I’ve been trying to work out the most efficient and effective system in using APP for personalised assessment. Previously to this, I have selected 6 children for Maths, Reading and Writing and gathered evidence for them on a termly basis. This has worked fairly well, particularly for Literacy. With Reading, I have then filled out an individual grid for each child in the class which has really helped me track gaps and decide on next steps. I have wanted to use a system that would also work on an individual basis for Writing and particularly Maths as I have found the APP grids for it to be a little less easy to access than the Literacy grids.

I will still gather evidence for 6 pupils but instead of filling out the paper grids half termly then not doing an awful lot with them until the next half term, I will update my assessments for those pupils into a spreadsheet at the end of each Literacy or Maths unit. After this, in the same spreadsheet, I will assess the other members of the class. This will allow me to monitor progress and reflect on the best way to move children on all from one location. I won’t need to thumb through 30 grids and work out where there are correlating gaps or next steps to develop as a group, I can simply sort the spreadsheet by the APP statement within a level.

In short, I want APP to play a crucial role in setting next steps rather than being used purely as a summative assessment. I have made the Google spreadsheets copiable so if this is something you think might help in your classroom, please make a copy by clicking the links below and they will appear in your Google Docs list. Simply add a ‘1′ into any cell where that child has achieved that APP statement. The cell will then turn green allowing you to easily spot gaps or you could sort the column. I don’t know how manageable it will be yet but I believe that the extra effort will be worth it!

Reading APP Spreadsheet

Writing APP Spreadsheet

Maths APP Spreadsheet