In this post, we’ll explain why we encourage settings to use the integrated Baseline Screen within Tapestry instead of creating an assessment period for this purpose. We often find that settings have decided to add an assessment period for their children’s baseline scores. This may be because they haven’t realised there is a dedicated screen for baselining the children already, or they believe it will suit their needs better. We have found that more often than not, creating an assessment period called ‘Baseline’ actually causes more confusion.
Why we encourage use of a baseline monitoring screen rather than adding an assessment period
Please note that Baseline screens are only accessible to settings using the Cherry Garden or the old Development Matters 2017 frameworks. For the most recent Development Matters guidance, settings should be using our EYFS flag set.
Automatic baseline scores
Tapestry automatically creates a baseline score for each of the children based on the assessments added via observations during the three weeks after the first observation with an assessment was added for them. The baselines can be manually changed, as you might not cover all areas of learning during those first three weeks, or because the assessments added are not a true reflection of where the children are on their baseline scores. This automatic filling in can save you time and also set you on the right direction when baselining your children.
Baseline and assessment period can run parallel
Using the Tapestry baseline screen allows you to have the baseline running parallel to an assessment period. This means that whilst your baseline is running, the assessments you make not only contribute towards the baseline but also to the relevant assessment period. Imagine that your first period – Autumn 1 – runs from 1st Sept – 19th Oct. If you were to create an assessment period called baseline you would either have to start it in August and have it run until August 31st, or you would eat into the Autumn 1 period. By using the Baseline screen, you can have two different sets of assessments running simultaneously. Whilst having a baseline period running in the summer might not be inconvenient for a term-based setting, those settings that remain open all year long will find this unsuitable.
Different baseline periods for different chidren
Using the Baseline Screen will allow you to have different baseline periods for different children. This is particularly important for children who may be transferred to your setting half-way through the year. You may also have children with a longer transition period. This means that the baseline periods must be flexible, so you can have different baseline period lengths and dates for the children in your setting. For example, you may want to baseline John for three weeks, but Ally might need a 6-week long baseline period because they only attend three mornings a week. You might also want to baseline Harry in September, but Olivia is not joining until January. Having the baseline as an assessment period restricts the baseline period for all children – there is no room for flexibility.
Equal progress comparison
Adding a baseline period can also mean that one of your periods is shorter than the rest, so your progress comparison wouldn’t be equal. For example, you might end up comparing a summative assessment score calculated by assessments added over a 2-week period against a summative assessment period calculated by assessments added during a 5-week period.
Allows correct ordering of assessment periods
There is also a lot of confusion regarding the order of the assessment periods. It is important to bear in mind that all new academic years will start on your Tapestry account the moment you hit the first day of the period you have at the very top of your period list (you can check this via Configuration > Assessments > Assessment Periods). In the examples above and below, you can see that my academic year started on the 1st of September.
If you decide to add a baseline period, but have this at the end of your list covering the end of the academic year to 31st of August (as shown in the example below), then your baseline scores for 26/27 would feature in July/August 2027, which may cause confusion.
Untouched baseline if there are changes to assessment periods
Assessment periods might change from one year to another. Though we don’t recommend it, you may decide to change your periods halfway through your academic year, meaning that Baseline assessments could end up in actual periods, and vice versa. This is because changing your assessment period dates will alter your previous summative assessments. Assessments that have been made for observations will be moved to the new term the observation falls within.
This means that any previously generated summative assessments may have different values, because they may cover different observations. If you manually overrode a summative assessment in a previous period, that override will remain, but it may be in a different period. If you make a small change to the dates or just change the period names, then your manually overridden assessments will stay in the period they were set for.
If you make a radical change (say going from termly to monthly periods) then the existing manually overridden summative assessments you have made will be moved to whichever new period contains the last day of the old period. For example, if you had a summer term period that went from 1 May to 10 June, and changed the period to monthly ones (i.e., Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, July etc.), then snapshots in the old summer term period would end up in the new June period, because the last day of the old summer term period was in the new June period.
The baseline screen will remain untouched until you decide to change it. This means that you can use the baseline data when viewing some of our tracking screens by simply selecting the ‘Include Baseline’ option at any point, no matter when the baseline was made.
Similarly, if you create a baseline period and then access the tracking screens you can use the baseline assessment scores for, you might wonder where your data has gone, as when you click on ‘Baseline’ no information is showing up. This would be because you are trying to access the data in the Baseline assessment screen, whilst your baseline data is actually part of your assessment periods.
We hope the points in this post clarify why we strongly advise against adding an assessment period named ‘Baseline’. If you have any further queries, please get in touch with us at customer.service@eyfs.info.
