QCDA has just published the online exemplification of standards materials. These provide much more than just examples of levels. They provide an illustration of good assessment practice and embrace the principles of good assessment which is at the heart of APP. These materials were prepared quite explicitly to develop assessment practice in line with APP. It is not yet clear whether the government will actually take the next step and make the links explicit in the website. However, this is not particularly relevant because the materials themselves do the work anyway. They refer to the three key areas for assessment which have informed all iterations of assessment criteria for the last 25 years. These are 'Understanding Art, Craft and Design', 'Creating Art Craft and Design' and 'Exploring and Investigating'. The materials illustrate how these can be evaluated and what might constitute evidence. For instance, in what students make, what they do and what they say or write).
What the materials emphatically do NOT do is constantly seek to label students with a level every three days. They unpack how assessment can draw attention to strengths and weaknesses and what students need to do to improve. I have written elsewhere about assessment issues and produced some working papers which can be found on the art pages in Bucks Grid for Learning. I think these QCDA materials are important and they do challenge the practice of constantly 'leveling' students which is too often an exercise in meaningless labeling rather than informed assessment.
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