Once, twice, three times a failure: time to permanently scrap statutory Reception Baseline Assessment in England?

In this research introductory post, David Meechan, Simon Halfhead, Dr Zeta Williams-Brown and Dr Tracy Whatmore share some insights from their study into the impact of the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) which, despite efforts to reduce pressures on workload, was introduced in September 2021.

The Early Years Foundation Stage in England has now been in place for over fifteen years. During this time both statutory and non-statutory documentation has been revised several times. 2020 to 2021 saw the reform of the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework in its entirety, including the accompanying non-statutory assessment guidance known as Development Maters (DfE, 2020). This provided changes to expected practice; including the amount of evidence production required by practitioners and aimed to reduce pressures on workload. Workload is a core component that has contributed to high levels of teacher attrition over the years. Despite this, the reform also included the statutory introduction of the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) from September 2021. The introduction of the RBA had twice previously failed in 2015 and 2018 (BERA, 2018).

The research explores the impact of this statutory assessment on children and teachers, from the perspectives of key stakeholders, mainly Reception based teachers themselves. The RBA must be conducted within a child’s first six weeks of starting Reception class. The test also demonstrates a conscious move away from traditional baseline practices in Reception class that are based on observation. The statutory introduction of the RBA contradicts the other key intentions of the EYFS reform in 2020, that was to trust the judgement of practitioners, without the need for unnecessary evidence, and by doing so, provide practitioners with more time with young children.

The research involved a survey based study that generated responses from 47 different local authorities across England. It included the use of scale and rank questions and provided participants with a platform to further elaborate on their rationale for each ranked response with open-ended responses afterwards. The findings highlight that most participants did not consider the assessment as beneficial to themselves, children or parents. Furthermore, the RBA negatively impacted children and practice during the crucial first six weeks of Reception Year. The study also considered how stakeholders are continuing to navigate the RBA as it is statutory. Many participants in the study, however, called to scrap this form of assessment. 

References

British Educational Research Association (2019). A Baseline without Basis. [online]. https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/a-baseline-without-basis Accessed on 8th February 2023

DfE (2020). Development Matters: Non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage. [Online]. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1007446/6.7534_DfE_Development_Matters_Report_and_illustrations_web__2_.pdf Accessed on 8th February 2023

Long, R. and Danechi, S. (2022). Teacher Recruitment and Retention in England. [Online]. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7222/CBP-7222.pdf Accessed on 8th February