Is school teacher 'cheating' a bit?

[sickntiredtoo]

DD in new class.We had parents evening and teacher showed us current level and target level (always 2 sub levels higher)
.I asked how the current level had been assessed and she said she had administered a test.I asked to see it and when she got it out the test , her score was a sublevel above what the teacher had said her current level is.
This sounds to me like the teacher is making life easy for herself ie DD only has to make 1 sublevel progress, but it looks as though she has made 2.
A similar thing at the end of Y2.DD got 1 mark off fullmarks on the L2 maths test, but then wasn't entered for L3? I asked why she wasn't entered for L3 and the teacher said that she worked slowly through the test (which didn't have a time constraint) so they didn't have time to do the L3 one????
Presumable this would have helped their value added score to keep KS1 attainment levels down?

Don't worry, levels are gone. So she will not be getting any level reported in year 6.

No, the teacher is not 'cheating' you have just misunderstood how teachers assess their pupils. We don't and can't do it from one test result. We assess the children every single day.

My performance related pay isn't linked to my pupils achieving two sub levels progress as they don't exist and technically never have.

But levels haven't gone have they? they are still being used to gauge childrens progress within schools, even secondary schools where is must be at least 5 years since sats were abolished
At least unofficially schools must have to monitor teachers' performance by assessing their pupils progress objectively. One would hope so anyway,

Yes levels were scrapped from September

We have a new national curriculum with no national assessment system from Sept

Nope. Levels have gone in secondary school too.

Schools are being left to adopt whatever assessment strategy they wish. We have been working with our local primaries to try to come up with a consistent approach within the region.

And also the ending of the SATs exams at KS3 did not end levelling then. Teacher assessment alone has been used to do that and is more effective that a single exam.

But levelling has now ended across all age groups from September.

Of course teachers can manipulate teacher assessment results to their own ends, whether they do or not is a different matter. But there is certainly:

1. Opportunity: assessment based on continual observations, during interactions, such as mrz described "...continually assessing their pupils (many times each day) in order to plan what they need to learn next..."is by definition subjective. Added to this I would question it's accuracy if, as I have had experience of class teachers, personally, not spending much time interacting with my own DC (to the extent they were extremely, visibly, surprised at SAT results and could not answer questions about progress during the year).

2. Incentive: some Head Teachers have required 2 sub levels of progress for each child. I have read about this here and on teaching forums. I have also read, on forums, posts from teachers complaining over colleagues 'inflating' grades.

I do not think it is somehow wrong, not to trust teachers implicitly, at all. They are not infallible and should be prepared to answer questions concerning their judgements and decisions based on them, the same as any professional, really...

' Levels have gone in secondary school too'
In what sense gone? National assessments gone maybe, but they are still assessed internally and reported to parents in our school, anyway'.

The levels related to children achieving criteria on the old curriculum. From September, we have a new curriculum, so it doesn't make sense to assess children versus the old curriculum.

Regarding entering children for L2 and L3 at the end of KS1, I thought the teacher could only enter them for ONE paper, based on their previous performance....so either the higher paper (L3) or L2. If I am correct, your child was judged to be L2 based on teacher assessment, which is the most important aspect of the overall judgment, and so put in for that paper.

Even if they had taken a L3 paper and achieved sufficient marks, unless they performed consistently at that level in class, they would only get L2. So I think you might be placing too much emphasis on the test.

And by the way, when was the assessment taken which showed just one sub level below the end of year target? Perhaps it was early Oct and so actually your daughter has made early progress towards her goals.....or was it a test administered at the start if Sept? Again, unlikely that the test alone is used to assess current performance or set targets.

The school will be assessed against her achievement at KS1, so 2 sub levels above whatever that was, would be a normal goal.....not a fudge to make it easier. Achieving 3 sub levels in a year at KS2 is meant to be very hard.

And of course, all of this relates to the old system which is now defunct for years such as Yr3, but which many schools still seem to be using.

Is there a primary teacher out there who can confirm if I'm right that pupils can only be put in for one paper at the end of KS1....or could, under last years system?

No, sick, Levels have gone. National assessments went at KS3 years ago.there is a programme of study that needs to be taught but no levels at all.

We now assess in different ways and with no levels. Your school may choose to continue with level reporting but I think they would have a tough time explaining why to OFSTED as the Government feel there was a strong argument for moving to assessments without levels.

Assessment reform
As part of our reforms to the national curriculum, the current system of ‘levels’ used to report children’s attainment and progress will be removed from September 2014 and will not be replaced. By removing levels we will allow teachers greater flexibility in the way that they plan and assess pupils’ learning.
The programmes of study within the new National Curriculum (NC) set out expectations at the end of each key stage, and all maintained schools will be free to develop a curriculum relevant to their pupils that teaches this content. The curriculum must include an assessment system which enables schools to check what pupils have learned and whether they are on track to meet expectations at the end of the key stage, and to report regularly to parents.

Quoted from DFE document HERE

My emphasis = 'levels' have gone and are not being replaced. Using old levels is pointless as they refer to the old curriculum not the new. End of Key Stage is the important comparison, not (non-existent) sub-levels within a year.

To understand the small role tests play in awarding levels in Year 2 try reading THIS - see Section 5. Levels are never awarded on test scores. It can be easy for a child to get enough "points" to be a level on a narrow range of test questions, without operating consistently at the level across the full range of strands required in teacher assessments. The document above also explains why your DD was not entered for L3 maths. Hurray - a teacher following the testing regulations - See Section 6.2.

Finally, OP have look HERE for the new curriculum if you haven't seen it already. To make things "interesting" for KS2 some subjects have Programmes of Study for combined Years 3 & 4 and Years 5 & 6 (English) or across Years 3 to 6 in Foundation Subjects.

Capsium, I do agree with you. I am saddened that sick seemed to jump straight to the cheating explanation before appearing to have discussed it with the teacher. In her position, my first reaction would be to assume that my DC was close but not yet secure enough at that level for it to be reported and that s/he needed more time and practise to reach it.

Xposting Jewel! Good links.