Qualified Teacher Status skills tests
Both the previous Labour Government and current coalition government regard the quality of teachers as the key element of the education system. In the foreword to the recent White Paper ‘The Importance of Teaching’ (DFE, November 2010) David Cameron and Nick Clegg state:
“The first, and most important, lesson is that no education system can be better than the quality of its teachers”.
AlphaPlus has played a part in setting and maintaining the standards for newly qualified staff entering the profession by working for the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) on a variety of projects relating to the Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) Skills Tests. These tests cover the core skills in numeracy, literacy and information and communications technology (ICT), that teachers need to fulfil their wider professional role in schools, (as compared to the subject knowledge required for teaching). They aim to ensure that all newly qualifying teachers are competent in the core skills regardless of their teaching specialism. Around 32,000 teachers join the profession each year, and each of them must pass tests in each of the three subjects prior to obtaining QTS status, and entering the profession.
The tests are primarily presented as computer marked, on-screen tests, although a range of accessibility options is provided to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities. The current tests are provided by three private contractors: Pearson VUE deliver the on-screen tests via their national network of computer based test centres; BTL Ltd create the on-screen test items and manage the bank of live and archived test material in their Surpass e-assessment platform; and AlphaPlus writes and quality assures the test content.
The content of the skills tests is contextualised, assessing literacy, numeracy and ICT ability in the context of the everyday professional practice of a teacher. AlphaPlus developed test specifications for skills in each subject, which were then finalised in consultation with a range of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and teaching professionals. The specifications aim to ensure that the tests verify that the candidates possess the core skills required.
Every year the test item bank is refreshed with new material, updating content to reflect developments in teaching practice and legislation. For example, responding to the Byron Review (See Safer Children in a Digital World, The report of the Byron Review, March 2008), the TDA, BTL and AlphaPlus worked together to develop and introduce e-safety content into the skills tests. This involved agreeing e-safety best practices with representatives from Becta and the DfES, identifying a curriculum appropriate for the skills tests and then developing content to include in both the ICT and literacy tests.
Quality assurance is a key element of the whole test development process, linking all three private sector partners. At the initial authoring stage there is comprehensive review of the content by the authoring team and BTL. AlphaPlus and BTL also manage an independent review group drawn from current teachers, ITT specialists and subject specialists, who review the content at the initial authoring stage and after creation in the on-screen test delivery environment. Once the draft material is available on-screen, assessment pilots are run, with current ITT students sitting the tests. AlphaPlus analyses the pilot results and, based upon the comparison with a benchmark test, makes recommendations for the alteration of test items and test forms prior to taking test forms to live use in the following academic year. Pearson, BTL and TDA then have a comprehensive User Acceptance Test (UAT) process to ensure that the finalised test items present and mark correctly, prior to a refresh of the live test bank for the incoming September cohort of ITT candidates.
The TDA recognises that, given the high stakes nature of the QTS skills tests, it is appropriate that candidates have clear, unbiased information available on the format and content of the tests. Both AlphaPlus and BTL work closely with the TDA to develop a range of practice material and guidance, comprising both example tests and worked solutions, which is made available to candidates by the TDA via its website. AlphaPlus also produces a range of materials for the whole development team, including a style guide, a glossary and a test coverage matrix to ensure that new tests are consistent with TDA terminology and the existing tests.
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Example tests and support material are available on the TDA website including examples such as the mathematics item displayed here with on-screen support enabled.
The skills tests will continue to evolve. The Government White Paper on teaching ‘The Importance of Teaching’, pledges to review the operation of the tests, with possible changes including: the tests becoming a requirement for acceptance onto an ITT programme rather than an exit test and a precondition to gaining QTS status as is currently the case; reducing the scope for retaking the tests; and finally reviewing the standard at which the pass criteria are set. AlphaPlus is currently working with the TDA to investigate the options for implementing these changes and looks forward to maintaining the relevance and rigour of the skills tests.
