Classroom assessment for School Leaders Formative assessment: its impact on learning Professor Bill Boyle University of Manchester, UK 6 February 2013 P

Key Questions What does good formative assessment look like? How do School Leaders recognise effective formative assessment practices when visiting classrooms? Carrying out formative assessment in large class sizes? Mentoring teachers in classroom assessment? 2

What is formative assessment? How does it support teaching? How does it support learning? How does the teacher need to change? How is the pupil involved? 3

What is formative assessment? ‘Formative assessment is not a test but a process that produces not a score but a qualitative insight into student understanding.’ Popham 2008 Formative assessment has to be theorised, understood and practised within the perspective of situated teaching and learning for its full social and cultural effect on the learner as individual to be realised. 4

Formative Assessment: Impact Improved learning Improved learning outcomes Improved pupil involvement in learning Improved school outcomes Improved teaching pedagogy Improved national outcomes 5

Definition The essential component of Formative Assessment is the location of the pupil at the centre of a planning cycle of teaching, learning and assessment. Differentiation supplies the ‘individual treatment’ (Perrenoud 1998) which is required to reflect the complexity of learners in each classroom. The structuring of a guided group situation enables that individualised treatment to be operationalised. 6

The Framework for Formative Assessment Establishing where learners are in their learning: This where I am Establishing where the learner needs to go: This is where I am going Establishing what needs to be done to get the learner there: This is what I need to do 7

What does the teacher do? Uses the assessment evidence to adjust teaching plans/programmes and the use of space in the classroom Uses the assessment evidence to give specific supportive feedback to each pupil Involves the pupils in the learning process through self-regulation and co-construction of learning activities. 8

Formative teaching, learning and assessment: leader of learning toolkit Differentiation Observation Guided group strategy Co-construction Self-regulated learning Dialogue and Dialogic Reflective planning Analysis and feedback (Boyle & Charles 2008) 9

Differentiation To the extent that pupils do not have the same abilities, nor the same needs nor the same way of working, an optimal situation for one pupil will NOT be optimal for another pupil: one can write a simple equation: Diversity in pupil + appropriate treatment for each = diversity in teaching approach. (Perrenoud 1998) 10

Observation Observation of process has to be planned for. It must be analytical, purposeful and structured to identify and feed into individual learning trajectories. Where is the pupil in his/her learning? What does the pupil need to do? Where is the pupil going in his/her learning? 11

Guided group pedagogy Guided group teaching offers many things: A strategic organisational device; An optimal opportunity for specific and focused teaching; A small group situation enabling learning to be planned tightly offering ready access for learner to teacher A rich opportunity for teacher to focus assessment observations within small group Pupils become part of the process of collaborative knowledge-building. 12

Co-construction Co-construction involves the pupil in active participation with the teacher and peers in sharing the construction of knowledge. The pupil becomes active rather than passive on the learning journey. The pupil learns to shape and deepen their understandings and opinions in negotiation with their peers. 13

Self-regulation Requires the deregulation of the traditional transmission and passive reception model. The teacher models transactional classroom behaviours. This continual modelling enables the learners to become accustomed to self generating thoughts and actions. 14

Dialogue and Dialogic Dialogue is at the core of human transaction. Dialogue between teacher and pupil is at the core of learning. From ‘real’ dialogue, the teacher gains valid assessment information for use in specific planning for learning. Dialogic is a structured extended process of shared dialogue in which groups of learners are involved and enabled to lead the learning process. 15

Reflective planning Formative teaching, learning and assessment requires conscious reflection on the day’s teaching. This influences the teacher’s planning of differentiated activities for the next teaching session. This reflection enables the teacher to edit daily planning for learning consolidation, progression or re-strategising depending on how pupils have responded to teaching and learning in each session. 16

Analysis and Feedback Through analysis of each pupil’s learning behaviours and outputs, the teacher achieves a deeper understanding of each pupil’s learning strengths and needs Specific, individualised feedback is then shared with each individual, supplying the specific information required to support next steps in learning development. 17

What does good classroom formative assessment look like? Learner-centred teaching based on a differentiated pedagogy Teacher not standing at the front of the class in transmission mode Mixed methods of teaching to address the complexity of learning needs Strategies such as guided group work being used. Pupils setting own learning targets 18

How do you recognise effective formative assessment when observing in classrooms? Fluidity of roles (changing the ‘regulation’) Reduced sound of teacher’s voice: more pupil voice Questions from pupils not just answers. Teacher develops chained dialogue sequences which do not end with pupils supplying answers Pupils pose problems and become researchers to solve them A workshop environment which involves all pupils as learners. Structured learning areas which promote independent and autonomous empirical learning. 19

How applicable is formative assessment in large size classes? Focus on addressing the complexity of learners in the class (whatever the size!) Resource/support implications? Large group presentations by teacher/pupil; Differentiated smaller working groups; Group presentations to the class. 20

Suggestions for Mentoring teachers in formative assessment practices. Sharing definitions Differentiation Guided group Observation and evidence elicitation Analysis and feedback Self-regulation Co-construction Reflective planning Dialogue 21

The Formative teaching, learning and assessment toolkit: a structured approach for leaders of learning. copyright. Professor Bill Boyle & Marie Charles 22