Consistency counts – or does it?

Abstract

All stake holders in competency based teacher training systems share an interest in the consistency of assessment outcomes and practice. Assessment data from more than 200 trainees participating in Initial Teacher Training/Education (ITT/E) programmes and partnerships at a Higher Education (HE) provider in the Northwest of England were analysed during the academic year 2014-15.

At four formal review points the overall teaching grades received by trainees were compared across five ITT/E programmes leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Several statistical approaches were employed and compared. All the methods indicated consistency of outcomes across the programmes for the final summative assessment.

Two statistical methods were used to investigate the strength of correlations between grades awarded for individual teaching standards and the trainees’ overall teaching grades. Both demonstrated that all individual standards were positively correlated with overall teaching grades.

The second and qualitative phase of the study is ongoing and uses Q-Analysis to illuminate these initial findings by seeking to identify clusters of subjectivity amongst mentors and tutors when prioritising statements about assessment. It is too early to report any results from this phase.