Strand 1 - January Interim Report

Title of paper: Assessment and Progression working group – interim report – January 2017

Purpose of paper: The purpose is to: Discuss the evidence gathered Outline the key messages and proposals Outline next steps

[pages 3-5]

Additional information provided

The appendix to this paper provides an overview of the work completed to date by the working group

[pages 6-28]

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Table of Contents

Section Page

Executive SummaryIntroduction 3Key messages – Education reform 3Key messages – AoLE design and development 4Next steps 5

Section 1 - Assessment at the Heart of LearningIntroduction 7Defining assessment – formative and summative in harmony 7Recommendations for AoLE development 9

Section 2 – Prioritising formative assessmentIntroduction 11What is formative assessment? 12Principles of formative assessment 12Formative Assessment and a learning culture 14Recommendations for sustained development of formative assessment in Wales.

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Section 3 – The development processIntroduction 18Key principles 19Ongoing work 20

Appendices Appendix 0 - Characteristics of self actualisers 22Appendix 1 - The Future of Education and Skills: OECD

Education 2030 Framework23

Appendix 2 – The Four Purposes 25Appendix 3 – Principles of Formative Assessment 26Appendix 4 – Learning to Learn and the Four Purposes 27Appendix 5 – 10 Principles – Assessment Reform Group 28

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Executive Summary

IntroductionIn developing the principles of assessment and progression for the new curriculum and assessment arrangements, the group have focused to date on the recommendations relating to Recommendation 37 in Successful Futures, namely that ‘…Assessment arrangements should give priority to their formative role in teaching and learning.”

This paper notes the research, analysis and debate by Pioneer Schools to date with initial findings and the resulting implications for design and development of the Areas of Learning and Experiences (AoLEs). Further work is needed to explore these more deeply, e.g. regarding marking, reporting, etc, but much of this will only become evident during the development of the AoLEs. Similarly, other work relating to assessment and progression, such as the progression framework, achievement outcomes and e-Portfolios needs to be developed concurrently with the curriculum in the AoLEs. It would be unwise to force one to lead the other.

The interdependency in the current system between classroom assessment and accountability is noted, and remains a concern among many schools. However, Pioneers have followed the direction set by Professor Donaldson that it is important to get assessment right first, then to work with colleagues to explore the right method(s) of holding the system to account.

Section 1 of this paper explains the research and thinking behind affirming the definition and benefits of formative assessment. Section 2 explores how to embed formative assessment in the future curriculum, recognising that previous work hasn’t necessarily had a sustained impact in Welsh education. Section 3 outlines the development process of the working group to show how we got to this point.

Key Messages – Education reformWith respect to realising the vision laid out in Successful Futures, the Assessment and Progression Working Group concluded that:

Curriculum1. Future curriculum design and documentation should reflect the importance of

formative assessment and the development of a ‘learning culture’ within schools. All stakeholders within the education system should understand the priority formative assessment will take within the new curriculum. A common language and understanding should be developed for all stakeholders in education including, parents, pupils and policy makers.

Training2. Initial Teacher Education and Training should contain significant emphasis on

both the theory and practice of formative assessment. New teachers should have a clear understanding of what it is and how to use it in the classroom.

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3. The revised teacher professional standards should give clear priority to the role of formative assessment within effective pedagogy and professional development.

4. Training for serving teachers in formative assessment should be developed across Wales as a priority. This training should be consistent and supported across all consortia.

5. Training for leaders and managers in relation to their role in promoting formative assessment within their schools should be provided across Wales.

Leadership6. School leaders should facilitate the development of learning communities

within their schools and, through wider networks, ensure that formative assessment has priority in the professional development of all staff.

7. Professional networks should be set up and developed within and between consortia to share and develop good practice.

8. A centre / hub /network for ‘Excellence in Assessment’ should be set up within Wales to lead, research and develop effective assessment alongside the new curriculum and beyond. This will provide longevity to the priority of formative assessment.

Accountability9. The group feels that school categorisation should have increased focus on the

use of formative assessment within classrooms and schools rather than on summative and comparative data; pedagogy over performance.

