ascl.org.uk Progress, Assessment & Impact May 2016 Suzanne O’Farrell ASCL’s Curriculum & Assessment

ascl.org.uk Overview Why and what should we assess? How should we assess? What is good classroom based assessment? Tracking progress Ofsted and assessment

ascl.org.uk System fixated on testing

ascl.org.uk Is everything measurable worthwhile? Is everything worthwhile measurable?

ascl.org.uk How can we develop more effective practice in schools? Are we thinking differently?

ascl.org.uk Levels became a threshold

ascl.org.uk What was wrong with levels? Difference between pupils at same level might be very different Teachers constantly tracked progress towards targets ( accountability) Levels didn’t support formative assessment Undue pace- Progress meant moving to the next sub level Teachers planned lessons to allow pupils to demonstrate requirement of specific levels

ascl.org.uk Best Fit Approach

ascl.org.uk If you can show a student how to improve their work – why does it help or matter if they can label the work with a level before and after?

ascl.org.uk Recommendations of the Commission 1.Standing committee on assessment, supported by a panel of experts 2.Assessment is included in the core content for teacher training 3.Establishment of a national item bank of assessment questions 4.Development of a training module that can be used for both senior leaders in schools and Ofsted inspectors 5.Expert group on assessment for pupils who are working below the level of the national curriculum tests 10

ascl.org.uk Ofsted & Assessment “Schools will be able to introduce their own approaches to formative assessment, to support pupil attainment and progression. The assessment framework should be built into the school curriculum, so that schools can check what pupils have learned and whether they are on track to meet expectations at the end of the key stage, and so that they can report regularly to parents…we will provide examples of good practice which schools may wish to follow…Ofsted’s inspections will be informed by whatever pupil tracking data schools choose to keep.” Ofsted 2015

ascl.org.uk Ofsted & Assessment Are groups of students making progress? Are students sufficiently challenged? Is assessment aligned to the curriculum? Is there consistency in application? Are there systems to ensure the rigour of assessment? How is assessment data used to support teaching, interventions, establish starting points transition etc.? “Assess when they arrive thoroughly, monitor their progress, tell their story” April 2016 Sean Harford

ascl.org.uk AWL = Opportunity Ahead Our destiny Our control Our students Our school community Our context

ascl.org.uk Why assess? To inform and improve teaching To determine what is yet to learn To know whether students have grasped essential content – interventions To provide information about the likely outcomes To provide meaningful information to parents Do we focus on decisions taken by the data or the data itself?

ascl.org.uk A varied approach to assessment Assessment should be the servant of learning not the master Frequent low stakes testing ( in-school formative) In-school summative Standardised summative Peer and self assessment

ascl.org.uk What else might you WANT from an assessment system? Allows you to summarise impact of wider curriculum Aligns with desired outcomes for your students Do the national measures represent valued outcomes for all our students? Are there important outcomes not captured by the measures?

ascl.org.uk Example Report

ascl.org.uk Any assessment model should…. Be based on prior learning Focus on progress from a student’s starting point Be based on developing key core knowledge and skills required for success Include both formative and summative assessment Be easy to understand and explain to staff, parents, students Be clear about how assessment outcomes are used Be clear about how outcomes will be recorded and reported – summarise pupils’ responses to the teaching

ascl.org.uk The new NC - what should we assess? Identify the big ideas in the curriculum – identify pathways along which students are likely to progress in their understanding of the big idea The progression represents a pathway that almost all students follow Then select particular checkpoints along the way as useful markers of progress, KPIs Be selective BIG IDEAS TROUBLESOME KNOWLEDGE THRESHOLD CONCEPTS BIG IDEAS TROUBLESOME KNOWLEDGE THRESHOLD CONCEPTS

ascl.org.uk Assessing ‘growth in understanding’ over time – growth mindset Establish points students have reached in their learning Set personal stretch targets for further learning & monitor progress individuals make over time Belief that, at any given, time, every student is capable of further progress in their learning if engaged, motivated and provided with relevant learning opportunities This approach expects every student to make excellent learning progress from starting point Categories of understanding should have a value assigned to them

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A different way of working ? Target setting based on granular subject based learning targets Monitoring changes from aggregated grades or levels to granular level showing the actual knowledge being acquired, within subject by a learner and what is yet to learn Transfer of power to middle leaders What you design into the curriculum matters

ascl.org.uk Tracking pupil progress What if the expected learning within the curriculum was viewed as the flight path ? What if subject based granular assessment is your monitoring tool? A learning flight path as a way of making progress from their starting point to the end of the key stage Parental reports – simple progress measure, learning that needs to be targeted and a signpost for pupils to achieve it Report on whether students are making expected progress relative to their starting point and subject /school expectations

ascl.org.uk Effective summative assessment Checkpoints to track progress against expectation Need to quantify what pupils are learning as they progress through learning objectives Progress in mastering learning objectives? Terms used? Underlying currency May need to move towards more summative assessment at end of KS3

ascl.org.uk Beyond Exceptional Confident Secure Developing Beginning

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ascl.org.uk Designing assessments 1.What's the point and purpose of the assessment? 2. Is this a preventative check-up (formative) type assessment or an autopsy (summative) type assessment?formativesummative 3.Are you able to assess more than one learning objective/goal with this assessment or is the assessment isolated to one specific learning objective/goal? 4.Is the assessment aligned to what you are currently teaching in a format similar to the way you've been conducting your instruction? 5.Does the assessment allow for students to self-assess and track their overall understanding of the content/skills? 6. Are there a wide-range of questions at varying degrees of difficulty? What is the ratio of level 1 basic recall questions to level 4 higher order thinking questions?

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ascl.org.uk Principles of Instruction (Rosenshine, 2010) 1.Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning 2.Present new material in small steps, with student practice after each step 3.Ask a large number of questions and check the responses of all students 4.Provide models for problem solving and worked examples 5.Guide student practice and rehearsal 6.Check for student understanding 7.Obtain a high success rate (80%) 8.Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks 9.Require and monitor independent practice 10.Engage students in weekly and monthly review 30

ascl.org.uk Testing 1.The best time to test students’ understanding of a topic is a)Before you teach it b)Immediately after teaching it c)After teaching it, but with a delay to allow forgetting d)All of the above 2.After studying a topic, students remember most if they then a)Study it again b)Study it again, then take a test on it c)Take repeated tests on it, without further study 31

ascl.org.uk Rebalancing required? Formative Summative Improve learning rather than prove learning

ascl.org.uk Just tell me what I need to do to improve Quizzes Multiple Choice Peer/self assess Quality feedback Misconceptions Frequent low stakes tests Quality questioning Frequent short tests How can we help students acquire learning strategies in the classroom?

ascl.org.uk Conclusion Striving for good educational assessment is something we all have to do!

ascl.org.uk References Harlen W (2004) A systematic review of the evidence of reliability and validity of assessment by teachers used for summative purposes. In: Research Evidence in Education Library. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. [ Bennett et al., 1993 Peter Tymms: ‘Teachers show bias to pupils who share their personality’. The Conversation 25 Feb pupils-who-share-their-personality Burgess, S. and Greaves, E (2009) Test Scores, Subjective Assessment and Stereotyping. Centre for Market and Public Organisation, Bristol University. Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007) ‘The Power of Feedback’, Review of Educational Research, 77, 1, pp Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2003). ‘In praise of educational research’: Formative assessment. British Educational Research Journal, 29(5), See Roediger & Karpicke (2006).