Primary School Assessments data.

Summary

The requester asked for details on primary school assessment practices and data storage, but the Department of Education stated it does not hold the specific information as recorded data under the FOI Act. Despite the formal refusal, the Department provided advisory answers explaining that assessments are continuous, data is held by individual schools, and aggregate performance data is retained by the Department.

Key Facts

• The Department does not hold the requested information as it is not recorded in any form, which is a requirement under the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• Primary school assessments occur continuously within lessons, at the end of units, and through external accreditation.
• The purpose of assessment is to determine what pupils can do and what they still need to learn to tailor educational programs.
• Individual pupil data is retained by schools, while the Department retains aggregate data on school performance.
• The Department advised future requests to be specific about recorded information such as reports, minutes, or emails.

Data Disclosed

• 2020-02-20
• 2020-03-18
• 1190349
• Freedom of Information Act 2015
• IM1 5EZ
• (01624) 685808

Exemptions Cited

• Information not held (not recorded in any form as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2015)

Original Request

Are Primary school children assessed annually in schools? What is the purpose of assessing primary school children? What type of assessment do primary school children have? How are primary school assessments administered? Where do the assessments take place? Where is the above data held? What is the data kept for? Best Wishes Mrs Warr

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Corporate Services Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Hamilton House Peel Road, Douglas IM1 5EZ Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im Our ref: 1190349

18 March 2020 Dear ###, We write further to your request which was received on 20 February 2020 and which states: "Are Primary school children assessed annually in schools? What is the purpose of assessing primary school children? What type of assessment do primary school children have? How are primary school assessments administered? Where do the assessments take place? Where is the above data held? What is the data kept for?” Response Our response to your request is as follows: While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. This is because the answers to the above questions are not classified as information, which is defined in the Freedom of Information Act 2015 as: “information” includes information recorded in any form.
In this case the information is not recorded however on this occasion, by way of advice and assistance, the Department will provide answers to your questions which we hope will be of interest to you:

Are Primary school children assessed annually in schools? Assessment of pupils in schools takes place continuously, within lessons, at the end of units of work and more formally through recognised external accreditation. What is the purpose of assessing primary school children? The primary purpose of assessment of pupils in schools is to determine what pupils can do and what they still need to learn. This, of course, allows a teacher to determine what programme of learning is most appropriate for an individual, a group or a class. In addition to this, recognised external accreditation allows an individual to demonstrate their level of knowledge, skills and understanding of a particular discipline against an external benchmark. What type of assessment do primary school children have? While the Department does not generally determine the format of assessment, all school pupils are subject to assessment in different formats. This can include self- assessment, peer assessment, observation and discussion, questioning, informal quizzes and tests as well as more formal end-of-unit assessments. How are primary school assessments administered Depending on the purpose of an assessment, it will be administered in different ways and in different contexts. Many will take place in classrooms while it would be appropriate, for more formal assessments, for pupils to be assessed in an ‘exam’ setting (often a hall or large classroom space) Where do the assessments take place? Please see above Where is the above data held? The Department retains aggregate data on the performance in exams of schools/whole cohorts. The data for individual pupils is retained by schools. What is the data kept for? Retention of the data allows the Department and schools to consider trends in overall school performance over time and to monitor variation across schools and within schools. Guidance for any future FoI requests For any future Freedom of Information requests the Department advise you to request information held as a record/recorded in any form and to follow the guidance issued by the Information Commissioner: Keep it simple, specific and focused Specifying the types of information that you're interested in (e.g. information contained in reports, minutes, or email correspondence relating to the issue)

Please quote the reference number 1190349 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Coordinator