Enhancing Classroom Impact: Assessment Strategies and Techniques

1. KS3 IMPACT! ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING • Making a classroom impact • Evaluating constantly

2. What it’s about … • integrates assessment with teaching and learning; • involves sharing learning goals with pupils; • helps pupils to be aware of the standards they are aiming for; • involves pupils in peer- and self-assessment; • requires constructive feedback to pupils to help them recognise their next steps and how to take them; • involves both teachers and pupils in reviewing and reflecting on assessment information and data

3. Some opening principles: • There is a marking-across-the-curriculum issue … • But there’s a deeper issue about assessment too • And the tyranny of questions • We need to get better at assessing in different ways & stop seeing it as only our domain • …which is what this presentation is about

4. The limitation of questions • Dylan Wiliam (King’s College): • UK versus Japanese teachers • Marks can have a negative impact • Demotivation of UK students

5. Research from Israel: • 33% of students given marks only – made no progress • 33% given mark and comment – no progress • 33% given comment only … • … increased their performance by 30%

6. 4 key ingredients in good assessment • Quality of questioning • Quality of feedback • Sharing criteria with learners • Using peer and self-assessment

7. FORMATIVE V SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

8. Summative assessment: How have I done? Formative assessment: “How am I doing?” Learning teacher - peer - parent - buddy - mentor verbal - tick-list - general comment - written feedback

9. ? ? ? ? Alternatives to Questions ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

10. Bloom’s taxonomy of questioning Tasks Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge Assess / compare & contrast / judge Design / create / compose Explain / infer / analyse Demonstrate / solve / try in a new context Translate / predict / why? Describe / identify / who, when, where?

11. Mr Rees has been teaching about witchcraft in 17th century England. How could he assess whether students have understood the topic? Mrs Miles has just finished teaching an ecology lesson. How could she assess whether students can synthesise the main points? Ms Hunting has just explained the coming term’s design project. How could she assess students’ ability to evaluate their own work?

12. 7 tips for effective questioning … Plan questions in scheme of work Use Bloom’s taxonomy to move to higher-level skills Share key questions at the start of the lesson - point the way ahead Balance asking and telling Ask open questions Make questions collaborative Give thinking time

13. DEPENDENCE Self-assessment by students Re-teaching a lesson Group feedback Re-thinking Assessment Re-present in different format 30-second 1:1 Ticklists Presentations in small groups INDEPENDENCE Learning buddy Feedback from other groups

14. NEXT STEPS Get feedback from students on their attitudes to marking - what helps them & what doesn’t Display marking criteria in all classrooms Get one team testing new homework-setting patterns Get clear in your own mind formative -v- summative assessment Use sampling to evaluate marking

15. KS3 IMPACT! ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING • Making a classroom impact • Evaluating constantly