Assessment is a topic which often generates more heat than light, especially at Key Stage 3. In many ways, for all that has been written on the topic, things haven’t improved much over the past two decades. This is certainly true of primary history where it occurs as a weakness in virtually every OFSTED annual report. The most recent described it as being good in only one-quarter of primary schools!! At Key Stage 3 assessment remains one of those items on the Subject Improvement Plan that never seems to be ticked off as done. QCA has recognized this and is pouring even more resources into projects to create on-line exemplification. Look out for a detailed critique of the materials on this site once they are published. It would be easy to be cynical about the likelihood of its success. Previous attempts to shift department’s practice have largely flopped. Hardly any department I work with still uses any of the exemplification material from 1997, and even the publication of teacher assessment activities for history for Key Stages 1-3, produced by QCA as recently as 2006, is a well-kept secret. Few schools have even heard of them, let alone bought them.
This section outlines the key indicators of progression. The other section looks at each strand in detail. We all need to understand what constitutes progression in history, but much more importantly we need to be able to apply this general awareness to specific topics...
