Assessment for Learning

1. Assessment for Learning October 2005 Dimensions of Teaching 3.2

2. Assessment for Learning (AfL) Session Objectives • Review methods and purposes of assessment • Develop understanding of AfL • Discuss approaches to record keeping

3. What methods of assessment do you remember from your own school days? Identify where possible the purpose of each method you remember.

4. Raising standards in education – a continuing Government priority • National Curriculum testing (‘SAT’s) • Examination and curriculum developments • League tables of school performance • School planning and management initiatives • Target setting • More frequent and thorough inspection Is something missing?…

5. Inside the black boxPaul Black & Dylan Wiliam (1998) Learning is driven by what teachers and pupils do in the classroom. …the classroom as a black box. Certain inputs from the outside are fed in or make demands – pupils, teachers, other resources, management rules and requirements, parental anxieties, tests with pressures to score highly, and so on. Some outputs follow, hopefully pupils who are more knowledgeable and competent, better test results, teachers who are more or less satisfied, and more or less exhausted.

6. What is happening inside the black box? Is it “ up to the teachers”? • Some changes in inputs may be counter-productive (therefore harder for teachers to raise standards) • Should teachers be left to raise standards single-handed? Can policy makers and others give direct help and support?

7. Formative assessment is at the heart of effective teaching • Is there evidence that improving formative assessment raises standards? • Is there evidence that there is room for improvement? • Is there evidence about how to improve formative assessment?

8. In our study of formative assessment there can be seen, for once, firm evidence that indicates clearly a direction for change which could improve standards of learning.

9. 5 messages: 1. Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons with other pupils. 2. For formative assessment to be productive, pupils should be trained in self-assessment so that they can understand the main purposes of their learning and thereby grasp what they need to do to achieve

10. 3. Opportunities for pupils to express their understanding should be designed into any piece of teaching, for this will initiate the interaction whereby formative assessment aids learning 4. The dialogue between pupils and a teacher should be thoughtful, reflective, focused to evoke and explore understanding, and conducted so that all pupils have an opportunity to think and to express their ideas

11. 5. Tests and homework exercises can be an invaluable guide to learning, but the exercises must be clear and relevant to learning aims. The feedback on them should give each pupil guidance on how to improve, and each must be given opportunity and help to work at the improvement.

12. Working inside the black boxPaul Black, Christine Harrison, Clare Lee, Bethan Marshall & Dylan Wiliam (2002) Assessment for learning is any assessment for which the first priority in its design and practice is to serve the purpose of promoting pupils’ learning. It thus differs from assessment designed primarily to serve the purposes of accountability, or of ranking, or of certifying competence.

13. King’s-Medway-Oxfordshire Formative Assessment Project (KMOFAP) • 2 LEAs • 6 secondary schools (one girls’, one boys’ and four mixed) • 24 teachers (2 science and 2 maths teachers in each school) Classroom observations, records of meetings, interviews with teachers, teacher’s reflective notes, discussions with groups of pupils (extended to involve English teachers)

14. Findings: how change can happen Questioning • Frame questions worth asking • Increase ‘wait time’ • Provide rich follow-up activities (opportunities to extend pupils’ understanding) Feedback through marking • Written tasks + oral questions should develop pupils’ understanding of key features of learning • Provide comments to show what has been done well, what needs improvement and guidance on how to improve work • Plan for opportunities for pupils to follow up comments

15. Peer-assessment and self-assessment • Make criteria transparent • Teach pupils habits and skills of collaboration in peer-assessment ( for intrinsic value + to develop the objectivity needed for effective self-assessment • Encourage pupils to keep in mind the aims of the work and to monitor their own progress Peer- and self-assessment make unique contributions to the development of pupils’ learning – they secure aims that cannot be achieved in any other way

16. Formative use of summative tests • Use of ‘traffic lights’ to signal level of learning • Peer marking (especially if preceded by involvement in the design of the mark scheme) • Pupils write and answer their own test questions AfL A challenge to common established expectations. We should aim to achieve a more positive relationship between the two modes of assessment.

17. Improving classroom practice: • Engage pupils in reflective review of their work so that they can plan revision effectively • Encourage pupils to set questions and to mark answers to help them to understand the assessment process and also to focus their efforts for improvement • Encourage pupils through peer- and self-assessment to apply criteria to help them to understand how their work might be improved.

18. Putting this into practice … What criteria will you use to formatively assess a successful subject support teaching session?

19. Keeping track of things: recording pupil progress • Shorthand notes in register/mark book • Clipboard or PDA in class with grid for notes • Focus on particular pupils (different each time) • Use codes such as Progress: U = unsatisfactory; C = achieved core targets; E = moved on to extension work Effort: A,B,C … Behaviour: G = good; H = helpful; T = talkative ….. (? SO = sent out)

20. Monitoring work • Identify points in a task where pupils should see you to check on progress and quality of work. This should help pupils to assess their own progress and make improvements if needed. • Make supportive and positive comments. Useful for identifying trends, areas of weakness, further explanation needed, modification to teaching scheme

21. Recording a final assessment • Follow local practice! • You might note how much help each pupil had from peers, you or LSA. • Comments are more helpful than grades for AfL. • Share criteria with pupils (see suggestions for pupils’ involvement in marking in previous section).

22. Other pointers: • Scan work in progress. (Net Ops software?) • For difficult characters, try to ‘catch them being good’ • Quick finishers will need refocusing • Involve pupils in reviewing and reflecting on key points • Use examples of good work to highlight key points • Have some awareness of general ability levels (eg CAT scores = Cognitive Ability Testing) - BUT remember that these will not necessarily be reflected in ICT capability

23. Baseline (diagnostic) assessment • Determined from previous work or from gathering information formally or informally at the start of a unit of work • Should inform planning for the whole class and knowledge of individuals • You may choose to record only notes about specific pupils

24. LEARNING and TEACHING Have they got to where we aimed for? Where are they now? Baseline assessment Formative assessment with good feedback Summative assessment Planning, monitoring and evaluating

25. References Black, P and Wiliam, D (1998)Inside the black box: raising standards through classroom assessment. nferNelson, London Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B & Wiliam, D (2002) Working inside the black box: Assessment for learning in the classroom. King’s College, London Kennewell, S., Parkinson, J & Tanner, H (2003) Learning to Teach ICT in the Secondary School. RoutledgeFalmer, London