WORKING for REFORM

A Manifesto for LearnersA simple set of entitlements for all learners
Support for the development of qualifications into the QCF
Direct access to the QCF by employers?What are the issues in allowing employers to access the QCF on the same terms as awarding bodies and providers?
Understanding the relationship between NOS and the QCFWhat do sector bodies have to say on NOS and credit?
Foundation Learning TierKey research to shape and support the development of the FLT
Initial Assessment and Ongoing ReviewWhy the FLT will only succeed if IAOR is significantly improved
Recognising Prior Learning and Achievement New research reveals strong demand for new approaches to APL and Exemption from employer bodies

ARTICLES

Making Skills Work in the FLT, May 2008 A new learner entitlement? May 2007 The right to make the wrong choices, March 2007 Power to the people, January 2007 The Foundation Learning Tier and APL, September 2006 Reform and Revolution; In Support of Tomlinson, December 2004

Credit Works is a core partner in WeReurope - a project working with 27 member countries to promote intercultural dialogue and learning. Our role is to identify and produce a strategy for recognition of (informal and non-formal) intercultural learning outcomes. WeReurope

Initial Assessment and Ongoing Review

Why the FLT will only succeed if IAOR is significantly improved

This study examined the baseline for Initial Assessment and Ongoing Review (IAOR) in the Foundation Learning Tier (FLT). The reportCloseFull Report
Executive Summary sets out the meaning, scope and purpose of IAOR, examines and evaluates characteristics and practice in a range of different contexts and settings, and looks at the role and contribution of IAOR in relation to the mission and purpose of the FLT.

Initial assessment and ongoing review (IAOR) is a continual process, where a learner’s starting point and needs, together with a learning and support plan are identified with the learner, and then regularly reviewed and amended as the learner progresses. This process is especially important for learning in the FLT. Without a comprehensive and effective IAOR process it is not possible to fully understand learners and their needs or to plan learning and support to help them to succeed.

The analysis from this study has produced a set of characteristics of effective IAOR; nine principles which should underpin the operation of all IAOR for the FLT; and a set of recommendations to support the success of the FLT mission.

The study found good practice and strengths in IAOR but also noted a number of weaknesses. Initial assessment, especially of key and basic skills, was generally consistent and thorough. But IAOR should be about gaining an understanding of the whole person, and the assessment of other aspects was often less effective. Moreover insufficient use was made of the results to plan an individual programme of learning and support that would help learners to progress. Ongoing review was generally less consistent and thorough, was not always clearly connected to initial assessment outcomes or integrated with learning and achievements, and there was little evidence that it led to changes and amendments to learning plans.

The report concludes that effective IAOR is essential to the success of the FLT mission and that IAOR must be conceived as a whole, continual process which is integral to learning and achievement.

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