10.Formative Assessment should become an expectation within schools and integral to self-evaluation processes. Regional education consortia, Estyn and governing bodies have a role in monitoring its development and practice in schools.

Key Messages – AoLE design and developmentThe Assessment and Progression Working Group recommend the following for the construction of Areas of Learning and Experiences (AoLEs):

1. The new curriculum will reflect the aims of assessment as defined by the group, i.e.:

2. The new curriculum must provide the framework for schools to develop formative assessment practice within the areas of learning. (See Section 2 for detail)

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Assessment is the process of ‘Discerning Learning’– to discover and make visible the core competencies of the ‘whole child’ - their knowledge, skills, experiences, attitudes and values. Practitioners can use this information in collaboration with the learner to move them forward - signposting the growth of ‘self-actualisation’.

3. The construction of AoLEs must demonstrate appropriate progression relevant to both disciplinary and inter-disciplinary skills but must also contain the space within them to ensure schools have the potential to develop innovative curriculum assessment systems.

4. All progression statements to be framed in qualitative not quantitative statements which must be accessible to children, teachers and parents. This will ensure the focus for assessment remains formative with learning made visible promoting self and peer assessment.

5. Progression statements in both AoLEs and additional frameworks should reflect the ‘road map’ approach described in successful future, they should not be ‘universal expectations of the performance of all children and young people at fixed points.’ (Recommendation 14). Subsequently they should be written as a continuum of skills rather than being age group specific.

6. In addition, these Progression Steps are not set markers at which schools should formally assess all pupils. It is not necessary, nor desirable, to undertake the wholesale, summative assessment of classes or cohorts of pupils at these particular points.

7. Additional frameworks sitting outside the AoLE should be kept to a minimum, with interdisciplinary skills, knowledge and experiences being incorporated within the AOLEs themselves wherever possible.

8. AoLEs may need to become increasingly specified at post-14 to reflect the requirements of qualifications. Joining up with possible developments in these qualifications will be crucial.

9. Moderation of teacher assessment is vital at key points and opportunities and examples must be built into curriculum design. This will be a powerful professional development tool, an opportunity to reflect on pupils’ learning, the process of learning and ensure consistency and understanding of effective learning across the profession.

10. The curriculum should provide opportunities for the use of e-Portfolios, with particular importance at age 14, recognising their development across the four purposes at that point. These will evidence and give value to the wider learning and experiences of learners, as well as sharing and reporting on formative and summative assessment carried out throughout their education.

Next StepsThe Assessment and Progression Working Group aim to:

1. Receive and discuss feedback from pioneers, clusters, wider networks and the expert group on the role of formative assessment in schools. Use feedback from Pioneer Schools, their clusters, the wider school network and

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the Curriculum and Assessment Panel to develop this paper further, then trial aspects within our network of schools to inform Professional Development. Subsequent aspects of this will be explored and reviewed further such as marking strategies, reporting, planning, self- and peer assessment, and workload.

2. Use the evidence from Pioneer Schools and the Curriculum and Assessment Group to share latest thinking with AoLE Pioneers to inform curriculum design.

3. Continue to meet as a working group to further develop these principles and contribute to the development of the assessment and evaluation framework.

4. Work with the AoLE working groups to ensure these principles are embedded in AoLE design and development.

5. Actively participate with research to support development of achievement outcomes and progression framework led by the University of Wales Trinity St David and the University of Glasgow.

6. Develop a work stream within the group that investigates the concept of e-Portfolios to inform principles for design.

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Assessment at the Heart of Learning

SECTION 1

IntroductionSuccessful Futures has 19 recommendations on assessment which is more than any other section of the report. There are an additional 11 recommendations relating to the assessment framework. Pedagogy contains three recommendations. The report sets out how closely pedagogy and assessment should be aligned:

This demonstrates just how significant this assessment, progression and pedagogy are to the success to the new curriculum arrangements. The strong and comprehensive understanding of effective assessment in our schools needs to be at the heart of effective pedagogy. Effective pedagogy, in turn, depends upon teachers who are sufficiently knowledgeable, alert and agile to adapt their practice based on what they observe happening in their pupils’ learning:

Defining assessment – formative and summative in harmonyAssessment is the name we give to any process or activity (whether undertaken by a teacher/facilitator, a peer or the learner themselves) that elicits information which allows for the evaluation of a learner’s current, knowledge, skills and/or understanding. 

