What is Within School Variation and why is it important?
. 4Matrix calculates a set of Within School Variation (WSV) measures for every subject, ethnic category and teaching group – or for selected groups of pupils. WSV is important because it reveals where pupils who perform well in some subjects underperform in others. This is the most obvious target for school improvement because it is achievable – we know that the target groups of pupils are capable of doing better because they demonstrate it across their other subjects.
A. In any school there will be some groups of pupils that do better than others. Within School Variation (WSV) is a measure of the consistency of impact for what a school provides. In schools with good quality assurance processes WSV is usually narrow. In other schools however there may be wide variation between the most effective and least effective learning. 4Matrix was designed to help to measure and manage WSV.
