John Slavin – PTC Mathematics
Catherine Kerr PTC Science gave a presentation on the new Senior Phase Benchmarking Tool on the 6th December in St. Margaret’s Academy. The new SPBT will be used in place of the STACs which recorded the SQA results.
There are several major differences in the two systems. The new SPBT will have 7 categories, four national and three local ones.
The overall presentation is much more visual than STACs. The home page shows the dashboard which has the four national measures, based on the national priorities. It is called a dashboard to emphasise the interconnectedness of the measures.
The first is Post School participation. This will show positive destinations. The second is in attainment in Numeracy and Literacy. The third is improvement for all (showing the highest 20%, lowest 20% and middle 60%). The fourth is attainment of pupils relative to their SIMD decile.
The local measures are attainment in curricular areas particular to the school.
The principal difference is that each measure is compared to a virtual rather than an actual school, and to the regional performance. School performance is compared to groups of pupils from around Scotland with a similar background. This should represent a more accurate indication of the pupil performance. Further information such as key features, using the tool and supporting material can be found on The Scottish Government website and on the Engage for Education website.
