To be able to analyse your summative assessments, you will have needed to input baselines (to calculate progress) and a Year Target to colour-code the marksheet based on achievement against their period target.
Follow the details below to see the different methods to set targets on the marksheet or in bulk, and how to 'lock' them to prevent them from being edited.
More information
For more information on how the marksheets work, the different areas of the marksheet and what each target is for, including how to customise the columns and colours, take a look at this article: How summative marksheets work.
Adding Baselines and Targets
You can add baselines and targets individually or in bulk from the Baselines & Targets page, or you can import them using our spreadsheet template. These methods allow you to input the Year Target for each child, so Arbor is able to calculate whether the student is on track to reach their target at the end of each assessment period.
You can choose to set School target rules to automatically apply Year Targets for all the students based on the rules you choose. If you need to, you can then manually adjust the Year Target up or down to suit the individual student.
From the Baselines & Targets page
The Baselines & Targets page is used to input and review students' progress baselines & targets, be it School, National or Teacher targets. Go to Students > Assessments > Summative Tracking > Mark Entry > Baselines & Targets.
As well as adding marks, you can also complete other actions using the bulk actions, such as sending communications to students or their primary guardians, or refreshing and consolidating baselines.
Entering baselines and targets individually
Click on the filter at the top of the page to select the Academic Year, Students/Cohorts, Assessment & Grade set you want to view/enter marks for. Click save changes and this will amend your filter options.
Hover your mouse pointer above a data cell and a tooltip will pop up with information relating to the data in question.
Please note that to enable you to add predicted marks, you'll need to make sure the date range in the filters only covers one assessment period.
- Click into a field to open the drop-down menu of values to select from, or start typing.
- Auto-complete suggests the shortest match (e.g. type “A” and “A” will be suggested first rather than “A+” or “A-”.
- Hit your Enter key to save the value and move onto the cell below. Then hit Enter again to start typing into the new field.
Copy and paste from any source, across multiple fields.
- To copy, select the fields and drag until they are all selected, then use Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd + C (Mac).
- To paste, select the fields and drag until they are all selected, then use Ctrl+V (Windows) or Cmd + V (Mac).
Bulk entering marks
Select the appropriate individuals using the tick box next to the student’s name. Click the Bulk actions button and select Bulk set X. To bulk set Final and Aspirational targets using the bulk actions, remember to select to display them in the filters.
Please note that to enable you to add predicted marks, you'll need to make sure the date range in the filters only covers one assessment period.
Refresh baselines and targets
Select the appropriate individuals using the tick box next to the student’s name. Click the Bulk actions button.
- Recalculate baselines - Ticking this box will recalculate all calculated baselines or attempt to calculate baselines where none exist. Any baselines that have been added or changed manually will not change.
- Recalculate targets - Ticking this box will recalculate all calculated targets or attempt to calculate targets where none exist. Teacher target will not be affected by this.
- Refresh period goals - This is helpful if the system tells you that there is not enough information to determine whether a mark is below, at or above target or if colours are missing from the marks input grid. Please note that for period goals to be created both baseline and year target is required.
Consolidate Baselines
Consolidating baselines means the baselines selected will no longer be subject to changes if based on past assessment periods.
For example, a child's grade in the summer term last year was a 7. This year this becomes their new baseline. When you consolidate this baseline, even if their final grade for last year is changed to an 8, their baseline this year will remain seven unless manually changed.
Using the import spreadsheet
You can use our import spreadsheet to import baselines, marks and targets in bulk for your students. Download and complete the import spreadsheet for the assessment(s), then upload it into Arbor. The spreadsheets are available for the assessments you have already created within Arbor.
- This process will override any existing marks already input into your Assessment.
- Any fields left blank in your spreadsheet will not override any marks in Arbor, allowing you to add baselines and targets when you set up the assessment, and leave the assessment period marks for teachers to add in later.
What you can and can't import
You can use this feature to import:
- Academic year baseline
- Academic Year Teacher Target
- Final target for the assessment
- Marks for any data drop in the current academic year
- Period teacher targets (if selected)
- Comments (if selected)
- Predicted marks (if selected)
- Aspirational target (if selected)
You will not be able to import:
- Predicted mark baseline and predicted final mark
- Suggested marks (as this is automatically calculated based on curriculum assessment marks)
- Attainment or progress target (this is set automatically by setting up target rules)
Importing summative assessment baselines and targets
Go to Students > Assessments > Summative Tracking > Mark Entry > Import from the left-hand menu. Click the green Download Import Spreadsheet button to select the single or bulk option.
Fill in the slide over with the assessment information then click Download import spreadsheet.
You can choose to import teacher targets. This allows you to set the same or different teacher targets per assessment period instead of Arbor calculating the target from the baseline and end of year target.
Once you have downloaded the spreadsheet, fill in period marks for each student as appropriate.
Please note that this spreadsheet is custom made for the import you are doing and that you cannot change the academic year, students or assessment in this sheet. You must use the correct grade set and only valid grade values. If you want to import for a different academic year, assessment or set of students, you must create a new import spreadsheet.
