At Alps we believe that developing an aspirational culture within schools and colleges is a key driver for great outcomes. Setting targets for students and staff that are both aspirational and realistic provides a clear direction for success and helps everyone to reach their full potential. In this blog, I discuss my experiences of using Alps Connect to support target setting and the development of an aspirational, ‘can do’ culture.

1. Generating Minimum Expected Grades (MEGs)

As a school leader, I had high expectations for all my students and wanted to support them as fully as possible to help them reach their full potential. Alps uses full national datasets from the DfE each year to generate Minimum Expected Grades (MEGs) that reflect progress made by students in the top 25% of schools and colleges. Staff and students at my school found the concept of Alps MEGs easy to understand and were motivated by the challenge of working towards outcomes that matched the top 25% of providers nationally.

We devoted time at the start of each academic year through tutor periods, assemblies, and information evenings to explain the Alps system in detail to both students and parents. Even though Alps Connect generates students’ MEGs automatically when prior attainment data is uploaded, we encouraged our sixth form students to calculate their own average GCSE point scores and then to use these to determine their MEGs. We wanted students to fully understand how their targets had been derived and this simple exercise helped us to achieve this.

It is important to stress that MEGs are just starting points and they should not be considered as a ceiling when target setting. To motivate and empower our students we would explain to them that each year, many of our students exceeded these challenging targets through hard work, dedication, and focus.

2. Setting personalised targets

The MEG is an average across subjects, and it is important that teachers understand that students nationally make stronger progress in some subjects than others. The Alps score for subject thermometers is calculated using a formula which compares expected points with actual points across the student entries. Each subject has their own unique Alps thermometer, and the Alps score you need to match providers in the 75^th percentile is different across subjects. An Alps score of 1.00 means that students on average have achieved their MEG and it is important that teachers understand where that score would rank them on their unique subject thermometer. For many subjects achieving an Alps score of 1.00 would rank providers in the top 25% or better in our dataset, however for some subjects where students make stronger progress nationally an Alps score of 1.00 would rank much lower on the thermometer.

The following diagram (based on the latest DfE national benchmark available) shows where an Alps score of 1.00 ranks different subjects on their specific Alps thermometers. In media studies, achieving an Alps score of 1.00 would result in an Alps grade much lower down the thermometer than A-level subjects such as biology and mathematics. This is because students nationally make stronger progress in this subject. Therefore, it is important to consider setting personalised subject targets for students to ensure that each subject performs at the required level on their subject thermometer. 

Alps Connect has the option of allowing providers to set personalised targets, which students can be tracked against in the Student Analysis Overview. This gives schools and colleges further flexibility when it comes to target setting, allowing them the option of either using MEGs directly or as a framework for setting personalised targets for students that are even more aspirational. For example, students in biology might have personalised targets that are in line with the Alps MEG, whereas students in media studies may have personalised targets that are one above this grade.

When working as a school leader, I found it particularly useful to upload a monitoring gradepoint at the start of the academic year which was based on the MEGs. This enabled subject leaders and teachers to see what Alps grade would be achieved if students on average achieved these target grades. By using the ‘How do I’ [MA1] tool within the subject area of Connect, it was possible to determine how many students would need to exceed the MEGs for the subject to be ranked in the top 25%. Staff were then able to use this information in conjunction with their own knowledge of the students’ ability and potential to support the target setting process. Alongside this, they also found it useful to model the impact of raising student targets on value-added outcomes using the ‘What if’ tool.

Many subject leads would also be inclined to raise targets above the MEG if value-added outcomes already matched the top 25% of the dataset and they wanted to add further challenge. Involving students in the target setting process can also be beneficial and many schools that I have worked with have found that getting students to set their own targets with subject teachers using the MEG as a starting point can lead to them feeling more ownership over their grades and to higher levels of motivation.

One of my favourite features in Alps Connect is the option within the MEG reports section to download individual student postcards listing each students’ subjects and target grades. I found it useful to print these off for students at the start of the academic year and to use them in tutor periods to encourage reflection. Students would write down their feelings about each target grade and during the year we would ask them during form tutor interviews to reflect on the progress they were making in relation to these.

3. Avoiding common pitfalls

Target setting done well is the starting point to achieving top outcomes for your students. I have worked with many schools over the years, and here is my list of the common pitfalls that can cause issues and reduce the effectiveness of target setting and, therefore, monitoring through the year:

Setting targets too late in the academic year: Target setting which takes place too late in the academic year can lead to students lacking a clear direction and focus. When targets are set early, it helps students to understand what they need to achieve, encourages self-reflection and provides plenty of time for both students and teachers to track progress towards these. For me, target setting needed to be completed with students by the 3^rd week of September at the latest. We held our assemblies in the first and second week of term with all students and separately with student and their parents, this was powerful to really emphasise the importance of the target setting and monitoring process to staff, students and parents.

Not involving students in the target setting process: Involving students as part of the process was vital to me in my school. I have seen time and time again, that when students are not involved in the target-setting process, it often leads to a lack of ownership, decreased motivation and poor engagement. In those schools and colleges where students take an active role in target-setting it encourages them to take responsibility for their learning, promotes accountability towards their progress, encourages self-reflection and makes target grades more meaningful and relevant. Reviewing target grades regularly with students and their progress towards them is the essential next step. Setting targets with students sets the foundations to enable the high-quality conversations that you will want to have later in the year encouraging them to reflect on their strengths, areas for development and the support they need to reach their goals.

Setting target grades that are not aspirational enough: Again, this is a cornerstone of Alps, and what I believed as a leader. Setting aspirational target grades inspires students to aim high and challenge themselves. Without challenging targets being set, there is a risk that students will underestimate their abilities, lack motivation and underachieve. Alps MEGs challenge students to match outcomes being achieved by learners in the top 25% of providers nationally. Remember that the MEGs are not a ceiling and for some students it may be appropriate to set even more aspirational targets. Alps Connect provides this flexibility through the ability to set personalised targets.  Flexibility is important when target setting and, in my school, we would often have discussions with students about raising target grades as a response to student's hard work, dedication and progress. This flexibility encouraged our students to develop a growth mindset, increasing their motivation, engagement, and commitment.

Poor monitoring and tracking of student progress: The top performing schools and colleges that I visit know that effective tracking and monitoring of student progress is key to raising student achievement. When tracking student progress, regular analysis of assessment data and how this compares to target grades is vital. Having good quality, timely and understood target grades from the start of term gives you the best foundation for the monitoring that you will then be doing through the year. I’ll be posting a separate blog on what makes excellent monitoring, but it is worth reminding you at this point that Alps Connect allows users to upload unlimited in-year monitoring data. These data points can include current working at grades, predicted grades (based on work completed so far), mock assessment data etc. Whatever data is collected and analysed; it is important that providers develop a clear joined up strategy for addressing underachievement. For example, if a student is underachieving in just one subject, you may decide that departments should take the lead in informing parents and putting in place appropriate intervention strategies, keeping key staff informed of the success of these.  If underachievement exists in multiple subjects, it may be more appropriate for pastoral teams to take over, communicating with students and parents and working with individual departments, form tutors etc to develop appropriate strategies.  More on this in my separate blog on monitoring to come!

I hope you have found this blog useful and for further tips on analysis and target setting, remember to check out and book your place on one of our upcoming ‘Hitting the Ground Running’ series of Alps Champions webinars: https://alps.education/alps-training-hub/alps-champions-webinar-programme/