How we use assessment information often gives further definition to the term.  ‘Formative assessment’ is often seen as practice where the information is used diagnostically to allow teachers to improve their teaching and to provide pupils with guidance on how to improve their learning.

‘Summative assessment’ practices use information to grade or evaluate pupils’ learning, usually for the purposes of reporting attainment, measuring progress, making comparisons with groups of learners, or for the purposes of accountability.  

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“Sound pedagogy will be an integral part of the successful implementation of the Review’s proposals on curriculum and assessment. It means much more than the implementation of a pre-determined repertoire of methods and requires high-quality teachers with a sound understanding of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of teaching as well as the ‘what’.”

Successful Futures 2015, p71

“The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create men who are capable of doing new things………It is with children that we have the best chance of studying the development of logical knowledge, mathematical knowledge, physical knowledge, and so forth.”

Jean Piaget

But the balance between the two is often confusing and divisive… as pointed out by Professor Wynn Harlen.

If this harmony is not achieved, it can distort the role of the class teacher in delivering a meaningful curriculum that adapts to the needs of the whole child. This is highlighted in the OECD review “Improving Schools in Wales – An OECD perspective”:

The danger of a misuse and misinterpretation of the use of assessment is also highlighted by Estyn in their Annual Report of 2014-15, where they warn against a culture in schools ‘…where teachers assess pupils’ work regularly, but with little impact on standards’ (p30)’

A culture change within many of our schools is needed, where we see effective assessment as integral and critical to improving both pupils’ learning and their wider skills and experiences.

Therefore, it is important that we view assessment as a formative process which may at points provide summative data that helps move the learner forward. As Professor Wynne Harlen points out, we need an approach to summative assessment that better uses evidence gathered through formative processes:

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“There is a clear case for Recommendation 37 (Successful Futures), but this is unlikely to happen unless the assessment for formative and summative purposes can be brought into harmony.”

A wide range of policy measures have reconfirmed Wales’ policy focus on literacy and numeracy, but this may have had the unintended consequence that Welsh schools and teachers have narrowed their focus to the tested subjects. It will be a challenge for the Welsh government and other stakeholders to minimise such unwanted side effects. (p 92)

Schools need to make placing the student at the centre of learning an organisational priority. They should encourage the active engagement of learners, and develop in them an understanding of their own activity as learners (“self-regulation”) (OECD)

Recommendations for AOLE development

The new curriculum will reflect the aims of assessment as defined by the group:

The Assessment and Progression Working Group recommend the following for the construction of AoLEs:

1. The new curriculum must provide the framework for schools to develop formative assessment practice within the areas of learning. (See Section 2 for detail)

2. The construction of AoLEs must demonstrate appropriate progression relevant to both disciplinary and inter-disciplinary skills but must also contain the space within them to ensure schools have the potential to develop innovative curriculum assessment systems, e.g. Big Ideas, Reading &Writing Frames, OECD Formative Assessment Rubrics.

3. All progression statements to be framed in qualitative not quantitate statements which must be accessible to children, teachers and parents. This will ensure the focus for assessment remains formative with learning made ‘visible’ promoting self and peer assessment.

4. Progression statements in both AoLEs and additional frameworks should reflect the ‘road map’ approach described in successful future, they should not be ‘universal expectations of the performance of all children and young people at fixed points.’ (Recommendation 14). Subsequently they should be written as a continuum of skills rather than being age group specific.

5. In addition, these Progression Steps are not set markers at which schools should formally assess all pupils. It is not necessary, nor desirable, to

1 15 Characteristics of Self-Actualised People – Appendix 0 (Maslow)

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Assessment is the process of ‘Discerning Learning’– to discover and make visible the core competencies of the ‘whole child’ - their knowledge, skills, experiences, attitudes and values. Practitioners can use this information in collaboration with the learner to move them forward - signposting the growth of ‘self-actualisation’.

