Join the ACER Schools Network for a £200 cashback offer

Joining the ACER Schools Network is an opportunity for schools to collaborate with ACER in exciting, innovative work in the fields of assessment development and educational research. ACER's mission is to improve learning across the life span, and we are looking to work with a number of schools on an ongoing basis to develop mutually beneficial partnerships. The ACER Schools Network conducts activities that contribute to our research evidence and participating schools receive personalised reports on their specific performance or contribution.

ACER has partnered with Evidence-Based Education (EBE) to offer schools a fantastic, win-win opportunity.

What is in it for schools?

ACER will offer schools £200 cashback on EBE’s Great Teaching Toolkit at the point that schools participate in an ACER Schools Network activity (see the following section).

Additionally, schools are eligible for discounts on the following ACER products:

• Essential Learning Metrics (ELMs) assessments in England (20% discount)
• Scottish Online Formative Assessments (SOFA) in Scotland (20% discount)
• ACER Online Shop products (10% discount)

What activities might my school be asked to do?

A school will typically be asked to participate in one activity per academic year.

Examples of typical ACER Schools Network activities:

Research studies: ACER has been involved in educational research since 1930. We regularly conduct studies in which we seek schools to partner with us, for example, by participating in interviews or surveys, or by trialling and evaluating new ideas. Research activities often offer schools supported opportunities to improve practice, for example:

• by introducing new ideas
• through discussion and reflection time
• with action research opportunities
• with opportunities to test ideas and processes in your own classrooms supported by research experts with the relevant skills.

Other examples of activities include:

• Writing moderation – ACER develops training materials for the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) to support Local Authorities across England in equipping moderators with the knowledge required to moderate teacher assessment of writing and to ensure the consistency and accuracy of writing moderation across England.  We also produce the annual standardisation exercises which moderators must pass in order to retain the role. ACER works with schools to support moderation standards through the provision of (anonymised) pupil work for inclusion in these materials. Having collections of work from a wide range of pupils working at all standards is crucial for achieving these aims, and we rely on our partner schools to share pupil work.
• Assessment trialling – ACER regularly trials new questions for its UK assessments, such as Essential Learning Metrics (ELMs) in England, and Scottish Online Formative Assessments (SOFA) in Scotland.
• Informal trialling – ACER produces high-stakes assessment material which may feature at the end of key stage 1 and 2 assessments in England. We conduct informal trialling within schools, which involves interviewing teachers and pupils to gauge the appropriateness of texts, the language used and interpretation and understanding of the associated questions.

What is in it for ACER?

ACER benefits from collobarating with a network of schools from a cross-section of the United Kingdom. Our partnerships with schools ensures our work has a genuine impact.

For more information, contact our team at elms@acer.org