great leaders or are seen as abstractions with human intentions.

Historical change is explained through the interplay of the actions of historical actors and the underlying conditions (SPERM) in which they operated

Signpost 4Unintended Consequences

Past events are seen as the result of specific plans and actions.

A differentiation is made between the intended and unintended consequences of actions.

Developing a Progression Model• Causation• Change and Continuity• Historical Evidence• Historical Interpretation• World Views• Communication

What GUIDEPOSTS would indicate a mastery of Change

& Continuity?

What misconceptions would need to be overcome?

Lacking Understanding Mastered

Signpost 1Identifying Change

Seeing the past as homogenous and unchanging. Failing to perceive that changes happen over time.

Understanding that changes can been seen as differences between two periods of time ie. What has changed between two points in history, or conversely, what has stayed the same.

Signpost 2Interweaving Continuity and Change

Failing to appreciate that continuity and change can happen simultaneously.

Continuity and change are shown to be INTERWOVEN. Some things change whilst others remain stable.

Signpost 3Process of Change

Seeing all changes as individual events with short term impacts.

Understanding that historical change and can be described as a flow over a longer period of time in terms of pace, extent, trends or specific turning points and that these flows might have greater importance than the changes individually.

Signpost 4Complexity of Change

Believing that change is a single process which ebbs and flows over time.

Understanding that the past is formed of multiple lines of development and that each has its own flow but that these do not always go in the same direction as the larger river of history.

Developing a Progression Model

Effective planning for mastery is key to students making progress.

BUT the second order concepts do not exist in isolation from the content!

Progression and Historical knowledge

• Key interplay between knowledge and second order concepts

• Rejects the idea of standalone concepts – concepts are rooted ie. A causal explanation of William’s victory at Hastings might be quite different from an explanation of the failure of the Peasants’ Revolt

• Knowledge is as transferrable and necessary as the conceptual understanding.

“A view common in the 1980s and early 1990s [and indeed now] was that knowledge was ‘inert’ and ‘non-functioning’, whereas ‘skill’ was transferable. This view did not accord with my experience. It seemed to me that knowledge from one topic was highly ‘functional’ in a quite different topic, and definitely transferable.” (Counsell, 2014)

Progression and Historical knowledge

• According to Hammond (TH157, 2014) – A really good answer

contains a range of forms of knowledge: topic knowledge, period knowledge and general historical knowledge.

– Existing knowledge “flavours” what is being written.

Knowledge and progress• Knowledge of key concepts.

– For example "autocracy" and what they meant to people at the time.

• Knowledge of context– the things that were going on in and

around historical periods and their impact.

• Knowledge of key people and events. – This is really the surface level - events

cannot be understood without their context or the underlying concepts.

• Need to consider what “fingertip” knowledge pupils need for a topic, but also what “residual” knowledge topics should leave behind (Counsell)

Bringing it together: marking some work

• Burnham & Brown (2004, 2014) suggest that task specific, “level of response”, mark schemes are best suited to marking students’ work– Allow specific feedback against

the task itself– Are descriptive of knowledge

and thinking– Are diagnostic and can evolve

Have a look at the William & Hastings

task

Use this and the materials we have

looked at to create a description of a

“gold standard” response to the

question

Try to focus on the historical thinking,

the specific knowledge and the

argument.

Bringing it together: marking some work

• All of these are genuine responses to the question “Why did William win the Battle of Hastings?”

• What order would you put them in? Why?

Now have a go at completing the mark

scheme based on what you have seen

Which of the pieces will form the basis

of your “mid” ability?

Where would you place each of the

pieces?

Further Reading• For a broader discussion of the issues see:

– Burnham, S. & Brown, G. (2003) ‘Assessment without level descriptions’ in Teaching History, 113, Creating Progress Edition

– Counsell, C. (2004) ‘Editorial’ in Teaching History, 115, Assessment Without Levels? Edition– Fordham, M. (2013) ‘O brave new world, without those levels in't: where now for Key Stage 3

assessment in history?’ in Teaching History, Historical Association Curriculum Supplement, Curriculum Evolution

– Lee, P. & Shemilt, D. (2003) ‘A scaffold not a cage: progression and progression models in history’ in Teaching History, 113, Creating Progress Edition

– Seixas, P. & Morton, T. (2012) The Big Six Historical Thinking Concepts, Toronto, Nelson Education.

• Also recommend reading the whole of Teaching History Issue 157 which has articles on assessment after levels, progression models, knowledge testing, assessing substantive knowledge and using timelines in assessment

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