Lucy Baker, assessment advisor at Cambridge Insight, explains how a baseline assessment, as part of a formal diagnostic test, can help you identify early if your students need additional support…
Cambridge Insight is a suite of baseline and formative assessments designed to help you understand the unique needs of every student. With adaptive assessments for students aged 3–19, Cambridge Insight assessments are a quick, objective tool for unlocking student potential.
Lucy Baker
Assessment advisor
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Area of expertise: Lucy is a former primary school teacher with five years’ teaching experience. During that time, Lucy held subject leadership positions and mentored trainee teachers. Lucy is now enjoying using her experience in the classroom to support her work at Cambridge Insight.
What’s the first step in identifying if students need additional support?
If there is a potential speech, language and communication need (SLCN), there’s a two-step assessment you can implement; the first step would be to apply a formal diagnostic test as part of a two-step assessment:
- A screener, such as a Cambridge Insight baseline assessment
- A diagnostic assessment to formally understand the needs of your student
Whether it’s a mild support need or a specific special educational need (SEN), baseline assessments can help you identify it early.
How can schools use baseline assessment data to identify if students need additional support?
A baseline assessment report like those Cambridge Insight provides gives you the data to identify discrepancies that might indicate additional support is needed. Because we measure a wide range of foundational skills, we can offer a holistic view of cognitive ability.
For example, our individual student reports for our 14–16 baseline assessment show the standardised scores a student received for each completed section of the assessment: vocabulary, mathematics, non-verbal skills and overall ability. If a student has strong non-verbal skills but weaker vocabulary, for example, this may indicate an SLCN.
What support can be provided to students with additional learning needs?
Here are a few ideas:
- Choose appropriate texts for their ability and scaffold any texts beyond their ability
- Read all texts aloud to the class, then give them time to re-read before tackling a text-based task.
- Support text response and retrieval with visuals, maps, planning grids and talk or writing stems.
Monitor progress and trial exam access arrangements early, ensuring students are taught how to use these concessions.
Find out more about how Cambridge Insight can help you identify if your students have additional needs. Book a consultation call.
- Track progress from the very beginning with adaptive assessments tailored to each student’s abilities.
- Support teachers and students with easy-to-read reports that guide planning, interventions, exam access arrangement applications, and Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs).
- Make confident, data-driven decisions that improve outcomes and celebrate every learner’s potential.
