Teachernet, Making Good Progress pilot

Making Good Progress pilot — improving progress through Key Stages 2 and 3

On 6 June 2007, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Alan Johnson, announced that nearly 500 schools across England had been chosen to run a major two-year pilot from September 2007. The pilot is trialling new ways to assess, report and stimulate progress in schools, so that no child stalls or gets stuck at any stage.

We know that despite our best efforts, there are still some pupils who do not make adequate progress in our schools. The pilot aims to raise rates of progression throughout the Key Stages through the introduction of five measures:

Assessment for Learning: Teachers in the pilot are tracking pupils' progress to sub-level termly in reading, writing and mathematics using Assessment for Learning techniques to ensure that they know where each pupil is with their learning and what the next steps should be.
One-to-one tuition: Up to ten hours of one-to-one tuition in English and/or ten hours in mathematics will be offered to up to ten per cent of the participating Key Stage 2 and 3 cohort across pilot local authorities. Eligible pupils will be those who entered the Key Stage (2 or 3) behind national expectations in English and/or mathematics, or who appear to be 'stuck' or 'slow moving' during the latter years of the Key Stage.
Single Level Tests: Once teachers are sure that the pupil is operating securely at the next level they can enter them for a 'single-level' test to confirm this judgement.
Progression Targets: Pilot schools have introduced targets to increase the number of pupils making two levels of progress.
Progression Premium: A payment to recognise the work of schools in improving rates of progression for those children, having entered the Key Stage behind expectations in either English and/or mathematics, and who go on to make two levels of progress.

By trialling these elements, the pilot will:

help schools to motivate children to achieve more every day in every class; teachers will be able to zero in on children who are 'coasting' or at risk of falling behind
test the impact of short bursts of one-to-one tuition in English and maths
enable teachers to enter pupils for a test at the next National Curriculum level when they think that they are ready
focus on the progress of children in the key transition years from primary to secondary school, tracking them through Key Stages 2 and 3 (7 to 14 years old).

A range of different schools has been involved in the pilot: single-sex and mixed schools, grammar schools, academies and a pupil referral unit (PRU).

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