Assessment for Learning:why, what and how?

Why raising achievement is important Why formative assessment is the answer How we can put this into practice

Raising Achievement matters

For Most – Higher level of education = Higher salary

1 year extra education adds 1 and 1/2 years to life

Long term goal: Confident individuals, Responsible Citizens,

Successful Learners, Effective Contributors

Formative Assessment (Black et al.,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. An assessment activity can help learning if it provides information to be used as feedback, by teachers, and by their pupils, in assessing themselves and each other, to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged.

Such assessment becomes ‘formative assessment’ when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet learning needs.

Formative Assessment

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/movies/formativeassessmentdylanwiliam.asp

5 Key Strategies of Assessment

1. Sharing Learning Expectations: Clarifying andsharing learning intentions and criteria for success.

2. Questioning: Engineering effective classroomdiscussions, questions and learning tasks that elicitevidence of learning.

3. Feedback: Providing feedback that moves learnersforward.

4. Self Assessment: Activating students as the ownersof their own learning.

5. Peer Assessment: Activating students as instructional resources for one another.

Sharing Criteria with learners

“Students can hit any target that is clear and that holds still for them.” Rick Stiggins

The learning target needs to be clear to the teacher:What do students need to know/do?How well do they need to know/do it? How will you know they know?How will you get them there?

The learning target needs to be clear to students:Do students know, in advance, what they need to know/do and how they will be assessed (as well as the consequences for failing to meet the learning target)?

To clarify the learning target use:Examples and non-examples Models RubricsScoring guides Test specification guides

A few techniques

Kinds of Questions

Questioning in maths: discussion

Look at the following sequence:3, 7, 11, 15, 19,………

Which is the best rule to describe the sequence?A n + 4B 4n – 1C 4n + 3

Kinds of Questions

Questioning in maths: diagnosis

In which of these right – angled triangles is a2 + b2 = c2?

ab

c

c

b

a

a

c

b

cb

a

A B

C D

Feedback

Kinds of Feedback:ScoresCommentsScores & Comments

What impact do you think these 3 types of feedback have?

[Butler (1998) Br. J. Educ. Psychol, 58 1-14]

Feedback

Feedback is formative only if the information fed back is actually used in closing the gap.

Feedback that is ego based / grade based is proved to have no impact on high achievers and bad impact on low achievers.

Feedback must be – Where are you going.

Peer & Self Assessment

Conclusion

Only learners create learning, and so, when we look at the role that assessment plays in promoting learning, the crucial feature is not the validity of the assessment, or its reliability, but its impact on the student.

Practical Techniques

Carol McCabe

Practical Techniques

Sharing Learning Intentions– Learning Intentions / Success criteria– Planning / Writing frames– Annotated examples of different standards– Opportunities for students to design their own

tests

Practical Techniques

Questioning– Key idea Cause thinking

Provide data that informs teaching

Generate questions with colleagues

Appropriate wait timeNo hands upAll – student response

system

Practical Techniques

FeedbackKey idea Cause thinking

Provide guidance on how to improveComment – only gradingExplicit reference to mark-schemes

and scoring guidelines

Practical Techniques

Peer and Self-Assessment– Students assessing own their own/peers’

work– Training students to pose questions– Self assessment of understanding– End of lesson student review

Putting it into practice

Don’t try it all Flexibility to make a difference