---

Consultation on proposals for target setting at Key Stage 3

Audience:   Headteacher, Chair of Governors, Local Education Authorities and other relevant

                    bodies.

Status:   Voluntary

Date of issue:       October 2000

Reference number:  DfEE0279/2000

Related documents: Circular 11/98 Target setting in schools

Executive summary

Overview

This consultation sets out the strategy for improvement at Key Stage 3 and invites comments on the Secretary of State's proposals to extend the current target-setting framework to introduce a requirement for all maintained middle and secondary schools to set targets for pupils at this Key Stage. It also provides an opportunity for schools to comment on the proposed national milestones and targets for 14 year olds for 2004 and 2007. The consultation paper has been sent to a large sample of maintained middle and secondary schools but all schools are encouraged to look at the paper on the DfEE Standards website. It is also available on request from Prolog.

Action required 

 

The closing date for responses is Friday 15 December 2000.

Please send your response to:

Consultation Unit

DfEE  Level 2B

Castle View House

PO Box 12

Runcorn

Cheshire

WA7 2GJ

   

Further information

e mail: target.setting@dfee.gov.uk

Tel:     020 7925 6703

CONSULTATION PAPER ON ARRANGEMENTS FOR TARGET SETTING AT KEY STAGE 3

Introduction

National curriculum test results have revealed significant improvements in the standards of attainment of pupils in primary schools.  Since 1998 there has been a 10% improvement in the numbers of 11 year olds achieving level 4 and above in English (4% in 2000) and 13% in Maths (3% in 2000).  This tremendous progress is due to the hard work and determination of primary school teachers and pupils and puts them on course to meet the targets set in 1997 for 80% of pupils to reach the expected standard for their age in English and 75% in Maths.

Secondary school teachers will now be receiving an increasing number of pupils who are literate and numerate and this gives them a stronger platform on which to build.  The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies have also had a positive impact on other subject areas.  In Science, for example,  there has been an increase of 7% this year in the number of pupils arriving in secondary schools at the expected standard for their age (now 85%). 

The challenge now is for secondary schools to build on this achievement.  Over the last few years Key Stage 3 results have not shown the same consistent progress that we have seen at Key Stage 2.  There was some encouraging progress this year in Maths and Science, with increases of 3% (to 65%) and 4% (to 59%) respectively in the number of pupils achieving level 5 and above, but the results for English were disappointing with a drop of 1% (to 63%).

The goal is to transform the early years of secondary education.  To do that we are piloting a Key Stage 3 Strategy which will need to offer secondary schools the same level of support that primary schools have had through the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies.  In developing the strategy we have drawn on that primary experience, as well as on the best practice that already exists in secondary schools and on research evidence about what really works.  Some of you are involved in the pilot and playing an active and crucial part in shaping that development. 

The four key words that lie behind the Key Stage 3 Strategy and encapsulate its aims are:

Expectations:  high expectations of every individual pupil in every subject and a constant drive to raise standards.

Progression:   continuous progression in teaching and learning from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 and beyond.

Engagement:   opportunities for all pupils to benefit from a range of teaching approaches and contexts designed to unlock their motivation. 

Transformation: a programme designed to build the capacity of teachers to use a wide variety of proven teaching approaches.

As well as piloting new programmes for English and Maths, building on the literacy and numeracy strategies, together with programmes in Science and ICT, we are also developing a programme called Transforming Teaching and Learning to improve standards across the whole secondary curriculum.  This will include training and support materials in thinking skills, assessment for learning, individual pupil target-setting and pupil motivation and engagement. 

We will be working closely with the pilot schools on issues of transition, the impact on underachieving groups and how best schools can deliver the new programmes within their timetables.   In all the strands of the pilot we will be looking to the pilot schools to give us feedback on their experience so that we can refine the training programmes and materials before national implementation and ensure that they are of the very highest quality. 

We recognise that introducing such a large scale programme of change needs to be carefully planned and phased.  The first priority has been to develop the new programmes in English and Maths.  Draft frameworks have been produced, with teaching objectives which show a clear progression from the primary frameworks and which will help secondary schools immediately to build on and consolidate pupils’ prior learning.  The effectiveness of these frameworks is being tested in pilot schools, but all schools have been sent the draft Year 7 framework for mathematics.  The draft English framework for Years 7-9 is on the Standards website (www.standards.gov.uk) and available on request from Prolog (tel: 0845 60 222 60, ref: DfEE 0129/2000). 

The use of the frameworks is being supported in pilot schools by training for English and Maths teachers and training for other subject teachers to improve the teaching of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum.  A vital part of the strategy is to ensure that all children who enter secondary education below the expected standard for their age are helped to catch-up with their peers, and new Springboard materials are being developed for teachers to use with these pupils.  

The English and Maths programmes will be the first strands of the strategy to be introduced nationally from September 2001.  New English and Maths tests - Year 7 Progress tests for pupils below the expected standard for their age, and optional Year 7 and 8 tests for other pupils will be available before then for all schools to use.  We will publish revision guidance by the end of this term to help schools use the Progress test.  You will receive details about the tests and how to order them in the QCA’s Assessment and Reporting Arrangements booklet.

The national implementation of the English and Maths programmes in 2001/2002 will be supported by a £50 million grant programme through the Standards Fund.  This is on top of the £10 million investment in the pilot programme which we will be repeating next year, together with a further £22 million for summer schools.  Local education authorities already have information about the new Standards Fund programme which will provide funding for the costs of teacher training, literacy and numeracy consultants for Key Stage 3, catch-up programmes and leading maths and literacy teachers.  

