Now that levels have essentially gone, teachers are looking for alternative approaches to assessing their students. The Level Ladder was a popular way to engage with national curriculum levels in the context of stimulating classroom tasks. Without a replacement to the national curriculum levels, schools and teachers have been left to develop their own assessment model. This is where the ACE Learning Ladders, developed for Key Stage 3 science lessons, can be used effectively to support assessment, feedback and improvement in the new curriculum.

The new ACE Learning Ladders replace the old Level Ladders and use a ‘rubric’ approach to communicate assessment and progress with students. In this case ‘A’ means ‘Advanced’, ‘C’ means ‘Confident’ and ‘E’ means ‘Establishing’. This links to the current system of grades, with A the highest and E the lowest. Whatever the terminology, the purpose of the Learning Ladders is to support teachers and students in highlighting the knowledge, understanding and skills needed and the steps to take to improve.

Although most Science teachers are familiar with Level Ladders, they were not always used as effectively as they could have been. So here I offer my five top tips to support teaching and learning when using the Learning Ladder tasks:

1. The ACE Learning Ladder Tasks can be attempted as a draft, as homework or as a starter in a lesson. This way teachers and pupils can ascertain where they are working at within the topic area.

 
2. Review, using the ACE Learning Ladder, how much the students know, understand or can do at this stage. This can be done using self, peer or teacher assessment. Tick the statements on the ACE Learning Ladder.

 
3. Now choose two or three unticked areas for improvement. Dedicate class time to making the improvements, whether it’s simply the spelling of key words or developing a description or an explanation. Use the activities we have provided in the books to support this transition through ACE. As a teacher you can feedback, guide and provide resources and the students can compare each other’s work. The purpose is to learn and make improvements on the original draft.

 
4. Some teachers find it useful to draw out their own ‘model answer’. Show these to the students and ask them to compare their drafts to the teacher’s model.

 
5. Finally, these ACE Learning Ladder Tasks are not examinations. They are assessments designed to identify areas for improvement and support that improvement, so then the students have a better chance of doing well in their tests.

 
The ACE Learning Ladders specific to each task are based on generic ACE Learning Ladders. These are detailed in the introduction of the books.

I hope that this helps science teachers and students get the best out of these new activities.

Written by Dr Andrew Chandler-Grevatt

Dr Andrew Chandler-Grevatt is an experienced science teacher and an ex-Advanced Skills Teacher. He is the author of a number of best-selling Badger science resources. He is a teacher educator at the University of Sussex.