Making Expected Progress
“Making expected progress” is one of the most misunderstood phrases in education. In my teaching career I have witnessed many, many parents walking away from a Parents’ Evening looking extremely satisfied that little Jonny is making “expected progress” in maths.
What hasn’t been clearly explained to those parents is that little Jonny is on course to fail his maths exam at GCSE (16-years).
That’s right.
The phrase “making expected progress” doesn’t mean what parents imagine it means. It evokes images of hard work, good improvement, and of “hitting markers”. In reality, it doesn’t necessarily mean any of those things.
Whose Expectations?
The most important question is “whose expectations,” those of the parent or those of the teacher? It may come as a surprise to you that these are rarely one and the same thing.
Teachers understand and accept that not everybody can pass. In fact, take a subject like mathematics.
In 2019 just 50% of 16-year-olds in England achieved a PASS in GCSE Mathematics.1 Half. That means that the other 50% FAILED GCSE Mathematics. The government hides this data by claiming that anything above a 4C (rather than a 5C) is a pass.
That is a lie.
Any reasonable mathematics teacher or honest examiner will privately tell you that a level 4 is equivalent to an old grade D, a ‘fail’. It is level 5 and above that is in alignment with an old grade C, a ‘pass’.
We are being systematically lied to and on an industrial scale.
Teachers accept that “expected progress” for many of their pupils means that they will go on to fail GSCE examinations, however they fail to explain this to parents, and instead hide behind the technically truthful statement “Little Jonny is making expected progress in maths.”
How are teacher expectations calculated?
This is a question that you don’t really want to know the answer to. It’s not unlike how laws and sausages are made…
Target and expected grades (and levels) are created using algorithms.
Let’s look at the information collated and used to create ‘predicted/expected grades for GCSE’s.
The school will use; CATSs and SATs data along with whether or not the child has a statement of Special Educational Needs, an Education Health and Care plan, is a Looked After Child, and/or has been on Free School Meals within the previous 5 years.
Some teachers may look at mock exam results and use their own judgement, but the overwhelming majority allow the above data to be plumbed into the computer and accept the algorithm’s findings.
It isn’t only at GCSE where computer algorithms are used to decide what happens to your child.
In year 7 children are set according to ‘ability’ for subjects such as mathematics. This is done by way of the results from the SATs exams sat during year 6 and sometimes by way of CATs exams sat in year 7.
Once again algorithms are adhered to over and above classroom observations.
I went up 3 sets in mathematics in year 8 because I hadn’t done especially well on the CATs I sat in year 7, but kept scoring 90%+ on all class tests in actual mathematics lessons.
This is an example of computer data being preferred over classroom observation - or REAL-WORLD experience.
Most teachers are unaware of how much control the computer has over their department and their school, let alone the extent to which it influences their attitudes towards the children in their classroom.
Attitude to learning trumps aptitude
We have seen classroom experiments such as Pygmalion in the Classroom which show that how a teacher behaves towards a child has not only a massive impact upon academic outcomes but also the self-esteem and happiness of that individual.
Having a talent for mathematics isn’t any good to a child who feels unloved by their teacher.
Even with the best will in the world it isn’t possible for a teacher to give of their time equally to 20-32 children in their classroom. It is an impossible task.
Sadly, those who are above average but are not exceptional get the least attention.
The lion’s share of a teacher’s energies is forced towards disruptive students, for obvious and vital reasons, then the children with SEN, followed by the gifted and talented children.
What little is left, is then divided between all of the rest of the class.
Do the maths, as they say.
How to change “expectations”
The best weapon parents have in their fight against the school system failing their child - and 50% of them WILL fail - is to Home Educate.
The one-to-one attention your child receives regarding academics makes all the difference.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to pull your child out of school (though God knows you should for a myriad of reasons let alone the academic ones such as the subject of today’s article).
However, one of the things you can do is set aside time each week to cover your own mathematical (or other) agenda. As little as one good quality 1-2-1 in maths per week can make a momentous improvement in your child’s confidence and competence in the subject.
You can start RIGHT NOW
Don’t wait until you’re ready, you’ll never be ready.
Don’t wait until you have time, you’ll never have time.
Don’t wait until after the holidays, you’ll make another excuse.
START RIGHT NOW.
This afternoon I shall be delivering a masterclass in “school maths”.
Why you SUCK at maths
Sunday 3rd April 15:30 - 17:00 UK
This is for parents of children aged 7 to 14 years. All you need is paper and a pen!
I will cover what is going wrong in mathematics at school, why helping with homework is *not* helping, and what you can do to best support your child whether they are in school or are home educated.
Click HERE to reserve your place.
Action conquers fear; be brave, do something
Sarah Plumley
Thinker-Teacher-Truther
Click here to reserve your place for Why you SUCK at maths
A FOI request had to be made to obtain this data, which tells its own story! Here is the link to the appropriate gov.uk webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/key-stage-4-performance-2019-revised where you need to click on ‘Subject Data’, which will lead you to the raw data: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F863126%2F2019_Revised_KS4_Subject_data.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK