Recognising and Recording Progress and Achievement in non-accredited provision (RARPA)
Context: The purpose of this report is to aid tutors in recording learning on WEA non-accredited courses of which, due to funding cut backs by the LSC, ICT provision will, in the majority, be for the foreseeable future. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has been working with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) to develop a broad and coherent set of measures of success that can properly recognise and celebrate all learners’ achievements across the learning and skills sector, and gauge the success of providers. Recognising and Recording Progress and Achievement in non-accredited learning (RARPA) is a priority measure.
RARPA applies to non-accredited learning and provides a way of recognising and recording learners’ success in this context. The principles of the five staged process and the benefits of the approach for quality-assuring learning will influence other aspects of the developments within the New Measures agenda.
RARPA started as an initiative to raise the quality of non-accredited teaching and learning. It has developed into a priority new measure under Success for All*, reflecting the significance of this work and the contribution RARPA has made to the New Measures programme.
Non-accredited learning is typically found in adult provision, often part time, and in formal and informal learning contexts. RARPA should also be applied to other areas of non-accredited learning, including learning by people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities where the primary learning goals may not be accredited outcomes and Entry to Employment (E2E) provision, where personal and social development is a key outcome.
RARPA is not intended to be applied to full-time 16-19 provision, for which other new measures are being developed and piloted for value added and distance travelled.
RARPA supports the LSC’s aims and those of its key partners, recently described in Quality Improvement and Self-assessment (LSC, May 2005), by providing the approach for quality-assuring non-accredited provision. The guidance requires, as a minimum, that providers’ self-assessments include judgements on all areas, accredited and non-accredited, and evaluate all learners’ achievements.
The key themes of RARPA are that:
• The learner is at the centre of the RARPA approach
• The purpose of introducing RARPA is to enhance the learners’ experience
• The application of RARPA should be fit for purpose
• The approach, both in the staged process and the quality assurance of learning, is to be unbureaucratic
• The approach should complement and integrate with existing processes for quality assurance and learner recording
• The staged process is mapped to the new Common Inspection Framework (CIF) and should encourage effective self-assessment and evidence of effective learning processes at inspection
The actions that providers need to take are to:
• ensure the quality assurance processes, self-assessment and quality improvement planning include all provision, accredited and non-accredited
• review teaching and learning strategies for non-accredited learning to ensure that
The staged process can be applied to teaching practices in a way that ensures the five staged process is being applied to the benefit of learners
• review their quality assurance systems to ensure that sufficient information
is collected in a suitable way to allow self assessment decisions to be taken
• review data collection systems to ensure that these are fit for purpose and not unnecessarily bureaucratic
• develop, as necessary, self-assessment reporting processes for 2005-06 to cover all provision, accredited and non-accredited with RAPRA
The Five Staged Process
1. Aim(s) appropriate to an individual learner
or groups of learners - These are clearly stated aim(s) for all programmes
2. Initial assessment to establish the learner’s starting point - This is a record of outcomes of process of establishing learners’ starting points
3. Identification of appropriately challenging learning objectives (initial, renegotiated and revised) - These are clearly stated and suitably challenging objectives for all programmes and, wherever feasible, individually for each learner
4. Recognition and recording of progress and achievement during programme (formative assessment), including tutor feedback to learners, learner reflection, progress reviews
Examples of appropriate evidence includes:
Records of learner self-assessment, group and peer assessment, tutor records of assessment activities and individual or group progress and achievement.
Learners’ files, journals, blogs, diaries, portfolios, artwork, videos, audiotapes, performances, exhibitions and displays, individual or group learner testimony, artefacts, photographs and other forms of evidence
5. End-of-programme learner self-assessment, tutor summative assessment, review of overall progress and achievement in relation to appropriately challenging learning objectives identified at the beginning or during the programme. It may include recognition of learning outcomes not specified during the programme
Examples of appropriate evidence includes:
Records of learner self-assessment, group and peer assessment, tutor records of assessment activities and individual or group progress and achievement. Learners’ files, journals, blogs, diaries, portfolios, artwork,
videos, audiotapes, performances, exhibitions and displays, individual or group learner testimony, artefacts, photographs and other forms of evidence
Additional Outcomes that can be evidenced under RARPA
The list of so-called ‘soft’ outcomes can be changed according to the individual and/or group objectives, and can be used at the beginning, throughout or at the end of the programme of learning.
This enables the learner to acknowledge and record with the support of the tutor the outcomes achieved or improved in addition to the appropriate skills and knowledge gained.
"Soft outcomes" include self confidence, self esteem, tidying up at the end of a class, speaking out in the class and are all individual learner dependant.
