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What is covered:
- Context of my education teaching practice;
- Importance of initial assessments;
- Importance of diagnostic assessments;
- Records of initial/diagnostic assessments;
- Sample Assessment paper;
- Sample Assessment mark scheme;
- Student reviews;
- Evaluation of session plans;
- Tracking sheet;
- Internal verification;
- Student feedback;
- Feedback to Assessor sheet;
- Alternatives to record keeping.

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Youth Education Project is a diverse learning environment that offers direct support to help young people to develop transferable skills and explore potential employment or further training opportunities. YEP will assist young people to help them make informed and positive decisions about their own future. We aim to provide young people with independent living skills and this is achieved through pastoral support and a range of vocational and academic courses.

We will be looking at the range of assessment records used within the organisation and within the Functional Skills Maths department.

http://youtheducationproject.org.uk

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The bksb Initial Assessment (English and maths) tracks the Functional Skills Standards and satisfies the updated core curriculum for English and maths from Pre-Entry Level to Level 2. The Initial Assessment tool is dynamic and adjusts the level according to the answers given – allowing the learner to see what level they are currently working at.

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT VERIFIED BY BKSB

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The bksb Functional Skills Diagnostic Assessment (English and maths) tracks the Functional Skills Standards from Entry Level 1 to Level 2. We also provide assessments that assess generic English and maths at Level 3. When a learner completes the Diagnostic Assessments in English and maths, it provides them with a percentage score and produces an interactive Individual Learning Plan (ILP) which highlights their skill gaps and directs the learner to the appropriate resources they need to use in order to fill those skill gaps.

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT VERIFIED BY BKSB

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INTERNAL BODY

Initial/diagnostic assessments are carried out online, via BKSB, with results being saved on the system. This is then forwarded to the manager at YEP who retains these records. These are then used to make learner plans and are shared with the teachers.

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INTERNAL BODY

Student reviews are updated every 4 weeks. It identifies what the student has successfully improved on along with further improvements in order to maximise their potential.
An example of a student review follows:

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EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT VERIFIED BY INTERNAL ASSESSOR WHICH IS THEN CONFIRMED BY BKSB

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The mark scheme is used to mark the assessment paper and allows a judgement to be made on whether it's a pass or a fail. The mark scheme includes the assessment guidelines as well as what the functional skills maths requires the learner to have knowledge of.

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INTERNAL BODY

My lesson plans are evaluated at the end of each lesson. Evaluation includes:
- students absent/present
- which parts of the lesson went well/not so well
- which students worked well with what and those that didn't
- any improvements to be made for future reference

Evaluating allows me to monitor students progress lesson by lesson as well as allowing me to discover their strengths and weaknesses. These can then be implemented in future session plans.

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EXTERNAL BODY

The Functional Skills IV tracking Sheet may be used to track which assessments have been sampled from one assessor.

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INTERNAL BODY

Student feedback is essential in improving teaching/learning. It allows the teacher to understand what the student has learnt or what he/she finds difficult.

Sometimes, as plenaries, I ask students what they have learnt or what they have found difficult. This allows me to identify their learning progress.
However, student feedback questionnaires are given at the end of each session, asking what they thought of the lesson.

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EXTERNAL BODY

It is a requirement of some of the assessments that a 10% sample should be observed by an internal verifier. This document may be used to record the observation. If the centre has its own observation record sheet, this may be used as long as it records the information required by the NOCN form as a minimum.

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The IV Feedback to Assessor Sheet may be used to give more detailed feedback to an assessor.

EXTERNAL BODY

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Records of initial/diagnostic assessments should be readily available for tutors, especially for maths and english tutors, so the teacher can implement the needs the learners thereafter. At the moment, this is only available if you ask the manager yourself.

Student reviews should be completed after each unit/topic. Clear progress can be made and can be easily differentiated as the tutor can recognise which topics each individual needs more work on.

Evaluation of session plans is a personal choice of mine and not what other teachers do. I think this would be extremely helpful if all teachers took part in this as it can be used to write students reviews as well as self-improvement.

Students should be given personal course tracker sheets where they can tick off the topics they have completed and those that they haven't covered can be clearly seen. It gives the learners perspective into their learning.

Student feedback is essential and must be implemented at all times. This is currently not the case at YEP and is not stressed enough.