THE CASE STUDIES

1. How is my school progressing in Maths and English compared with other schools nationally?

PAT examines many areas, a list of which is below. Those used to earlier versions will note that Benchmarking has disappeared. That is because the new PANDA is arrived at in different ways which will be discussed in question 2.

Go to Analyse/Export Data tab and click once
Select in Analyse Box the School Level Data Button
Check the criteria in the Window presented eg:

Key Stage : KS2
Year : 2005
Subject : English
Data Set : School vs National
Graph Type: Choose Bar-overall

Examine the options presented in the larger window below the criteria and select a graph, typically
number 1.

Click on Show Graph Button under box.

You will now be presented with the graph. (Fig 1.2)
This shows the comparison of National and school data and the components for English at KS2

By changing the values at the original screen, different subjects and Teaching Assessment can be shown.

By pressing the "Back" button in the Options bar at the bottom of the screen you will be returned to Fig 1.1 above. Change the subject to Maths in the appropriate box, select the graph you require to see and click on Show Graph. The same story can be obtained for Science and Maths as well.

The Trend Graphs

Find your way to Fig 1.1 above. Either use the “Back” button at the bottom of the screen or Press the “Menu” button and select Analyse School Level Data.

On this occasion you must go to Graph Type and select Trends

Select Science in the Subject Box and ensure that you have the right Key Stage plus School vs National in the respective boxes.
From the list select level 4 and above Tests / Tasks
Press Show Graph Button below box

You are now looking at the school's performance over time (2001 to 2005) for percentage passes at level 4 and above plotted against the national data.

By pressing the Back Button at the bottom of the screen, you can change the subject to Maths or All Subjects to view performance.

By Clicking on the “Both” button under Test Type in the parameter bar to the left of the graph, PAT will superimpose the TA graph over the top of the Test / Tasks.

You can also check the performance of your subset if you have set one up.

The Divergence Graph

We return again to Fig 1.1 and this time:

Select Divergence in Graph Type:

At KS2 all subjects are handled on 1 graph showing the difference in the School performance to that of the National Data. The National Data in Tests and Tasks and Teacher Assessments are represented by the zero line. In addition it shows school’s Teacher Assessment alongside Tasks / Tests. There are choices available to look at Boys and Girls in isolation and your subset if set up. The graph above shows the girls selected to show the graph working both above and below the line.

To Set up a Sub Set

Return to Menu by pressing the Menu Button at the bottom of the screen.

Select Analyse/Export Data tab
Select Calculate School Results and you will fig 1.5 below.

The Grey box contains some options. The default values are the normal ones to use. You can change these if you wish.
Click on the Filtering Button and you will be presented with a message box (Fig 1.6) :

The options you can filter on will be presented to you. They include:

Name (Forename and Surname)
Date of Birth (or between dates)
Entry to School date (or between dates)
Gender (Male / Female / None)
FSM (Yes / No / None)
SEN Codes (A, N, P, Q, S plus {N or A} and {P, Q, or S})
Primary SEN provision (SPLD, MLD, SLD, PMLD, BESD, SLON, HI, VI, MSI, PD, ASD, OTH)
Ethnic Origin (Uses PLASC codes)
Form (Class or Tutor Group)
Mother Tongue not English (Yes, No, None)
Destination School (School Number)
Year Group (Year 1, KS1, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, KS2)
Custom Attribute (typically this will contain any of the additional attributes you have set up at Pupil Level Data under Import / Edit Data). Multiple values can be filtered for here.

Custom Filtering allows for multiple selections and values to be set up by using AND/OR/EQUALS values.

In this way you can filter from the whole Cohort down to Individuals.

Once you have selected the group(s) you wish to compare, press OK
Calculation of the results will commence at once and may take some time depending on the number of Pupils contained in the Database. It is only possible to have one subset at a time within PAT. If repeated for another group, the earlier one will be overwritten.

When complete you will receive a message to tell you if all is well. Any differences will be automatically placed onto a text file and stored by PAT for perusal.

The Bar-All Levels Graph

This shows the school performance at all levels against National Data.
Fig 1.7 below shows a typical graph for Maths and is set-up by returning to Export/Analyse / School Level Data and changing the graph type to Bar-All Levels and the Subject to Maths.
The TA values can also be plotted in this way. Check the relevant button in the parameter bar.

The Bar-Overall Graph

The Bar-Overall graph looks at the overall performance of the cohort against National Data. It looks at those performing typically at Level 4 and Level 5. The graph set to any subject can show Tests/Tasks and Teacher Assessments side by side:

Next FAQ Page