Involving senior pupils in negotiating personal attainment targets and in reviewing their progress

What were the issues?

Raising the attainment of senior pupils has been a whole school priority for some time and indeed our efforts have met with some success. Staying on levels from S4 to S5 have increased from 74% in 1998-99 to 80% in 2002-03, a more satisfactory level. There had been a significant rise in the number of pupils achieving five or more credit awards - from 23.5% to 32.5%, surpassing targets. However, review of National Qualifications outcomes, including Highers, showed a plateau with minor ups and downs just reaching or narrowly missing targets, so the challenge of adding value to pupils' Standard Grade results remained. Consultation with upper school students, parents and teachers, however, has indicated that while learning and teaching seemed to be effective, many pupils lacked both the confidence and self-esteem needed to be as successful as they might be. Our initiative attempted to raise the aspirations and self-esteem of senior pupils by giving them more responsibility for setting and reviewing attainment targets and learning goals, in negotiation with their teachers. We approached this by ensuring that, at the beginning of the session, every class teacher negotiated and agreed a target grade in the subject with each of the pupils in the class. The targets were then to be reviewed jointly by the teacher and each pupil once every six weeks. Parents were then informed of their son's or daughter's progress towards the agreed targets. This process clearly has implications for staff time and ways of organising classes. However, it was thought the positive outcomes would justify the additional efforts required.

Negotiating individual attainment targets with pupils

We were aware that even though all pupils are actively involved in choosing courses for fifth and sixth year, many have little idea about their likely success in the subjects of their choice. Mean Grade Point Average (MGPA) information, supplied by the Scottish Executive Education Department provided us with a useful starting point that allowed us to begin discussing attainment targets with pupils (see Picture 5). We explained that MGPA is a measure of prior attainment and that in general pupils with the same prior attainment in fourth year tend to perform similarly in fifth year. While MGPA only provides significant information for pupils who are studying for Higher Grade, all pupils across the ability range were included in the initiative. It was agreed that, since class teachers have detailed knowledge of pupils and of their work, they are best placed to negotiate subject targets with pupils. All class teachers agreed to do this with their pupils. Pupils and teachers were, therefore, given information about each pupil's predicted grades based on MGPA - where this was relevant - and were asked to agree a realistic but achievable grade for each subject. Parents then received a letter from the school telling them about the targets agreed by their son or daughter.

The first review of the target setting process produced mixed results. Where teachers had spent time with pupils and had entered into real discussion, there was clear evidence of improved motivation and self esteem. This is illustrated by comments from one-fifth year pupil:

I was not sure how well I would do in fifth year. Talking to your teacher about targets lets you know that you can do well . . . and it makes you work harder.
Neil

A number of pupils, however, reported that not all of their teachers had negotiated a target with them, some had simply imposed one. Where this was the case, pupils were less committed to achieving their target grades and showed little evidence of enhanced self-esteem.

Involving pupils in reviewing their own progress

Every six weeks teachers were asked to review and discuss progress towards targets with individual pupils. Where a pupil was making expected progress this was acknowledged by the class teachers. Where a pupil was making less than the progress expected, the reasons for this were discussed and steps to improve the situation agreed. After each review class teachers provided information about each pupil. This information was collated and all parents received a report on their son or daughter's progress towards the agreed targets. Guidance staff were also involved (see Picture 6).

Teachers who took time to discuss progress were highly valued by all pupils. This was true not only when teachers were satisfied with individual pupil progress, but also when a teacher was expressing concern. One S5 pupil commented:

It is good to know how you are doing. When you are told that you are doing well it motivates you to work hard. Even when there are problems you can try to do something about it.
Michael

The key to motivating pupils who are experiencing difficulties appears to be whether or not the teacher discusses the difficulties with them. Many pupils described at least one occasion in the past when they only became aware of a teacher's concerns once their parent had received a progress report. All agreed that when this happened it had an opposite effect to what had been intended. Pupils spoke about being resentful when this happened and about how it had a negative effect on their motivation.

Further developments

Teachers engaging pupils in target-setting and review appears to contribute to enhancing pupil self esteem and motivation. Significantly improved attendance in the upper school, more senior pupils participating in the wider life of the school and positive feedback from teachers contribute to the perception of an improved ethos. Our next step will be to ensure that the current good practice in this area used by many staff currently is adopted across the whole school.

We feel that, because the pupils in the upper school have ownership of targets, the targets form a good basis for discussion on progress and next steps. Moreover, in many cases, we were surprised at the accuracy of the pupils in assessing their own ability.
Teacher

Conclusion

The two aspects of development that we have described show that we have endeavoured to encourage further participation in school decision making by all of our pupils and students at whole school and individual levels. The ethos and morale of staff have allowed them to back the developments in pupils' interests even when the developments require changes in staff practices. While there are issues still to be addressed, our aims remain:

	to increase all our pupils' sense of self-belief
	to ensure that every member of our school community is valued equally and will, given time and support, participate in the process of moving forward together.