Creating an Ofsted story: the role of early years assessment data in schools’ narratives of progress |
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| Authors: | Alice Bradbury Guy Roberts-Holmes |
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| Institution: | UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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| Keywords: | Ofsted early years assessment data primary schools baseline assessment progress measures accountability |
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