There is to be a training session for all tutors delivering unaccredited provision in the near future. In the interim if you require any examples of good practice or further information, advice or guidance with regard to RARPA do not hesitate to contact me
RARPA References Spring 2007:
Official documents:
1. Position Statement on RARPA, LSC, January 2003 www.lsc.gov.uk
2. Recognising and Recording Progress and Achievement in Non-accredited learning, LSC For Action, July 2005 www.lsc.gov.uk
3. Investing in Skills: taking forward the skills strategy: LSC consultation paper, Autumn 2004 (especially paragraphs 3.5 and 4.3) www.lsc.gov.uk
4. Piloting the New Measures of Success Quality Improvement Pack: guidelines include requirements for RARPA pp92-98. This pack will be online on the LSC’s Framework for Excellence site, but can still be downloaded from: http://www.lsc.gov.uk/Search.htm?Term=new+measure+of+success&Search=1
5. A Framework for Excellence: LSC consultation paper July 2006 and responses to it. This and further documents can be found at: http://ffe.lsc.gov.uk/
Research:
6. Proof Positive, Kate Watters & Cheryl Turner, NIACE 2001, full report and summary available, www.niace.org.uk
7. Learning Journeys: learners’ voices, Jane Ward & Judith Edwards, LSDA 2002 http://www.lsneducation.org.uk/pubs/
8. Wider Benefits of Learning website: www.learningbenefits.net
9. Recognising and Recording progress and Achievement in non-accredited learning: Evaluation report on the RARPA projects, NIACE and LSDA 2004 www.niace.org.uk
Guidance:
10. Learning in Progress: recognising achievement in adult learning, Pauline Nashashibi, LSDA 2002, http://www.qualityacl.org.uk/quality/publications.aspx
11. The Alchemy of Learning: Impact and progression in adult learning, Pauline Nashashibi, LSDA 2004 http://www.qualityacl.org.uk/quality/publications.aspx
12. Planning Learning and Recording Progress and Achievement: a guide for practitioners, DfES Delivering Skills for Life series www.dfes.gov.uk/readwriteplus
13. General LSC webpage for RARPA http://rarpa.lsc.gov.uk/
14. Examples of good practice http://www.lsneducation.org.uk/research/centres/rcfteachlearncurricqual/rarpa.aspx
15. ALI webpages about learning and assessment http://data.ali.gov.uk/excalibur/bbp/html_content/Links_LA.htm
16. Initial Assessment: a learner centred process, Muriel Green LSDA 2003 http://www.lsneducation.org.uk/pubs/
17. The ACLearn website www.aclearn.net has a quick link to examples of how e-learning can support RARPA
17. Dancing on A Moving Carpet, Kate Watters, Ann Armstrong, Annie Merton, LSDA 2004 www.lsneducation.org.uk/pubs/ General overview of change management in Adult Learning, with case studies
18.Signalling Success, Alastair Clark and Shubhanna Hussain-Ahmed, NIACE 2006 http://www.niace.org.uk/Publications/S/signalling.asp Ideas for using technology to make RARPA flexible, creative and non non-bureaucratic.
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3 comments:
1.The 5 Staged Process Item 1.
Aims appropriate to the individual learner. Brilliant, but how do we find out the individual learners's aims and aspirations before course start - we can't - so the initial course aims as published have to be generic. Then spend the first session completing paperwork and establishing individual aims. Only at this point can a scheme of work and lesson plans be derived from the individual ains. By this time the tutor has lost 10% of course time - shouldn't we start and think in terms of 11 weeks with the first week given over to paperwork etc.
Throughout the 5 staged process we are expected to be renegotiating and revising learning objectives. Let's be honest, in 10 weeks there isn't time, we'd never be doing any teaching. We can be criticised for not doing this, but nowhere in the paperwork is there any reference to "subject to time and learner constraints", which would make it far more realistic. Don't misundersatnd wht I am saying. In 10 (11) weeks I believe we should establish starting points and achievements be recorded as per RARPA, but the formal recording of modification other than by the learner on his/her learning log is not practical.
1.The 5 Staged Process Item 1.
Aims appropriate to the individual learner. Brilliant, but how do we find out the individual learners's aims and aspirations before course start - we can't - so the initial course aims as published have to be generic. Then spend the first session completing paperwork and establishing individual aims. Only at this point can a scheme of work and lesson plans be derived from the individual ains. By this time the tutor has lost 10% of course time - shouldn't we start and think in terms of 11 weeks with the first week given over to paperwork etc.
Throughout the 5 staged process we are expected to be renegotiating and revising learning objectives. Let's be honest, in 10 weeks there isn't time, we'd never be doing any teaching. We can be criticised for not doing this, but nowhere in the paperwork is there any reference to "subject to time and learner constraints", which would make it far more realistic. Don't misundersatnd wht I am saying. In 10 (11) weeks I believe we should establish starting points and achievements be recorded as per RARPA, but the formal recording of modification other than by the learner on his/her learning log is not practical.
Your point is well taken with regard the course duration and the amount of paperwork a tutor in S4L is expected to complete. I still beleive the SofW can be done in advance but again agree re the session plan. the way ahead is to negoitate with the course organiser with regard the hours. But remember, courses must be delivered in block of ten.
so deliver a nine hour course with the 10 session clearly identifed on the SofW and session plans as admin, icebreaker and ILP's with background activity. Ditto 20hr courses.
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