Division, misalignment and the ‘plural practitioner’ - Examining policy and practice A mixed-methods exploration of the assessment practice of Reception year teachers in England

Due to their usual positioning within primary schools, Reception class teachers in England embody and enact a wide range of roles, for example: to support young children in relation to their key developmental milestones, including building positive relationships with parents and carers. This is alongside the building of knowledge and specific skills in preparedness for the National Curriculum in Key Stage one and the notion of ‘school readiness’, with data and accountability processes also featuring within their practice. Their assessment practice therefore needs to match the requirements of a range of stakeholders and for a wide range of purposes, resulting in a wide and multifaceted assessment role.

Using an exploratory sequential mixed methods design, in-depth interviews (6 teachers) and online questionnaire (186 teachers) were utilised to examine Reception teachers’ assessment practice. Findings suggest that assessment is highly valued for identifying progress and facilitating next steps, and that this is a universal perception, aligning with national policy. However, expectations from others (both internal to and external to school) result in assessments systems such as tracking, tick lists and data collection expectations that do not effectively align as a cohesive set of practices, or indeed with policy. This misalignment is increased where the school leadership team is not perceived to have specific early years knowledge and training. These elements of misalignment are then examined and discussed through the lens of the ‘plural practitioner’, highlighting that assessment practice in this year group requires streamlining, with the facilitation of closer links between teachers and school leaders to help to build higher levels of autonomy, and align aspects of role for Reception teachers more effectively.