If you are unsure as to what you wish to use as your EAP Baselines, to get the most from your reports you may wish to consider creating Target based EAPs. With target-based EAPs, this would involve uploading your Targets as baselines, and creating EAPs with a flat line approach. The following guide explains how to do this in both KS3/4 and KS5 cohorts.
| For Key Stage 5, a Video Tutorial demonstrating the below setup steps is also available within the article linked here |
What does a Target-based EAP look like?
A flat line approach is designed to reflect how a student is expected to remain on the same grade throughout their flight path, allowing you to measure if they are on, above, or below their target instantly in the reports. As shown in the example below, a student targeted a grade 8 at the end of KS4, has the same grade 8 entered each term across the EAP.
Similarly in KS5, below is an example of a GCE A Level EAP with a flat line approach:
If you are interested in setting up EAPs based on targets, please follow the steps detailed below:
Step 1 / Obtain and upload Target grades
First, you will need to extract your Target grades file from your MIS, and format this into 4 columns (Student ID, Student Name, Qualification, and Grade) and save as CSV (MS DOS) format. You can use the Excel Add-In if necessary to help format the file ready for upload. Please see our article here for further information on extracting and preparing your targets.
Once you have the file prepared, you're then ready to upload these as EAP Baselines.
KS3/4 - Navigate to DATA > Select KS3/4 & Cohort > KS2/EAP > Uploads > Upload Grades File.
KS5 - Navigate to DATA > Select KS5 & Cohort > KS4/EAP > EAP/Baselines > Uploads > Upload Grades File.
| Further information on uploading EAP baselines can be seen for KS3/4 in the article here, and for KS5 in the article here. |
Confirm Upload Qualification Names
If you have uploaded a file to this area previously, for example official KS2 Baselines for KS3/4, then you will be presented with the 'Confirm Upload Qualification Names' page. Here you would map each subject name to what was previously uploaded, or set them as 'New' subjects. If you are setting Target based EAPs up for the first time in the cohort, you should select 'New' for all subjects in the SISRA Qualification dropdown. You will not be presented with this page if this is the first file uploaded to this area.
| Further information on this page can be found in the article linked here. |
Once all subjects have been mapped, click 'Complete the Upload'.
Step 2 / Set up EAP Baselines
Now that you have uploaded your Target grades, the next step now is to set these up to the appropriate Grade Type and Method. To do this, go to KS2/EAP > Baselines (in KS3/4) or KS4/EAP > EAP/Baselines > Baseline Management (in KS5). Once here, click 'Edit'.
Next, you will need to set the Grade Type to 'KS3/4 Method' for each subject in KS3/4, and 'KS5 Grade Method' for each subject in KS5. Then, you would need to set the relevant Grade Method for each subject. Once all dropdowns are set, click 'Save Changes'.
| Further information is included in the article linked here for KS3/4 and here for KS5. |
Step 3 / Create EAPs
Now you are ready to create your target-based EAPs. Head to KS2/EAP > EAP in KS3/4 cohorts, or KS4/EAP > EAP/Baselines > EAP in KS5 cohorts, then click 'Create EAP'. First, click 'Create New EAP'. You would then create one EAP for each of your subjects in that cohort. However once the first subject's EAP has been created, you can then copy this for other subjects which use the same grade method (as detailed further on).
EAP Name - First, give the EAP a name, which would be the name of the first subject you are setting this for, such as 'Art'.
EAP Description - Entering a description is optional, so this can be left blank.
Baseline Type - Select KS3/4 Method or KS5 Grade Method depending on the key stage you're working with.
KS2/Baseline (KS3/4) / EAP Baseline (KS5) - Select the Baseline subject relevant to the subject you are creating the EAP for.
Once these are selected, you are then presented with Assessment Methods dropdowns.
