Frequently Asked Questions
CHOOSING INSIGHT
Will INSIGHT replace KS3 SATS?
INSIGHT is more than simply a KS3 replacement; it will enable you to help determine what pupils know and can do in relation to the curriculum. But it also measures progress, potential, value-added and attitudes.
Is INSIGHT suitable for schools in England and International Schools?
Yes, INSIGHT contains Maths and Science elements which have been specifically developed against the English National Curriculum. If your school follows the English National Curriculum, or an equivalent in an independent or international school, then INSIGHT can offer all of its benefits in terms of profiling what your children know and can do. Additionally, INSIGHT offers a very cost effective solution to international schools as it is entirely computer-based so there are no carriage or marking costs.
Is INSIGHT suitable for schools in Wales and Northern Ireland?
Yes, INSIGHT contains Maths and Science elements which have been specifically developed against the English National Curriculum. The curriculum-based elements have been checked against the Welsh and Northern Ireland curricula and we found a large overlap with the INSIGHT assessment. The Developed Ability and Reading assessments are virtually curriculum-free.
Is INSIGHT suitable for Scottish Schools?
Yes if your students take GCSE examinations. INSIGHT contains Maths and Science elements which have been specifically developed against the English National Curriculum therefore it is relevant to Scottish schools who follow this curriculum. If your school is following the Scottish 5-14 Curriculum and you would like to know about CEM’s S2 assessments specifically developed for the 5-14 curriculum or its 3-18 successor, please contact us or visit www.soscaproject.org
When are the assessments taken?
The Year 9 INSIGHT assessments are taken within a 4-week period; 20th April – 15th May 2009 for the academic year 2008/9. You can timetable the assessments to suit your school, however all must be completed online, or files returned for processing by the end of Friday 15th May 2009. This will allow us to analyse and report findings before the end of term which should aid you in finalising setting arrangements and in the process of arriving at your teacher assessed results. (We can allow late-joining pupils or absentees to be tested - up until the end of September 2009 – please contact us to arrange this.)
What if my school is already using MidYIS or Yellis?
It very much depends on what you want from monitoring systems – when and how often you want to test your pupils during their school career, whether you’re looking for KS3 equivalent levels or simply KS4 predictions, etc. MidYIS compliments INSIGHT by providing a baseline for secondary school, from which value added measures to INSIGHT (included in the cost) will give you measures of progress for the lower part of secondary school. Contact us directly and we can help you determine which systems are best suited for your school’s requirements.
Why do you only assess Reading, not writing, or English as a whole?
Currently INSIGHT only assesses a pupil’s reading standard. However, this has been shown to correlate very well with pupils’ later achievement in English GCSE and as such will be an excellent predictor of later performance. We are also able to provide specific examples (fiction and non fiction) of the kinds of texts that are suitable for each student depending on their Reading scores. Finally, we are currently piloting a product that will assess pupils’ writing skills as well as teachers’ marking leniency/severity. (If you would like to get involved or find out more, please contact )
RUNNING THE ASSESSMENTS
How do we install INSIGHT?
INSIGHT is simple to install and deliver. It uses the same system that we have developed for our highly successful CABT (Computer Adaptive Baseline Test), SOSCA, and other CEM on-line tests. You simply have to copy the INSIGHT files onto your LAN (one directory and its sub-folders) and pupils access it over the school’s network. Moreover, subsequent removal is merely a matter of deleting that folder.
We also offer a web-based version if your school's network is tied down. You will need to have a reliable internet connection sufficiently wide and quick enough for several of your pupils to use at once.
What are the technical requirements for INSIGHT?
Due to the varying capacity and reliability of schools' internet connections we provide two versions of the software:
For the Downloadable Standalone version, running on your local area network, you require:
- Windows PC Network.
- Macromedia Flash Player version 9.
- Machines must be capable of launching ActiveX components (i.e. ActiveX enabled).
- At least 35MB of disk space.
- Computer screen resolution of 800 by 600 or above
For the Online (Internet) version of the test you require:
- Access to an Internet Browser: we have tested our services on IE version 6 and Mozilla Firefox version 1.5.
- Cookies enabled.
- We recommend that Pop-ups are enabled.
- Macromedia flash player version 9 (if you do not have this version, please consult www.adobe.com)
How do we administer INSIGHT?
Each of the four INSIGHT Assessments can be taken in any order and at any time during the April/May assessment window in Year 8/9. Hence schools can timetable them to fit in with lessons and to suit the availability of computer resources. Having said that, we usually recommend running one test per week, in the following order: Reading, Maths, Science, and Developed Ability, uploading the response files at the end of the week and using the Student Test Log to check if anyone has missed a test.
To start an Assessment, pupils will log in to their school network, then click on a shortcut to the relevant test. After they have identified themselves, pupils will progress through the Assessment at their own pace. Each Assessment should take less than an hour for pupils to complete, although the Developed Ability session is a little longer than the other sessions, partly due to the non-timed questionnaire section, and so we would advise that this session be timetabled before a break if possible.
FEEDBACK
When do I get the first feedback?
One of the main advantages of using INSIGHT is the timely feedback, following the close of the assessment window. We envisage feedback being provided from early June.
What measurements of performance will INSIGHT provide?
Standardised scores for all sections and sub-sections; also KS3-equivalent levels, such as 5b or 4c, for the Reading, Maths and Science sections. To help you interpret these results, INSIGHT offers detailed documentation and examples of the kind of texts or questions pupils can understand/answer given their scores on each section of the INSIGHT Assessments. For more details see the INSIGHT website and feedback.
What measures of pupil progress will INSIGHT provide?
INSIGHT currently offers up to two progress indicators: The MidYIS baseline (where available) to INSIGHT Reading, Maths and Science; and INSIGHT to GCSE. These value-added indicators provide a measure of your pupils’ progress for the lower part of secondary school to the end of Key Stage 3 and for the last two years of compulsory schooling to the end of Key Stage 4.
How do you assess potential?
We provide predictions and Chances Graphs showing each pupil’s likely results in the majority of subjects at GCSE (full, short and vocational subjects). The comprehensive curriculum-based and ability-based measures provided by INSIGHT can sometimes provide a different pictures of likely achievement for a pupil – information a teacher will want to know. It can show the difference between high ability and hard work or low ability and underachievement.
How can you make accurate predictions to GCSE when pupils haven’t taken both INSIGHT and GCSE yet?
We use the relationships already established over many years by systems such as MidYIS, Yellis and SOSCA, together with sophisticated statistical modelling techniques. These are updated yearly and as we build on our data bank.
What do you mean by assessing attitudes?
INSIGHT collects attitudes to Science as part of the Science Assessment and also provides a survey to ascertain the pupils’ attitudes to school, education/career intentions, and support for education in the home. We report the pupils’ attitudes to Science at a cohort level against other INSIGHT participants as well as at an individual level. The survey on school attitudes etc. is confidential and reported anonymously against responses from other INSIGHT participants.
REGISTRATION
What does it cost, and when do we pay?
The cost for INSIGHT has been set very competitively. We are a not-for-profit organisation and strive to assist schools and teachers as much as possible.
Costs are:
| Number of pupils in year group | Fixed Fee | Rate per pupil |
| 1-60 | £275 | £11 per pupil |
| 61-100 | £539 | £6.60 per pupil |
| 101+ | £869 | £3.30 per pupil |
| Invoices will be distributed in June 2010. | ||
When do I need to register?
You can register from now until the end of March 2010. The registration form can be found online at www.cemcentre.org/insight. Simply complete it and fax or post it back to us.
Where can I find out more?
Email:
Tel:
Web: www.cemcentre.org/insight
Durham University