“Not only does this mean that the full range of learning goals can be included in summative assessment but that formative assessment is encouraged, almost required, as the source of data.”

(Harlen, 2016 - Combining formative and summative assessment to support learning)

undertake the wholesale, summative assessment of classes or cohorts of pupils at these particular points.

6. Additional frameworks sitting outside the AoLE should be kept to a minimum, with interdisciplinary skills, knowledge and experiences being incorporated within the AOLEs themselves wherever possible.

7. AoLEs will need to become increasingly specified at post 14 to reflect the requirements of GCSEs

8. Moderation is vital at key points and opportunities and examples must be built into curriculum design. This will be a powerful professional development tool, an opportunity to reflect on pupils learning, the process of learning and ensure consistency and understanding of effective learning across the profession.

9. The curriculum should provide opportunities for the use of e-Portfolios, with particular importance at age 14. These will evidence and give value to the wider learning and experiences of learners, as well as sharing and reporting on formative and summative assessment carried out throughout their education.

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SECTION 2 – Prioritising Formative Assessment

Introduction

This priority is reflected by a significant body of research that shows the impact of formative assessment on learners

In his book Visible Learning, John Hattie synthesised over 800 meta-analyses relating to educational achievement involving around 240 million students. He established an ‘effect-size’ for different elements of education and calculated that anything above 0.4 was having a significant effect on learning and the higher the effect size the more influence it has. Once an effect size of 1.0 is reached, this has the effect of a child being a year ahead of where he or she would normally be.

Aspects of Formative Assessment top his list of over 150 elements as can be seen by the table below:

STRONG EFFECT ON LEARNINGInfluence Effect Size

Student Self-Assessment 1.4Teacher Providing Formative Evaluation 0.9Classroom Discussion 0.82Teacher Clarity – Communicating lesson intentions and success criteria

0.75

Feedback 0.73Teacher Student Relationships 0.72Meta Cognition Strategies 0.69

The Education Endowment Foundation invests in evidence-based projects including their teaching and learning toolkit which is a summary of educational research on teaching 5-16 year olds. This currently has ‘effective feedback’ as the highest factor in influencing children’s learning at the lowest cost to an organisation.

The argument then is clear:

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‘Formative assessment does improve learning. The gains in achievement appear to be quite considerable…. among the largest ever reported for educational interventions.’

Black and Wiliam, 1998

And:

What is Formative Assessment?Formative Assessment has been described in many ways. Dylan Wiliam and Paul Black tell us that assessment becomes formative assessment ‘when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching to meet student needs’ (Black & Wiliam, 1998 p. 140)

We are also told by the Assessment Reform Group that Assessment for Learning is:

Hattie and Yates, in turn stress the importance of the teacher as learner, and how pupils can sometimes see themselves as teachers:

Our ambition in Wales is that formative assessment becomes an everyday and integral part of teaching. As such it will help to create a learning culture in our schools which will realise the vision of teachers, pupils and parents working together to improve the outcomes for all our children.

Principles of Formative AssessmentThe principles of Formative Assessment have been rigorously developed over time. Work includes that of the Assessment Reform Group (Ten principles of A4L - Appendix 5), Dylan Wiliam (Embedded Formative Assessment) and Shirley Clarke (Outstanding Formative Assessment. In an effort to create a common language for Wales, the group’s recommended that formative assessment can be expressed through the following infographic:

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‘If you’re serious about changing teachers, you have to get them to look at assessment for learning. It’s more important than anything else…… It appears to be the most powerful focus for enabling teachers to change’

Assessment for Learning: why, what and how?, 2009

‘the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there’

(Assessment Reform Group, 2002)

‘Formative Practice is a reflective partnership between the teacher and the learner that guides and informs the pedagogy that moves learners forward. It is an agile process embedded in classroom teaching that effectively supports all learners in understanding and using the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to improve their own learning. Achievement in school is maximised when teachers see learning through the eyes of the students, and when students see learning through the eyes of themselves as teachers.’

