Assessment for Learning INSET Jan 09

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From “Inside the Black Box” by P Black & D William “Assessment becomes formative assessment when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching and learning work to meet the pupils’ needs.”

Reasons Grades Motivation Focus on improvement > greater satisfaction Active pupil involvement > engagement > independent learning

Four main strands Questioning Feedback Sharing success criteria Self and peer assessment

“Questions are the laser of human consciousness” Questioning “Questions are the laser of human consciousness”

1. Questioning Types of question Who answers questions and how? Wait time (2 Wait times) “No hands up” Think, pair, share Mini whiteboards Other strategies to involve more/all pupils

2. Feedback “Marking is usually conscientious but often fails to offer guidance on how work can be improved. In a significant minority of cases, marking reinforces under-achievement and under-expectation by being too generous or unfocused. Information about pupil performance received by the teacher is insufficiently used to inform subsequent work.” General report on secondary schools – OFSTED 1996

2. Feedback Oral or written Praise current achievement Next steps Should cause thinking to take place Procedures to “close the gap” Types of comments which lead to improved learning? Questions, prompts, a limited number?

Effects of different forms of assessment (comments, grades and both) Overall improvement after 2 lots of feedback +5 +4 +3 +2 Comments and grades Change in marks +1 Grades Comments Butler, R, (1988) ‘Enhancing and undermining intrinsic motivations: the effects of task-involving and ego-involving evaluation on interest and performance’. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 58, 1-14 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Butler, 1988

Comment and grade group What they recalled Comment and grade group Comments group

“If you are going to grade or mark a piece of work, you are wasting your time writing careful diagnostic comments.” Wiliam D. (1999) 'Formative Assessment in Mathematics. Part 2: Feedback‘.  Equals: Mathematics and Special Educational Needs, vol 5, no 3, 8-11. Wiliam, 1999

Summary of formative feedback specific to the learning objectives show evidence of where pupils are now, what they have done well awareness of the desired goal some understanding of how to “close the gap” and how this will be demonstrated

3. Sharing success criteria Making learning transparent Provide an overview – the big picture Links between new and prior learning Shift from what to how Sharing learning objectives Make EXPLICIT what is usually IMPLICIT Share success criteria for tasks & topics Exemplars Learning STRATEGIES > greater independence

4. Self and peer assessment

4. Self and peer assessment “Current thinking about learning acknowledges that learners must ultimately be responsible for their learning since no-one else can do it for them. Thus assessment for learning must involve students, so as to provide them with information about how well they are doing and guide their subsequent efforts.” Assessment Reform Group 2000

4. Self assessment In order for pupils to assess their own learning they need: information about what they need to learn and how they will know they have been successful a sound understanding of what constitutes high quality work the skills and techniques to assess what they have achieved      

“We remember 90% of what we teach” Peer assessment “We remember 90% of what we teach”

Strategies for self and peer assessment Can-do lists for each topic Target setting/pupil progress sheets Make pupils aware of criteria in advance Pupils develop the marking criteria (thus taking the “secrecy” out of marking) Immediate feedback – all pupils involved and thinking Pupils set questions

Strategies for self and peer assessment Two stars and a wish? “Traffic lighting” Asking “who marked work better than their own?” Pupil as “reporter”

What might we do now? Model good practice (with a “buddy”?) Collaborate Questioning techniques as focus for our observations Plan appropriate assessment into schemes of work Incremental approach

Final pause for thought “Individual teachers can not right the wrongs of overbearing external assessment; nor can they always help to form whole-school policy on assessment. However, they are able to change some practice slowly and effectively in their own classrooms so that, at least, they are causing no harm through their class assessment methods and possibly doing a great deal of good in the learning process.”