Learning tracks

The official framework everything is measured against — four layers and four levels

Domains, standards, indicators and performance levels

5 lessons 30 minutes

You cannot gather a single piece of evidence before knowing which indicator it serves. This track lays out the four layers of the framework, the four domains, the eleven standards with their codes, and the four performance levels with their bands — the layer Farqad's entire evidence record is built on.

By the end of this track you will be able to…

  • Draw the framework from domain down to rubric without confusing the layers
  • Name the four domains and the eleven standards, and place each standard in its domain
  • Read an indicator code and know which standard it came from
  • Read a performance level off its percentage, and know what each level demands
1

Lesson 1

The framework: four layers

The school performance framework has four nested layers. Confusing them is the commonest mistake in self-evaluation: a school that gathers evidence “for the domain” instead of for the indicator ends up with a large file that serves nothing in particular.

  • The domain: the widest layer, holding the standards that cover its components
  • The standard: a broad span of the domain's components, describing in general terms what should and can be achieved
  • The indicator: the measurable statement evidence is actually gathered against
  • The rubric: the scale on which an indicator's fulfilment is rated
Open the domains, indicators and evidence record
2

Lesson 2

The four domains

School performance is spread across four domains, each with an official definition that settles what falls inside it and what does not.

Domain Definition
School management Effective influence on the school community to reach advanced levels of performance, supporting plan delivery and managing teaching and learning
Teaching and learning The learner-centred processes, strategies and activities that meet learners' needs and grow their capacity to acquire and analyse knowledge
Learning outcomes The knowledge, skills, attitudes and values a learner has acquired and shows in their behaviour after planned educational experiences
School environment The school's physical environment, facilities and equipment, and the quality of its safety and security elements
The four domains and their definitions
3

Lesson 3

The eleven standards

Eleven standards spread across the four domains. The eleventh — learner rights and protection — was added by the newer edition of the standards document, so a school working from the old list of ten leaves an entire standard with no evidence behind it.

Code Standard Domain
1-1 Planning School management
1-2 Leading the educational process School management
1-3 The school community School management
1-4 Institutional development School management
1-5 Learner rights and protection School management
2-1 Building learning experiences Teaching and learning
2-2 Assessment of learning Teaching and learning
3-1 Educational attainment Learning outcomes
3-2 Personal, health and social development Learning outcomes
4-1 The school building School environment
4-2 Safety and security School environment
The standards and their codes

An indicator code reads domain, then standard, then sequence. So indicator (2-2-1-3) sits in teaching and learning, under the assessment-of-learning standard.

4

Lesson 4

The four performance levels

Average performance is classified into four levels. A level is not a polite description of a score — each one obliges the school to a different kind of response.

Level Band What it demands
Excellence 90% and above Sustaining excellence and innovating
Progress 75% to under 90% Continued follow-up for improvement and development
Emergence 50% to under 75% Substantial improvements in some domains
Foundation Under 50% Fundamental interventions across most evaluation domains
Performance levels, their bands and what each one demands
5

Lesson 5

How the domains reach into one another

The four domains are not separate boxes. An indicator met in one moves an indicator in another, and holding that in mind stops a school treating a symptom in one domain while its cause sits in a second.

  • School management → learning outcomes: the school promotes Islamic values and national identity, and learners show pride in them
  • School management → teaching and learning: the school runs enrichment activities outside the classroom, which support curriculum delivery towards the intended outcomes
  • Teaching and learning → school environment: delivering the curriculum needs suitable classrooms and labs that meet learners' needs, including those with disabilities
  • Teaching and learning → learning outcomes: growing digital skills shows up in learners' capacity to research and learn independently
Tie every piece of evidence to its indicator in the evaluation record

The next track

The evaluation team and the preparation plan The first phase: who does the work, with what authority, and to what plan