(Hattie and Yates 2014)

The detail of how this could work is outlined below.

The Teacher Teaching which embeds formative assessment will be characterised by many of the following features.

1. Feedback will be provided which will progress learning which will: be appropriate to the needs of the learner in timing and format, e.g.

immediate verbal feedback and/or marking, that is clear and constructive about both weaknesses and ways to improve;

allow pupils the time and opportunities to act upon it; promote high self-esteem and motivation focussing on the way forward; and challenge learners to invest effort in their learning by operating at or just

above their current level of ability.

2. Questioning will be skilful and: encourage effective classroom discussions; extend thinking and learning; elicit feedback on current learning, e.g. hinge point questioning promote the engagement and inclusion of all pupils; encourage pupils to ask questions of each other and build on each other’s

ideas; develop pupils’ confidence by giving time to respond and treating these

responses with respect; and will encourage the asking of a good question to be recognised as an

achievement.

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3. Reflection and Planning will guide teaching without stifling it and will: be concerned to discover what prior knowledge and skills the pupils

possess; often take place ‘in the moment’ and allow teachers to change direction to

accommodate the need of the learner; involve a wider reflection over time taking into account a range of evidence

drawn from a range of sources; and make judicious use of data.

The Pupil 1. Learning will be made ‘visible’ to the pupil i.e. that:

success criteria should be clear and unambiguous; where possible, they should be related to transferable learning rather than

being confined to one context; should develop commitment to learning by providing opportunities for

learners to decide goals and to identify criteria for assessment; learners understanding of what ‘good’ looks like should be facilitated by

providing examples of how the criteria was met in practice; and teachers will model for the pupils the outcomes they expect.

2. Opportunities will be provided for pupils to engage actively in the assessment process.This involves pupil self- assessment which:

is modelled by the teacher; is closely related to the success criteria; and develops pupils’ ability to gain increasing independence in identifying

their own next steps.

It will also involve opportunities for peer assessment which will: develop positive social interaction and encourage collaborative working;

‘activating learners as resources for one another’; Encourage the peer ‘tutor’ to highlight strengths and identify next steps

and to make these clear to the learner through appropriate feedback; and

not be related to attitudes or effort.

Formative Assessment and a learning cultureIncreasingly, it is becoming clear that a learning culture lies at the heart of most successful organisations. While it is beyond the scope of this paper, to give a full account of what a learning culture would look like in a school, it would surely be characterised by both pupils and teachers possessing the following characteristics:

a clarity about what is needed for progression; a reflective mind set; being willing to risk failure;

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being able to learn from failure; being self-regulating learners; developing resilience in the face of barriers; being curious about thinking and learning; recognising that learning is often collaborative as well as individual; being agile and adaptable in the face of new or unexpected challenges; and a growth mindset with the belief that all can succeed

It is difficult to see how such a culture could be established without the embedding of Formative Assessment within the taught curriculum.

This approach is gathering momentum worldwide. In its current work, the OECD is developing a curriculum model which aims to provide a holistic overview of the educational process. This is represented in the following diagram and accompanying table2 (Appendix 1). They illustrate effectively the intertwining of learning strands. It is a model which may become influential in future curriculum design. The cultivation of an effective ‘disposition of mind’ which it sees as being an essential part of good learning echoes the thinking in the group’s recommendations for Formative Assessment and aligns with the four purposes within successful futures. (See also Appendix 4)

Recommendations for sustained development of formative assessment in Wales

Formative Assessment as framed by Professor Donaldson is often seen as a ‘bolt on’ to the curriculum rather than an integral part of teaching and learning. The Pioneer Schools within the Assessment and Progression Working Group (APG) have discussed a number of ways to prevent this happening in Wales.

Interestingly, Norway has undergone a system wide development of formative assessment, a six-year programme to develop effective practices within its schools.

