Citizenship Baseline Assessment

Subject: Citizenship
Level: Secondary
Age Group: 11 - 14
Order Number: 3088

Citizenship has been ignored or 'integrated' into the curriculum for many years, but this is set to change. Schools will have needed to award a citizenship level from 2005, with many schools awarding levels based on tenuous evidence. The Citizenship Baseline Assessment gives the citizenship co-ordinator a powerful tool to address the problem of evidence. The Citizenship Baseline Assessment uses the DFES advice and QCA schemes of work to create a coherent assessment structure that can be used quickly and practically. Students can be tested at the start of Key Stage Three and their progress checked as they head towards the end of the stage with regular tests. Students are presented with fifty accessible citizenship-focused multiple-choice questions in the first part of the test, which allow all abilities to compete on an equal basis. All questions have been carefully graded for language accessibility. The second part of the test involves students writing two essays out of a choice of four, focusing on democracy, law and order, and social integration. Integral to the test is a clear explanation of how to plot student progress once the baseline data has been gathered. The Citizenship Baseline Assessment gives model answers to each essay and advice on how to assess spelling, punctuation and grammar. To aid staff already burdened by marking and preparation, each student's work can be marked in about five minutes.