Camsyniadau cyffredin

Where schools do not have effective self-evaluation and improvement processes for looking at learning, it is often because of these common misconceptions or ‘pitfalls’.

Common pitfalls/ misconceptions	Effects
The school relies on a ‘tick-box’ or ‘checklist’ approach when evaluating provision	This tells the school that certain activities are being carried out, but not how much impact they are having on learning. It creates a ‘compliance culture’ where certain specific approaches (e.g. mini-plenaries or self-assessment) have to be delivered, regardless of their relevance or appropriateness. It can promote the expectation that everything (e.g. 4 purposes of the curriculum, literacy, numeracy, Welsh language development, etc.) should be covered in every lesson. It doesn’t help the school to identify specific areas for development or professional learning needs.
The school focuses on teaching activities without considering sufficiently their impact on learner progress	This does not help the school to evaluate the impact that teaching has on learning. It can encourage a ‘showboating’ or ‘bells and whistles’ approach which may not reflect long-term learning.
Activities to look at learning are an annual or ‘one off’ event	This does not help the school to reach a broad, accurate understanding of the effectiveness of its provision. It does not support individual, departmental or whole-school professional learning well enough. It can make these activities very ‘high stakes’ and have a negative impact on staff well-being.
Processes are overly bureaucratic or burdensome	This can create resentment, have a negative impact on staff well-being and does not support a positive culture of development and improvement. It can focus the school’s attention on the documentation itself at the expense of its evaluation of learning. It can take time away from more valuable activities to support improvement.
The school’s evaluation of learning and teaching focuses primarily on gathering and analysing judgement grades	This does not give the school a clear understanding of specific strengths or areas for development in teaching and learning, which makes it difficult to plan effectively for improvement. It can lead the school to focus too much on one type of evaluative activity and not consider a wide enough range of evidence about learning. It does not support professional learning well enough. It may not recognise where improvements have been made. It can make evaluative activities very ‘high stakes’ and have a negative impact on staff well-being.
There is insufficient professional dialogue between staff following evaluative activities	This can give the school an inaccurate picture of the impact of its provision. It does not identify specific areas for development or professional learning needs well enough. It makes it difficult for the school to plan effectively for improvement.