Getting the measure of

EARLY YEARS
ASPECTS

Pre-school Assessment

PIPS Baseline
for Reception

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 2

The earlier
you can
assess
children
the better you can help them to
achieve.

A group of children fresh to the world of the classroom are unknown quantities. A teacher needs to
get an idea of what individuals already know and can do as a starting point to help them develop their
potential. But how?
Using experience and observation the teacher gradually builds up a picture of their capabilities.
Although valuable, the process is of course subjective, and can take several weeks. To reinforce
teachers insights the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) provides comprehensive, fast to use
and reliable methods to measure what matters:

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 3

The CEM difference

(we know what works)

Support and training

What sets CEM systems apart is their pedigree.

They work in the classroom because they
are based on evidence from over 30 years of
scientific research as part of Durham University,
a World Top 100 university. You can rely on our
independence as a not-for-profit organisation
dedicated solely to improving teaching and
learning for children and young people.

To help you administer CEM assessments we

provide manuals for each system. Then to
enable you to derive the most from your data
we offer support online and by email. We are
always happy to explain feedback and what it
means directly over phone. We also organise
in-school training and teacher conferences both
in Durham or on site and at centres around the
world.

Every year CEM systems measure the attainment

and progress of over a million pupils from age
3 to 19 in around 70 countries. The results
of assessments give teachers a broad and
accurate picture of a classs ability range. This
enables them to provide appropriate learning
opportunities for the level at which a child is
working. For school leaders the feedback is a
rich source of data for planning.

Through such constant contact we learn from

schools experience of using CEM systems. This
refreshes the fund of knowledge built up since
we pioneered evidence-based measurement
in 1981 and enables our team, who include
qualified teachers, to develop even better
products - more cost-effective for staff, more
enjoyable for pupils and make a positive
difference to their prospects.

ASPECTS Pre-school Assessment for Nursery up to age 4

PIPS Baseline for Reception up to age 5

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 4

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 5

ASPECTS

Pre-School Assessment. Now you can provide whats right for the child
right from the start.

When children enter Nursery education its a

challenge to assess what they know or can do
regarding language and maths or who they are
as personalities. ASPECTS quickly makes their
capabilities clear. Designed for children aged
three at the earliest. The ASPECTS (Assessment
Profile on Entry for Children and Toddlers) system
is based on research on the value of establishing
an objective baseline for key educational areas.
Language concepts of reading and print;
letters, words and sentence identification
Maths concepts of maths (bigger/smaller,
taller/shorter), number recognition, counting
and simple sums
Phonological awareness repeating unusual
words

Schools can also opt to measure

PSED - personal, social and emotional
development
Motor development
Once ASPECTS has provided an accurate view
of the spread of abilities, the teacher can
confidently address the needs of individual
children and organise pupils of similar
attainment into groups to work together on
appropriate learning activities.

Easy to use, fun to do

To assess early numeracy and literacy skills
a teacher or another trained adult sits with
individual pupils as the ASPECTS computer
program asks them about a series of pictures on
screen, for example How many jars are there?
The presentation uses storybook style graphics

and a friendly voice asking the questions. The

child answers by pointing to one of the options
or saying the answer. The teacher records the
childs response by selecting the answer on the
screen and the program moves on to the next
stage.

Computer adaptive
A special feature of ASPECTS is its computer
adaptive design. That means it will continue
on to new pages and ask questions until the
child begins to get a few answers wrong, then
it continues the story but does not ask more
difficult questions. Thus the level at which the
child feels comfortable is settled upon as the
baseline for planning further learning. Children
find it fun and are never stretched to the point of
feeling failures.

The whole assessment takes around 20 minutes

per child. Because it happens one-to-one,
the process gives the member of staff the
opportunity to engage with and get to know
children early on in their education. There is no
marking or paperwork involved. The program
records everything.
The PSED and motor development elements of
ASPECTS covers several areas of development.
For each one the teacher observes the child
around the nursery and selects from five
alternatives the description which best fits the
childs behaviour. For motor development, the
pupil performs simple actions.

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 6

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 7

The idea of assessments that adapted the level of the questions to a childs
previous answers, while also offering key diagnostic indicators for reading and
mathematics, as well as data for tracking seemed too good to be true.
Meath Green Primary School

Feeding back pupils progress

As a measure of how children have progressed
during their time in Nursery they take the
ASPECTS follow-up assessments near the end
of the last term. If the nursery is attached to the
school, the follow-up can take the form of the
PIPS Baseline assessment. This saves having to
run this test at the end of Nursery.
When the ASPECT assessments are complete
the school emails the class data to Durham or
uploads it to the schools own secure areas
on the CEM website. Our system immediately
generates scores for language and maths.

age group in CEMs large national sample. Both

the current teacher of this cohort of children and
their next teacher in Reception can see which
pupils are falling behind, excelling or coasting.

Count on the benefits

More broadly the graphs reveal trends and

patterns which can help with future lesson
planning and direction for the whole nursery. We
also supply similar charts for motor development
and PSED profiles.

Enables teachers to pinpoint those with

specific needs or who are gifted and talented

Easy to use, reliable, robust and proven

Provides objective, independent baseline
analysis

Supports practitioners own observations

Measures hard to observe ability areas
Informs planning

The feedback is made available on the CEM

website as charts and tables for the class
showing what each child has achieved in
language and maths over their time in nursery. It
also compares their performance with the same

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 8

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 9

PIPS

Baseline and follow-up for reception. A solid platform for planning and predicting
childrens progress.