A recent report by the OECD highlighted:

2 https://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/Global-competency-for-an-inclusive-world.pdf

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It also concluded that:

The Assessment and Progression Group would recommend the following are considered, to ensure that Formative Assessment becomes a priority in Wales and that this priority is sustained over time:

Curriculum1. Future curriculum design and documentation should reflect the importance of

formative assessment and the development of a ‘learning culture’ within schools. All stakeholders within the education system should understand the priority formative assessment will take within the new curriculum. A common language and understanding should be developed for all stakeholders in education including, parents, pupils and policy makers.

Training2. Initial Teacher Education and Training should contain significant emphasis on

both the theory and practice of formative assessment. New Teachers should have a clear understanding of what it is and how to use it in the classroom.

3. The revised teacher professional standards should give clear priority to the role of formative assessment within effective pedagogy and professional development.

4. Training for serving teachers in formative assessment should be developed across Wales as a priority. This training should be consistent and supported across all consortia.

5. Training for leaders and managers in relation to their role in promoting formative assessment within their schools should be provided across Wales.

Leadership

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“School leaders must involve the teachers in the process of developing school cultures based on a real understanding of the intentions and principles of AfL. Yet the majority of the teachers interviewed struggled with interpreting the AfL programme and what would be considered as “correct” practice. There is still a lack of understanding regarding the government’s intentions and teachers have not developed a common understanding on how to transform the theory underlying AfL into high quality teaching practices.”

“School leaders need support to be able to keep focus over time. Governance actors and school leaders require training and support in the acquisition of research knowledge to develop greater competency in this area and enable them to facilitate change. They need knowledge about the content of the change process, about what works and what re the theoretical assumptions underlying the new teaching paradigm. These processes develop over years, and implementation therefore needs to be planned strategically, with a particular focus on what to do after the official programme is over.”

6. School leaders should facilitate the development of learning communities within their schools and, through wider networks, ensure that formative assessment has priority in the professional development of all staff.

7. Professional networks should be set up and developed within and between consortia to share and develop good practice.

8. A centre / hub for ‘Excellence in Assessment’ should be set up within Wales to lead, research and develop effective assessment alongside the new curriculum and beyond.

Accountability9. School categorisation should have increased focus on the use of formative

assessment within classrooms and schools rather than on summative and comparative data; pedagogy over performance.

10.Formative Assessment should become a statutory policy within schools and integral to self-evaluation processes. Consortia, Estyn and governing bodies should monitor its development and practice in schools. (Adjust to reflect assessment as a whole).

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SECTION 3 - The development process

IntroductionThe Assessment and Progression Working Group started its work by reviewing and debating the assessment recommendations within Successful Futures, particularly to ensure common understanding of what they meant and how they were distinct from the status quo.

Significant in early discussions were the related – but separate – issues of school accountability and the qualifications system. The group found it helpful to have these debates but were determined not to be constrained by the present system in developing a new one. However, these are key interdependencies and ensuring alignment between them in the long run is essential, especially as they will drive behaviour within schools until there are changes, or signals of change, in sufficient time.

Pioneer Schools undertook different roles in the early stages, mainly focusing on reviewing current practice, research and broader reading along the four purposes (the hypothesis being ‘we should assess against the four purposes rather than against AoLEs’) and:

What is currently working well in schools International models of assessment Growth mindset and Vision & principles of assessment e-Portfolios

This was tested within their own schools and clusters, which included schools not within the Pioneer Network.

The initial hypothesis of an assessment model solely against the four purposes had limited success, and was found to work more successfully in some purposes, but not others. The group concluded that it wasn’t helpful or realistic to demonstrate progress restricted only to the four purposes that could be easily and usefully understood.

Instead, thinking based on these experiences, indicated the need for an effective curriculum that embedded the four purposes. These could then be assessed more naturally alongside progression within the curriculum itself. Alignment between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment was seen as vital in ensuring assessment complemented the learning process rather than potentially narrowing the curriculum.

This led us to split the group’s work into smaller chunks to make it more manageable. More specifically, the work plan would look at formative assessment first - given its prime status in Successful Futures - and to reflect our thinking that its role is fundamental to ensuring assessment does not “subvert”3 curriculum and pedagogy, instead supports and enhances it.

