Baseline Assessment in Scotland: An analysis of pilot data

In preparation for the possible future introduction of a Scottish system of baseline assessment, a prototype scheme was trialled early in 1998 in samples of pre-school centres and Primary 1 classes, selected to reflect the range of such centres and schools throughout Scotland. The scheme invites teachers' judgements about their pupils' attainments in various areas of development, derived from appropriate official curricular descriptions. This article describes the scheme and the procedures used to trial it, offers principal findings in terms of the resulting pupil assessment data and considers the implications for scheme revision in the light of expected functions in large-scale application.