How a child develops during the first year

of school is crucial in determining progress
throughout their school career. This has long
been a truth universally acknowledged in the
world of education. But not until 1991 did an
objective, evidence-based system appear for
measuring childrens capabilities when they first
come to school.
Performance Indicators in Primary Schools
(PIPS) pioneered by CEM, was a milestone
in educational assessment. It remains the
benchmark. Used in schools worldwide, PIPS
has proved to have very high reliability when
children are tested at the start the year and retested at the end. It is also an excellent predictor
as validated by measurements of progress later
in school.

Quick, easy and accurate

Adapts to ability level

At the start of Reception its a priority to find out

what the different children already know and
can do. The teacher can then plan lessons and
organise the class into different ability groups.
This can take time and involve value judgements.
PIPS Baseline makes the process quick, easy and
accurate.

The questions progressively get more difficult

until the child has got a few wrong, then it moves
on to the next section of the assessment. This
happens because PIPS is computer adaptive.
It identifies the level at which the child feels
comfortable as the baseline for planning further
learning.

To assess early numeracy and literacy skills

a teacher or another trained adult sits with
individual pupils as the PIPS computer program
asks them about a series of pictures on screen.
The presentation uses storybook style graphics
and a friendly voice asking the questions. The
child answers by pointing to one of the options
or saying the answer. The teacher records the
childs response by touching the screen and the
program moves on to the next page.

The whole assessment takes up only 20 minutes

or so per pupil. For the child its like a game. For
the teacher it provides a one-to-one opportunity
to get to know each new pupil early on in their
schooling. There is no marking or paperwork
involved. The program records everything. Then
CEM does the processing and generates the
feedback.

Assesses what matters over time

PIPS Baseline is made up of assessments which
our research shows to be accurate predictors of
later educational achievement - maths, reading,
phonological awareness and attitudes to school.
These are administered in the first few weeks
and as a follow-up in the last weeks along with
optional assessments for PSED (Personal, Social
and Emotional Development), short term memory
and behaviour. Scores for the original test are
compared with follow-up scores in value-added
charts showing each childs progress. The version
for Scottish Schools (PIPS Primary 1 Baseline)
caters for differences in the national curriculum,
but broadly speaking covers the same ground.

10

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 10

In the primary school we run both the ASPECTS for Preschool and the PIPS Baseline
test for Reception. This has been an invaluable tool as it offers insight into the type
of children making up our initial intake. There are many positive aspects to using
CEM assessments:
They are easy to administer, particularly the online versions.
Data is returned relatively quickly.
The assessments are research driven so instil a confidence in their accuracy.
The support from the staff in Durham is superb.
Teachers, learning support, subject leaders, assessment managers have data for
prediction, tracking and identification of needs.
Value- added analysis.
The Alice Smith School, Kuala Lumpur

Getting the measure of EARLY YEARS 11

The value is in the feedback

A unique set of benefits

When the PIPS Baseline assessments are

complete the school emails the class data
to Durham or uploads it to the CEM website.
Our system generates scores for each child
immediately. Then we process the information
into charts which give a picture of each childs
performance in a class perspective for reading
and maths over their time in Reception. We also
supply PSED and behaviour profiles. In total the
feedback comprises:

Proven over more than 30 years to provide

a highly accurate baseline to gauge later
progress

Standardised scores for reading, mathematics

and phonological awareness

Motivating and enjoyable experience for

young children

A box and whisker plot showing the groups

range of abilities. The majority of children are
clustered in the centre box with high and
low performers along the whiskers on either
side

Quick transfer of classroom data for

processing into clear and comprehensive
feedback reports

A scatter plot showing how much progress a

child has made compared with others with
similar starting points

Reading Vocabulary is assessed by identifying

objects within a picture (Show me a carrot, a
butterfly, a yacht etc.) Childrens concept of
reading is gauged by identifying some writing,
a letter, a sentence etc. Reading skills are
revealed by letter and word recognition and
comprehension.
Maths Understanding of mathematical concepts
is covered by questions about objects on screen
bigger/smaller, taller/shorter. Other tests are
about number identification, shape recognition,
problem solving and simple sums.
Phonological Awareness This precursor to
reading asks children to relate words to sounds
by hearing and repeating unusual or nonsense
words and asking them to find words that rhyme.
Attitudes To find out about childrens early
impression of school they are asked about

various aspects such as Do you like listening

to stories? Then they select either a sad face, a
smiley face or a neutral one.
PSED The program presents eleven areas (e.g.
Adjustment to School environment) each with
five alternative statements. Based on day-to-day
observation the teacher click on the one that
best fits each child in turn.
Short term memory The program shows a series
of coloured circles on the screen. The child is
asked the order in which they appeared on the
screen.

No other system rivals its robustness in

assessing cognitive development in just 20
minutes
Test/retest reliability rating of 0.98 for maths
and reading
Excellent predictive validity correlates at
0.68 level with age 11 assessments

Computer-adaptive tests provide a

customised test for each pupil
Well established, stable testing platform

Progress charts for reading and mathematics

comparing the childrens and classs
attainment with the same age group in CEMs
large national sample.
Predictions of the chances of each child
achieving particular National Curriculum
levels at the end of Key Stage 1
An indicator of their attitude to school
Given this varied landscape of data, the class
teacher can see which pupils are falling behind,
excelling or coasting. They can then tailor
activities to individual needs. The Key Stage 1
teacher inherits this information and gains a
head start in educating the cohort. More broadly
the school can identify trends and patterns to
inform plans to improve future outcomes.

Behaviour At the end of the year the teacher

marks the point on different scales (e.g.
carelessness) which fits their observation of each
child, helping to identify those with persistent
problems, such as hyperactivity.

11

For more information about these assessments,

telephone 0191 334 4223
or email primary.support@cem.dur.ac.uk

www.cem.org