3 Professor Mary James ‘From Measurement to Judgment’

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The high-level principles of e-Portfolios would also be examined (so as not to be constrained to a specification at this stage), and the progression framework/achievement outcomes which would need to be interlinked with research led by the University of Wales Trinity St David and the University of Glasgow as well as the development of the Areas of Learning and Experience.

Early principlesThese principles reflected our early thinking within the Assessment and Progression Group and many were shared with the Pioneer Network at the July Event. For completion, they are outlined here before moving on to the chief focus of the paper i.e. formative assessment.

General The role of formative assessment is key and we will give priority to formative

assessment. Fundamentally, the curriculum structure and associated assessment

arrangements should give expression to the four overall curriculum purposes. This is achieved using the six Areas of Learning and Experience as vehicles for organising relevant knowledge, skills and dispositions. It is the AoLEs that will be assessed. The four purposes, wider skills and cross-curriculum responsibilities will be embedded in those AoLEs and it is through AoLE assessment that they will be satisfied. No extra assessment frameworks will exist. It isn’t useful to have an assessment framework, an AoLE framework plus a DCF and an LNF and a wider skills framework.

We anticipate that developing the assessment and progression framework will be an iterative process which will be refined during the development of AoLEs.

Pupils should have a role in assuring that the assessment and progression model makes sense and is useful.

Achievement Outcomes and Progression Reference Points Achievement Outcomes should not be a checklist of knowledge or skills –

they will need to incorporate effective pedagogy. Assessment should not be about levels / outcomes / numbers used to

generate data, although they will provide information on learning and teaching in schools. The integrity of achievement outcomes depends on this being the case.

Achievement outcomes should inform next steps and be framed as broad expectations achievable over a period of time. Setting year on year expectations runs this risk of narrowing the scope of learning at each year group.

Getting the level of specificity right is a challenge and may vary across AoLEs, and will need testing before we’re comfortable it’s done properly.

Achievement Outcomes should use 'I can' and 'I have' statements to describe progression however we need to be careful that we find the balance so criteria are not over specified and likewise not overly vague.

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Initial and career-long professional learning programmes should include elements that build teachers’ capacity to assess the full range of curriculum purposes and Achievement Outcomes.

We must move away from an obsession with collecting and documenting evidence in order to track progression. We need a shift towards depending on professional judgement gained primarily through formative assessment in order to assess progress, combined with relevant summative information collected and then used formatively within classrooms and schools.

e-Portfolios Personal e-portfolios and ‘e-badges’ are ‘owned’ by the children and young

people for their benefit, both in recognising achievements and for their own assessments. Teachers will need access to collaborate with, and support young people to develop their skills in using this technology and achieve their potential.

E-portfolios must be useful to the child or they're irrelevant and burdensome. They must be useful for providing information to parents on achievement and next steps. They must be a formative tool to bring the learning community together. i.e. children, teachers, parents.

They should not add to teachers’ workloads, e.g. Teachers to be responsible for uploading stacks of materials.

Ongoing Work Our workshop activities and the resulting reports that summarise thinking can be found in the Hwb network.4

Assessment and Progression working groups members have shared the latest report with their schools, clusters, consortia and wider networks. Their role here was to gather feedback from practitioners to test, improve and raise awareness of the renewed focus on formative assessment.

Next StepsIn the coming months, concurrent with the AoLE development, the Assessment and Progression Working Group aim to:

1. Receive and discuss feedback from pioneers, clusters, wider networks and the expert group on the role of formative assessment in schools. Use feedback from Pioneer Schools, their clusters, the wider school network and the Curriculum and Assessment Panel to develop this paper further, then trial aspects within our network of schools to inform Professional Development. Subsequent aspects of this will be explored and reviewed further such as marking strategies, reporting, planning, self- and peer assessment, and workload.

4 Assessment Pioneers Network – Hwb Hwb login required)

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2. Use the evidence from Pioneer Schools and the Curriculum and Assessment Group to share latest thinking with AoLE Pioneers to inform curriculum design.

