Formative Assessment in Flanders Second Chance Learning in Hoboken

Background on Second Chance Education Second chance education schools are a small part of adult social advancement education in Flanders. Their goal has remained unchanged for many years: to enable adults (18 years and older) to obtain the certificate of the second stage of secondary education or, at the completion of the third stage, a diploma of secondary education.

Second Chance Schools aim to: Help students through vocational and technical courses, and in other ways, to provide better job opportunities; Prepare students for continuing and post- secondary courses; and Enable students to attain self-respect through attaining a diploma.

Length of Enrollment in Second Chance Schools Some students may achieve their goals in a few months or a year. Others, especially those who can only attend two or three evenings a week and who have family and work responsibilities, may take two-to-five years.

Hoboken Second Chance School An independent, autonomous school For 18 years students went to Brussels each year to take the diploma exam. In 1999, second chance schools were given the authority to award diplomas on their own, which provided this school with an opportunity to re-examine its practices.

Largest of 13 second chance schools, it serves around 600 students annually Good performance record in terms of subject completion rates Average student age of 25 Recent shift toward18-21 year old population, now 50% of the students, and from once nearly all-female, to a balance in gender 50 teachers, administrators and other staff including two school psychologists.

Moving from Summative to Formative Assessment and School Transformation Headmaster’s idea, four years ago, that formative assessment was the way to drive education reform Planning process began two years ago with an alternative education working group, a small “thinking group” of teachers who met weekly to plan for the change

Summative to Formative Assessment This group guided and coordinated the school to develop the new assessment process and instruments. Twice-monthly, two-hour workshops, seminars and meetings in which the entire school staff participated Teachers tried out the new processes and instruments.

Nearly everything built from scratch; course goals, competencies, and formative assessment tools Staff met monthly to review formative assessments, and results from piloting them. There was a lot of excitement, but many teachers said they were overwhelmed. Most teachers changed their way of teaching.

Moved from focus on preparing for tests (memorizing facts and knowledge) to focus on learning (reasoning, analyzing, interpreting, predicting, applying) Teachers became less a “sage on a stage,” more a “guide by the side”. Assessment now includes peer evaluation, student progress folders, and feedback in relation to students’ goals. Assessment is accompanied by counseling and individual coaching.

Early Results of the Experiment Not everyone likes the changes, not all teachers, not all students. Formative assessment is too much work. Many students (and teachers) like it because they know exactly where they are, what they have and haven’t learned, and what they have to do next to achieve their goals.

Early Results Focus of the school is on the learning process Beginning with goals and objectives, each course is now entirely competency-based. Systematic regular feedback on goals and objectives throughout each course, with assessments as “stepping stones” No grades or rankings, instead: “1) not sufficient, 2) almost sufficient, 3) sufficient, and 4) more than sufficient” and widespread use of rubrics

What Students Think About This Formative assessment more work than just taking a test at the end However, more learning takes place. More opportunities to do things over, do them better More self-paced than traditional classes

What Students Think Learning-to-learn/study skills course helps students learn useful tools such as: mind maps, outlining, narrative summaries, and an effective study pal relationship “Fear of Failure” course also helpful

What is Formative Assessment in this Context? According to the teachers: A way to evaluate the process of learning, one in which teachers evaluate students, and students evaluate themselves and each other A strategy to motivate students, to engage them in figuring out what and how they are learning

Formative Assessment Includes:  Exercises (oral presentations, group work and written exercises)  Criteria Lists (ratings using the four sufficiency categories)  Student peer evaluation  Performance assessment  Evaluative discussion  Students involved in setting the criteria for evaluation

Ongoing evaluation “Guiding students through learning sessions,” “Regularly giving them a lot of feedback,” Making clear the goals and objectives of each course “Focusing on the process, not the product” Teachers knowing “who gets it and who doesn’t” Teachers using information to improve instruction A learning process that is like the world of work More accountable: “students have to know things, can’t just get lucky on the test”

Teacher Reflection on the Transformation of the School Teachers think it is working, that education is focusing on learning, not just a test. They wish they had had examples from other schools, that they didn’t have to create this from scratch. Some wish it could have been piloted first. It doesn’t work for all students, however.

Questions for Further Study Is this a good (the best) lever for program change? What will be the outcomes for students over time? Is there a difference, over time, in how students feel about learning?