GeoInteractive Online Assessment for Geography

The package contains four options and teachers are free to mix and match the various options to suit their own situations and preferences. The aim is not to test the pupils as such but to draw out as much information as is practicable about what they know and understand based on their varying experiences of Geography at primary school. It is equally important, when planning your teaching programmes, to understand what the children do not yet know and understand as well as what they do already know and understand. The planning of the KS3 geography curriculum, whether for two or three years, is difficult where secondary schools draw on a large number of feeder schools and has been made worse by the decline of geography teaching in some junior schools.

The assessments can be used to support value-added data given to the department. Much of the baseline data currently offered is based on KS2 performance in the core subjects and/or CAT tests taken upon entry to secondary school. This data, whilst a useful indicator of general ability, is not specific to Geography and does not allow you to collate information about what the pupils can and cannot do in Geography. Using the Baseline assessments, data for individuals can be used to help identify ‘gifted and talented' geography students and students who need an enhanced level of support. Data for classes can be used to see how they compare early on in Year 7.

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What is Baseline Assessment ? “The measurement and evaluation of children's skills, abilities and knowledge as they enter secondary education.”
Why use a Geography Baseline Assessment package ? The package contains four options and teachers are free to mix and match the various options to suit their own situations and preferences. The aim is not to test the pupils as such but to draw out as much information as is practicable about what they know and understand based on their varying experiences of Geography at primary school. It is equally important, when planning your teaching programmes, to understand what the children do not yet know and understand as well as what they do already know and understand. The planning of the KS3 geography curriculum, whether for two or three years, is difficult where secondary schools draw on a large number of feeder schools and has been made worse by the decline of geography teaching in some junior schools. The assessments can be used to support value-added data given to the department. Much of the baseline data currently offered is based on KS2 performance in the core subjects and/or CAT tests taken upon entry to secondary school. This data, whilst a useful indicator of general ability, is not specific to Geography and does not allow you to collate information about what the pupils can and cannot do in Geography. Using the Baseline assessments, data for individuals can be used to help identify ‘gifted and talented' geography students and students who need an enhanced level of support. Data for classes can be used to see how they compare early on in Year 7.	IMPORTANT NOTICE I regret that it has proved impossible to cover the costs of hosting the website and processing the results of the online assessments and the online service will, therefore, no longer be available from September 2009. For those schools who wish to run their own baseline assessments, the Baseline Booklet is still available to purchase. Place an ORDER now...
Contents:(each assessment can be completed in 20-25 mins) Option 1 contains 80 'I know and I can do' statements which look at a range of basic geographical knowledge and skills. Option 2 is based on geographical vocabulary that the children are expected to have used and learnt in their KS2 work (Source: Primary Schemes of Work – www.standards.dfes.gov.uk). The first 80 words [40 physical geography /40 human geography] consist of words that ‘the children are likely to use' in their KS2 Study Units. This is followed by 20 words [10 physical geography /10 human geography] that the children ‘may also use' according to DfES guidance. Option 3 contains the three KS2 maps of the UK, Europe and the World. There are 65 pieces of knowledge recall tested in this assessment. Option 4 contains a set of traditional multiple choice questions based on the content of seven of the most popular units of study from KS2.