Creating an Ofsted story: the role of early years assessment data in schools' narratives of progress

This paper explores the growing importance of measures of progress in judgements of schools' effectiveness in England, with a focus on the role of the early years (settings for children aged 2-5) in providing data for these measures. Qualitative data from a research project involving three dive...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of sociology of education 2017-10, Vol.38 (7), p.943-955
Main Authors: Bradbury, Alice, Roberts-Holmes, Guy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Standards
Accountability
Administrator Surveys
assessment
baseline assessment
Children
Data
Data Collection
Early Childhood Education
early years
Education reform
Educational sociology
Evaluation Utilization
Evidence Based Practice
Foreign Countries
Governance
Interviews
Narratives
Ofsted
Outcome Measures
primary schools
progress measures
Progress Monitoring
Qualitative Research
Reification
School Effectiveness
School Statistics
Schools
Teacher Surveys
Teachers
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Summary:This paper explores the growing importance of measures of progress in judgements of schools' effectiveness in England, with a focus on the role of the early years (settings for children aged 2-5) in providing data for these measures. Qualitative data from a research project involving three diverse school-based and pre-compulsory early years settings are used to explore how teachers and school leaders prioritise the collection of data in their every-day practice, in order to show how children make continual progress. The need for a narrative of progress as children move up through the primary school, an 'Ofsted story' for the school inspection service, is discussed alongside recent policy which requires a 'baseline' assessment at age four. We argue that there is a reification of progress in schools and early years settings, and that this changes the status of early years within the sector.
ISSN:0142-5692
1465-3346
DOI:10.1080/01425692.2016.1202748