SISRA Online : Residuals Report

If you have ever wanted a way of fairly comparing the subjects, classes or pupils in your school this report is exactly what you need. Full details of how SISRA calculates residuals can be found in the user guide but, as an example, subject residuals are calculated by comparing the average points score of the students taking a subject with the average points score of those students in all the subjects that they take. So, if a subject has a residual of +6, this means that, on average, the students taking that subject have obtained a grade higher in that subject than they have, on average, in all the subjects that they took, quite an achievement!

However, one of the commonest criticisms of residual reports is that they are not fair because students find some subjects easier than others! This is not a problem in SISRA because administrators can add national subject residuals in order to "level the playing field". For example, the national residual for ICT OCR National Level 2 is +5.7, meaning that, on average, students taking this subject across the country obtain almost a grade higher than they do, on average, in all the subjects that they take. So, by including national residuals, you can make a fair comparison between this and the other subjects in your school which takes into account the variation in subject results across the country.

Of course you will probably already have a very good idea of which subjects in your school are doing well and which you would like to see improve but using the residuals report in SISRA will give you a much more accurate picture of why this is so. By using the relevant filters you will be able to compare fairly the performance of different subjects by gender, SEN, FSM etc. and get a much better measure of their specific strengths and weaknesses.

By drilling down into a subject you will be able to get a true comparison of the relative performance of its different classes which would not be possible by simply looking at the raw data.

The residuals report, however, will allow you to do much more than this! By drilling down into a subject you will be able to get a true comparison of the relative performance of its different classes which would not be possible by simply looking at the raw data. Then, by drilling down into a class, you can easily see how well the students in that class are performing in that subject compared to their performance across the board. This will be particularly useful for middle managers trying to get an accurate picture of the relative performance of the classes and students in their department. In addition, it can provide a valuable source of information for performance management reviews.

In conclusion, therefore, the residuals report is useful to staff at all levels, from senior leaders to class teachers, allowing, as it does, a fair and accurate comparison to be made between the relevant performances of different subjects, classes and students; information which can then be used to help drive valuable school improvement!