Targets are a vital element of this framework.  We have seen in primary schools and at GCSE the contribution they have made to raising attainment by providing both motivation and challenge.  They can play an equally important part in the Key Stage 3 Strategy.  The first step we are proposing is the setting of school-level targets for 2002 for the percentage of pupils to achieve level 5 and above in English, Maths and Science.  We believe that these targets will help schools in providing a clear focus for the first year of the new strategy.

The proposals for Public Service Agreement milestones for 2004 and targets for 2007, including new floor targets for Local Education Authorities for 2004, are challenging.  Nationally, as well as at local education authority and school level, they will be key to driving up standards.  We are confident that with the commitment and enthusiasm of schools, backed by the Government’s support, they are achievable.  We welcome your views. 

CONSULTATION

The purpose of this consultation is to invite your views on the Government’s proposals for:

i)    the introduction of school target setting for the end of Key Stage 3; and

ii)  new Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets for Key Stage 3.  

The closing date for responses is 15 December 2000.

School target setting at the end of Key Stage 3 (Proposal 1)

The Government proposes that the Governing Bodies of all maintained schools whose pupils take Key Stage 3 tests should be required to set and publish separate school targets for the percentage of pupils attaining level 5 or above in English, Mathematics and Science.  Schools would be required to set the first Key Stage 3 targets by the end of April 2001 for the tests in 2002.  It is proposed that the Regulations would be made and guidance issued to schools about the new targets by March 2001. 

Targets for 2002 would not be included in Education Development Plans (EDPs), but it is intended that in subsequent years school target setting at Key Stage 3 would brought in line with the EDP process.    

Public Service Agreement Targets for Key Stage 3 (Proposal 2)

The Government proposes that:

·       by 2007, 85% of 14 year olds should achieve level 5 or above in each of the Key Stage 3 tests in English, Maths and ICT and 80% in Science;

·       as a milestone towards those targets, 80% of 14 year olds should achieve level 5 in Maths; 75% in English and ICT; and 70% in Science by 2004;

·       for 2004, a minimum performance target will be set which will result in higher standards for the bottom 20% of pupils and narrow the attainment gap.

It is proposed that the minimum performance target should be to increase by 2004 the percentage of 14 year olds achieving level 5 and above to:

·       at least 65% in every LEA in English and Maths, and at least 60% in Science.

The Government will be consulting in due course on revised guidance for the next round of Education Development Plans which will cover LEA target setting after 2002.   The consultation on this proposal is concerned only with the national framework. 

CONSULTATION RESPONSE PRO FORMA

Please use this pro forma for your response, adding continuation sheets if necessary.

NAME                                    _________________________________________________________________

ORGANISATION               _________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS                            _________________________________________________________________                                                 _________________________________________________________________

TELEPHONE                        _________________________________________________________________

Please tick the type of organisation  that you represent:

Middle School

Secondary School

Special School

LEA

Other Please give details

_______________________________________________________________

KEY STAGE 3

Proposal 1

The Government proposes that the Governing Bodies of all maintained schools whose pupils take Key Stage 3 tests should be required to set and publish separate school targets for the percentage of pupils attaining level 5 or above in English, mathematics and science.  Schools would be required to set the first Key Stage 3 targets by the end of April 2001 for the tests in 2002.  It is proposed that the Regulations would be made and guidance issued to schools about the new targets by March 2001.  For subsequent years Key Stage 3 would be set at the same time as other targets.

Question 1a:

Are there any points you want to make about the introduction of statutory school level targets for 14 year olds?

Yes

No

Comments:

Question 1b:

Do you think the targets should be extended to include ICT, in line with the proposed PSA targets?

Yes

No

Comments

Proposal 2

The Government proposes that:

·       by 2007, 85% of 14 year olds should achieve level 5 or above in each of the Key Stage 3 tests in English, Maths and ICT and 80% in Science;

·       as a milestone towards those targets, 80% of 14 year olds should achieve level 5 in Maths; 75% in English and ICT; and 70% in Science by 2004;

·       for 2004, a minimum performance target will be set which will result in higher standards for the bottom 20% of pupils and narrow the attainment gap.

It is proposed that the minimum performance target should be to increase by 2004 the percentage of 14 year olds achieving level 5 and above to:

·       at least 65% in every LEA in English and Maths, and at least 60% in Science.

Question 2a:

Are there any points you want to make about the proposals for 2007 targets?

Yes

No

Comments:

Question 2b:

Are there any points you want to make about the proposals for 2004 milestones?

Yes

No

Comments

Question 2c:

Are there any points you want to make about the proposals for LEA minimum performance targets for 2004, including whether they should be extended to cover ICT?

Yes

No

Comments:

Question 2d:

Do you want to suggest any alternatives for a minimum performance target?

Yes

No

Comments

Your response may be made public unless you indicate otherwise.

Please send your response to:

Consultation Unit

DfEE  Level 2B

Castle View House

PO Box 12

Runcorn

Cheshire

WA7 2GJ

Note about physical education
The Government believes that two hours of physical activity a week, including the National Curriculum for physical education and extra-curricular activities, should be an aspiration for all schools. This applies throughout all key stages.

	General addresses Basic Skills Agency Association for Science Education (ASE) British Educational Communications and Technology agency (BECTa [formerly NCET]) British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) The Centre for Educational Management (CEM) Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) Standards and Effectiveness Unit SEU [for access to schemes of work] DfEE - SEN division DfEE - Schedule 2(a) Adult Learners DfEE - Qualifications Department for Education, Northern Ireland (DENI) Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Electronic Training Village hosted by CEDEFOP Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) Further Education Development Agency (FEDA) Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) Government Information Service (GIS) Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) SchoolNet The Stationery Office Training Standards Council (TSC) New National Curriculum (Curriculum 2000) Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)