Data Management News October 2010

Hello It has been a while since I last wrote to you with an update on RAISE and data generally. You will have followed in the press that the new government through the renamed DfE, intend to put data at the centre of their monitoring and inspection process. So although the SEF as a document seems to have a limited life, data will get an increased focus. RAISEonline is maturing as a system and becoming more reliable and also more functionally rich. Schools in the primary phase are increasingly using the optional test capability to evaluate their year 3, 4 and 5 test results although there is still little take-up of the target setting option, with schools choosing to use FFT or some other mechanism for setting target grades. There is little news on the timetable for release of the invalidated data, although the KS1 interactive reports should be available from Tuesday with the full report for KS1 available a few days later. KS2 is likely to follow in the next half term but the RAISE team are currently still working on the new tables to cope with the fact that many school results will be based on teacher assessment as tests were not taken by all. KS4 unvalidated data is likely to be available closer to Christmas. There have been a number of other developments on RAISE over the summer, the biggest being the creation of a new Library area which has a number of CPD materials within it. I will email more on the increased functionality later in the term. Cocentra continue to offer the RAISE Awareness report to provide an independent expert's view of your school’s attainment and progress data against Ofsted criteria. This has proved very popular with schools in recent years, the cost remains the same as 2009 for both Primary (£295+VAT) and Secondary (£395+VAT). If you have any questions about RAISE or any other data matter, including training please feel free to ring me or email on the contact details below. Regards Andy