Please note: Please do not change the student names or IDs, and do not rearrange any column or change column letters or row numbers. If you do, we cannot guarantee that the right marks will be imported for the right students.
Once you have filled in the sheet, you can import it on the same page by clicking the grey Upload Import Spreadsheet button.
You can choose your file to upload, then click Upload.
On the next page, you can see the information about the import. Double-check the information you are about to import.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Delete import if any data is incorrect, or click Import data to import the assessment marks.
Using automatic Attainment or Progress Targets
School target rules can be used to automatically set Year Targets for groups of students within an assessment so that these don’t have to be set manually. The Year Target is derived from other targets in a hierarchy. This means if a student has both a progress target and an attainment target, only the progress target will be used. The system prioritises targets in this order:
- Academic Year Teacher Target - Individual target, set manually using the Baselines & Targets page or imported.
- Progress Target - A Progress Target Rule will specify the progress that each student should make during the year. This is calculated from the baseline and the number of desired progress points. For example, students should make 1 grade level of progress compared to the baseline at the start of the year.
- Attainment Target - An Attainment Target Rule will specify the actual attainment that you expect a group of students to achieve at the end of the year. This is a set target for all students based on ARE (Age-Related Expectations). For example, all students should reach at least a grade 4 by the end of the year.
How to set up an Attainment target
Go to Students > Assessments > Annual Policy > School Expectations > School Target Rules and click on the row of the relevant assessment.
Click on Create rule for...
A slide-over will appear that explains how school target rules are calculated. Select Setup Attainment Target Rule.
A slide-over will appear with different fields to complete, depending on the type of rule that has been selected. For an attainment target:
- add a name for the target
- choose specific year groups, or leave this field blank to apply the rule to all students in the assessment
- select whether to base the target on the grade point, level or grade
- select the mark that should be set as the target
- Tick the Same attainment target for each assessment period box to set the grade as the attainment target for every assessment period, rather than have students work towards this at the end of the year. Keep the box blank to calculate the attainment target for each assessment period using a stepped approach. This means some assessment periods may have a target lower than the grade selected above.
Complete the fields as required and then click on Create.
A box will appear warning that existing targets will be recalculated. Click the green box to confirm that you would like to create the rule.
Go to Students > Assessments > Annual Policy > School Expectations > School Target Rules and click on the row of the relevant assessment.
Click on Create rule for...
A slide-over will appear that explains how school target rules are calculated. Select Setup Progress Target Rule.
A slide-over will appear with different fields to complete, depending on the type of rule that has been selected. For an attainment target:
- add a name for the target
- choose specific year groups, or leave this field blank to apply the rule to all students in the assessment
- choose how many points of progress students should make
- select whether to base the target on the grade point, level or grade
- select the mark progress should be calculated from, from baseline, national targets (these just mean the attainment or progress target set by the school) or nothing
- select the year group the mark progress should be calculated from.
Complete the fields as required and then click on Create.
A box will appear warning that existing targets will be recalculated. Click the green box to confirm that you would like to create the rule.
If an Attainment or Progress target is not set, and no Academic Year Teacher Target has been manually added, the student will not have a Year Target.
If a Progress target is set, and no Academic Year Teacher Target has been manually added, the student's Year Target will be the Progress Target.
For example, this is the Progress Target set up and here is what is automatically set for targets.
- If a Progress or Attainment target is set, but then an Academic Year Teacher Target is added, the student's Year Target will change to be the Academic Year Teacher Target.
- If an Attainment or Progress target is not set, and the student has been manually given an Academic Year Teacher Target, the Year Target will be the same as the Academic Year Teacher Target.
Locking Baselines and Targets
To complete any of the actions below, you'll need the School: Action: Assessments: Administer permission.
Please note that:
- If baselines or targets are locked in Marksheet Settings, all marksheets will be locked no matter the settings in your Assessment Policy or Framework.
- If they are locked in the Assessment Framework for an assessment, changing them to unlocked in the Assessment Policy will not unlock them.
For all assessments
You can lock all baselines and targets to prevent editing from Students > Assessment > Assessment Framework > Marksheet settings. Just add them to the Columns to Lock section, then click Add columns.
Lock all targets or baselines for specific assessments
You can lock/unlock baselines and targets for individual assessments from either the assessment framework or assessment policy, depending on whether you want to lock them in one academic year or all academic years.
To lock them for the whole assessment every year, go to Students > Assessments > Assessment Framework > Assessment Catalogue, then select the assessment. In the Assessment details section, you can click the fields to lock all baselines or targets.
To lock them for the current academic year only, go to Students > Assessments > Assessment > Assessment Policy > Manage Assessments, then select the assessment. In the Assessment details section, you can click the fields to lock all baselines or targets.
Lock final targets for specific assessments
Go to Students > Assessment > Summative Tracking > Mark Entry > Baselines & Targets, and select the assessment in the filters. Use the Bulk actions to Lock/Unlock final targets.
Just choose to Lock or Unlock in the slide over, then click Save Changes.
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