The terms ‘achievement’ and ‘attainment’ are both used in the Scottish educational context in connection with learner outcomes. Attainment, as an indication of levels of performance in assessment and qualifications contexts, is of critical importance. However, it cannot be the only measure of success. Some indication of the broader personal outcomes associated with the learning and development of the ‘all-round’ individual is also required. HMIE uses ‘achievement’ as the overarching term which includes both attainment in qualifications and success in those broader aspects.
Signpost to improvement in achievement Teachers/responsible adults:
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Sector reports in Section 2 identify a number of strengths in educational outcomes in national and international contexts. They highlight many positive indicators in terms of the overall quality of learners’ attainment. However, there is still significant room for improvement. For example, progress in attainment is uneven at different stages, across different educational establishments, within individual establishments and for different groups of learners.
The various ways in which attainment in Scottish education has been accredited and certificated have, in the last quarter of the 20th century, been largely successful in the context of the curriculum of the day. Scottish qualifications are held in high esteem internationally.
The establishment of 5-14 levels of attainment against which to assess individual progress provided an improved framework for progression but one which teachers found difficult to implement fully beyond English language and mathematics. Approaches to allow schools to benchmark pupils’ performances and share standards across all areas of the curriculum, with a view to improving pupils’ learning and achievement, should be found and developed.
Certification at Standard Grade was particularly successful in allowing almost all learners to be accredited for what they had achieved. The more recent national qualifications introduced for all learners at the post-S4 stage have provided new opportunities for them to have their learning accredited, whether they are in secondary school, special school or college.
However, our qualifications system has been developed piecemeal over the last 25 years, focusing at different times on different stages of education, often in tandem with relevant curricular changes. In addition, some qualifications in certain subjects are now, for various reasons, outdated.
Scottish schools provide opportunities, through what is currently known as ‘extra-curricular’ or sometimes ‘out-of-school’ activities, for pupils to develop skills, aptitudes and positive attributes across a range of contexts. These include sport, the creative arts, community and charity work, intellectual pursuits and many others. Some such activities encourage pupils to stretch themselves and face personal challenges or to extend horizons by engaging with broader human, global and environmental issues. Some are recognised formally, while others, including those offered in many special schools, make important contributions to pupils’ personal and social development in ways which are difficult to measure. School efforts are extended by activities offered through CLD providers. FE colleges also increase the range of experiences offered to learners through, for example, life skills programmes and citizenship-related activities such as voluntary work, enhancement activities including study or trips abroad and participation in competitions related to learners’ areas of study.
If the ambitious aspirations set out for young people in Scotland are to be realised, action is required to formalise many such arrangements. Education authorities and schools, working with CLD staff, should find ways of bringing such activities more into the mainstream of provision for all learners, rather than leave them as part of ‘extra-curricular’ activities which depend on the good will of staff.
Current initial developments in tracking learners’ activities and in recording, accrediting and celebrating their achievements need to be encouraged and promoted. A Curriculum for Excellence, with its focus on education from 3 to 18, presents a unique opportunity to take a more holistic view not only of the curriculum, but also of assessment and qualifications procedures and the accreditation of broader aspects of achievement.