3. Continue to meet as a working group to further develop these principles and contribute to the development of the assessment and evaluation framework.

4. Work with the AoLE working groups to ensure these principles are embedded in AoLE design and development.

5. Actively participate with research to support development of achievement outcomes and progression framework led by the University of Wales Trinity St David and the University of Glasgow.

6. Develop a work stream within the group that investigates the concept of e-Portfolios to inform principles for design.

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Appendix 0

Characteristics of self-actualisers:

1. They perceive reality efficiently and can tolerate uncertainty;2. Accept themselves and others for what they are;3. Spontaneous in thought and action;4. Problem-centred (not self-centred);5. Unusual sense of humour;6. Able to look at life objectively;7. Highly creative;8. Resistant to enculturation, but not purposely unconventional;9. Concerned for the welfare of humanity;10.Capable of deep appreciation of basic life-experience;11.Establish deep satisfying interpersonal relationships with a few people;12.Peak experiences;13.Need for privacy;14.Democratic attitudes;15.Strong moral/ethical standards.

Behaviour leading to self-actualization:a. Experiencing life like a child, with full absorption and concentration;b. Trying new things instead of sticking to safe paths;c. Listening to your own feelings in evaluating experiences instead of the voice

of tradition, authority or the majority;d. Avoiding pretence ('game playing') and being honest;e. Being prepared to be unpopular if your views do not coincide with those of the

majority;f. Taking responsibility and working hard;g. Trying to identify your defences and having the courage to give them up.h. The characteristics of self-actualizers and the behaviours leading to self-

actualization are shown in the list above.  Although people achieve self-actualization in their own unique way, they tend to share certain characteristics.  However, self-actualization is a matter of degree, 'There are no perfect human beings' (Maslow,1970a, p. 176).

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Appendix 1 - The Future of Education and Skills: OECD Education 2030 Framework 5

Definition of DomainsKnowledge Skills Attitudes and Values

Facts, concepts, ideas and theories about certain aspects of the world that have been established.

Disciplinary knowledge: knowledge combining conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge within disciplines.

Interdisciplinary knowledge: knowledge combining conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge across different disciplines. Themes (in curricula): areas of contemporary, real-life concern (e.g. environmental issues, migration issues, technological advancements) that provide an authentic context in which the learner develops relevant and meaningful knowledge, skills, attitudes and values in an inter-disciplinary mode.

Practical knowledge: know-how; knowledge of what to do or how to apply a particular skill, often tacitly acquired.

Skills are the ability and capacity to carryout processes.

Cognitive skills are set of thinking strategies that enable the use of language, numbers and reasoning as well as acquired knowledge, comprising verbal and nonverbal skills, higher-order thinking skills, effective use of executive functions (especially working memory) and problem solving.

Meta-cognitive skills, in particular, include the ability to (a) recognise one’s knowledge, (b) recognise about one’s skills, and (b) recognise about one’s attitudes and values.

Social & emotional skills A set of individual capacities that can be manifested in consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours (OECD, 2015a). Social and emotional skills can help balance and ground personalities and strengthen character.

Physical & practical skills: A set of abilities to use physical tools,

Attitudes: A disposition and mind set to act/react to ideas, persons or situations in certain ways, either consciously or unconsciously.

Values: Guiding principles by which particular beliefs, behaviours and actions are judged to be good or desirable (adapted from Halstead and Taylor, 2000).

“Attitudes and values” are also often referred to, including “beliefs”, “ethics”, “moral”, “attributes”, “aptitudes”, “personal traits”, “affective outcomes”, “social and emotional skills”, “soft skills”, “psychosocial prerequisites”, etc.

5 https://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/Global-competency-for-an-inclusive-world.pdf

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operations, functions including: e.g. manual skills (ICT, new machines), life skills (first-

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Appendix 2 – The Four Purposes

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Appendix 3 – Principles of Formative Assessment

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Appendix 4 – Learning to Learn and the Four Purposes

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Appendix 5 – 10 Principles – Assessment Reform Group