Assessment Methods - This is the Grade Method relevant to each year/term in KS3/4 for that particular subject. All years would need to have an Assessment method selected, even if you're not going to be uploading grades for certain years in the cohort. For KS5, you would select the official Grade Method of that qualification.
Once these have been set, click 'Create'.
| Further information on creating EAPs can be found here (for KS3/4) and here (for KS5). |
Step 4 / Populate EAP with expected grades
Once the EAP is created, you should now see a grid with each grade shown in the 'Baseline' column on the left. These are all the grades that were in the grade method selected for the baseline subject.
As these are going to be Target-based EAPs, this should be populated for each term according to the baseline grade. So for instance, students with a baseline of '5' should have '5' populated in that row for each term (though you can set different expectations for each term up until their end target if you wish to, if you collect current working at grades for example). This means for each term in the reports, Analytics will be calculating whether the students with this Target are performing on, above, or below their target.
The quickest way to populate your EAP is to click 'Export EAP', fill the table in Excel, then click 'Import EAP' to import this back in.
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For KS3/4 cohorts, if you are using different assessment methods for certain years, such as a bespoke grade method for KS3, the expected grades you enter in those years would need to be within that particular grade method. As an example, if using an 'Above/On/Below' type grading structure at KS3, you may want to input 'On' for each row in each of the KS3 terms.
Please see our article on Editing and Defining EAPs here for KS3/4, or here for KS5 for further information on this. |
Step 5 / Copy EAP for other subjects
Once you have created an EAP, you can speed up the process of creating EAPs for other qualifications of the same grade method by copying the expected grades over. For example, once you have created an EAP for Art GCSE 9-1, this Art EAP can be copied for each of your other GCSE 9-1 subjects.
For any qualifications with a different grade method, a new EAP would need to be created as detailed in Step 3.
Creating copy EAPs
- KS3/4 - Go to KS2/EAP > EAP > 'Create EAP'.
- KS5 - Go to KS4/EAP > EAP/Baselines > EAP > ‘Create EAP’.
You would firstly need to select 'Copy existing EAP' and then the cohort you want to copy from. Then, select the specific EAP you are looking to copy.
The Baseline Type is selected automatically based on the EAP you select to be copied.
You can then create up to 10 EAPs, by entering an EAP name, as well as an optional EAP description. Then, select the EAP baseline from the list of subjects that were previously uploaded and seen in the Baseline Management page, for the selected baseline type.
Once you have made the relevant selections, click ‘Create’.
This will copy the selected EAP along with the expected grades entered, creating the new EAPs with the names and baselines you have entered.
| It is also possible to copy EAPs from different cohorts, providing they use the same Baseline Type and Grade Method. For further information on copying EAPs, please see the article here. |
Step 6 / Matching
Once your EAPs are created, and you have one for each of your subjects, the final step is to assign these on the Matching page. The Matching page is accessible when at least one grades file is uploaded via GRADES > Uploads.
To access the Matching page, go to GRADES > Matching then click 'Edit'. You would then select the relevant EAP for each subject via the 'EAP' column, as well as complete all other Matching columns as appropriate.
| For further information on Matching, please see our article here for KS3/4 and here for KS5. |
Step 7 / Publish reports
Now that your Target-based EAPs are setup and assigned on the Matching page, all that remains is to publish KS2/EAP (KS4/EAP in KS5), followed by GRADES. In the reports, the On / Above / Below Track columns will now be calculated based on whether students are performing to target.
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Looking for a little more guidance? Our Sisra Consultants have designed a self-learning module for Sisra administrators and staff with responsibility for managing KS3/4 data within Analytics, or with responsibility for managing the assessment processes within school, who are looking to get the most value out of the EAP functionality. During this module you will learn about:
Once you have applied this functionality to your Sisra Analytics account, a member of the Sisra Consultant Team will log-in and take a look at your set-up and make any recommendations going forward. If this sounds like a good fit for you, click on the link to find out more or to register your interest: |
Thanks for reading!