Changes to scores in the Tapestry for some children in the 40-60+ age

[Lauren]

Hi everyone,
There is a change coming to Tapestry regarding the way some of the scores in the Analysis section are calculated which we want to let you know about. This change only relates to whether children are seen as reaching their age-related expectations in the Analysis section of Tapestry (but not Snapshots) when the child has been assessed as 40-60+ and has been given a refinement. It follows on from another change that we made at the very end of last year. We are planning to make it live on Tapestry early next week (week beginning the 20th of March).
If you know you have not assessed any of your children in 40-60+ age band or if you don’t use refinements or if you only use snapshots then you do not need to read this (but feel free to if you’re interested!).

 

Up to the 1st of December
Up until the 1st of December, children who were more than 60 months old were getting a minus number in the attainment section of Tapestry because they were seen as being outside of the age band.
If they were between 40 and 60 months old however, their score would depend on which refinement they were given, but they would be at worse -13 (if they were 60 months old and assessed as 40-60 emerging) and at best +13 (if they were 40 months old and assessed as 40-60 secure).
In snapshots they would show up as green (reaching age related expectations) regardless of their refinement presuming they were older than 40 months.

 

From the 1st of December until now
Because 61+ month olds were showing up as having a negative attainment in the analysis attainment picker screens, but the age band is 40-60+, not just 40-60, a change was made to Tapestry which meant that children who were older than 40 months and who had been assessed as 40-60+ were set to always have an attainment of 0 (i.e. be reaching ARE).
The snapshots still showed everyone as green, but this change inadvertently also made it so refinements weren’t taken into account when calculating attainment in the analysis picker screens, meaning that a 40 month old who was 40-60 secure had an attainment of 0 (rather than 13) and a 60 month old who was 40-60 emerging had an attainment of 0 (rather than -13).

 

Now
We are making a final change which will mean that refinements are taken into account again in the analysis section. This means that you may notice a few changes in the analysis area:

• A child who has been assessed as 40-60 emerging and is 48 months old or older would have had an attainment of 0 for the last 3 months, but now their attainment will be a minus number.
  
• A child who has been assessed as 40-60 developing and is 54 months old or older would have had an attainment of 0 but will now be a minus number.
  
• A child who has been assessed as 40-60 developing and is 40-46 months old would have had an attainment of 0 but that will now be a positive number.
  
• A child who has been assessed as 40-60 secure and is 40-52 months old would have had an attainment of 0 but that will now be a positive number.
  
• A child who was assessed as 40-60 developing or secure and is 39 months old or younger would have had a positive attainment but that will now be a larger positive number.
  
• A child who was assessed as 40-60 secure and is 61 months old or older will stay the same – their attainment will be 0.

You can work out how scores will have changed in any particular circumstance using the chart below. In both you need to find a column based on their assessed age band and refinement and a row based on their age in the mid-point of the term, then find where that age band and refinement and actual age meet. Anywhere where the colours are the same for both charts mean that the scores won’t be affected when we make the calculation change next week.
If your child’s age isn’t on the chart then just follow the pattern of that column, e.g. 40-60E for a 37 month old would be 3 in both charts and 40-60D for a 37 month old would be 3 in the first one and 10 in the second one.

 

 

Progress Picker Screen

If your attainments have changed, it’s possible that the progress you will see on Tapestry will too, but that depends on the exact circumstance.

 

Here are some examples:

 

• Sam is 42 months old in Term 1 and was assessed as 40-60 emerging. She is 45 months old in Term 2 and has now been assessed as 40-60 developing. Previously her progress would be 0 because her attainment would have been 0 in both terms, now however it would be +2 because her attainment in Term 1 is 0 but her attainment in Term 2 is +2.
  
• Alex is 55 months old in Term 1 and was assessed as 40-60 emerging. He is 58 months old in Term 2 and is still assessed as 40-60 emerging. Previously his attainment would have been 0 in Term 1 and 0 in Term 2, but now he is -8 in Term 1 and -11 in Term 2, meaning his progress is now -3.
  
• Jo is 48 months old in Term 1 and is 40-60 developing. In Term 2 she is 51 months old and 40-60 developing. Her attainment was 0 in both terms previously and will still be 0 in both terms, so her progress was and still will be 0.

You can work out how it’s changed for you by finding the attainment for your child in each term in the above charts then working out the attainment of Term 2 minus the attainment of Term 1. The first chart will tell you their progress previously and the second chart will tell you their progress now.

 

Comparison group screen
The percentages you can see in your comparison group screen could also be affected by this change. They show you the percentage of children at or above actual age, so if you have children who have been assessed as 40-60 emerging and are 48 months or older or children who have been assessed as 40-60 developing and are 54 months and older (look at the red boxes on the second chart to visualise this), your percentages will go down.

 

If you have any questions please email us at customer.service@eyfs.info and we’ll be happy to help.