Transcript The Secondary Course Structure

Assessment for Learning – the
story so far
Challenging the Ascendancy of
Summative Assessment
Val Brooks
Traditional approach
• “The giving of marks and the grading
functions are over-emphasised, while the
giving of useful advice and the learning
function are under-emphasised” (Black and
Wiliam, 1998, p. 6)
• With little opportunity or incentive to develop
formative assessment, many teachers have
modelled their own classroom assessment on
summative assessment
TRADITIONAL APPROACH
PLAN
TEACH
ASSESS
(Traditionally, assessment treated as a
terminal activity)
Mid-1990s onwards
• Upsurge of interest in AfL in England,
initially within the academic community
• National government convinced of the
importance of research findings
• Teachers spurred on by policy initiatives
and by their own positive experiences of
AfL
Aims
To identify
• the principles underpinning AfL and how
these principles differentiate formative
from summative assessment
• studies which have been instrumental in
bringing about change
• key ways in which teachers are changing
how they teach and assess
Note on Terminology
• Assessment for Learning (AfL) =
Formative Assessment
• Assessment of Learning (AoL) =
Summative Assessment
• Terms used interchangeably but with
AfL and AoL representing popular
usage
Principles underpinning
Practice: What differentiates
AfL from AoL?
1. Using assessment for different
purposes
– SA measures the learning that has taken
place
– The goal of AfL is the improvement of
learning
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
• Takes place during the learning process and
is integral to it. The main beneficiaries are the
teacher and pupil because they are provided
with FEEDBACK about areas of strength and
weaknesses. Formative assessment should
have a FEEDFORWARD function, informing
decisions about how teaching should be
adapted and how learning can be taken
forward.
Quotation from a child
“If I only do what I did before then I’ll only
get what I got before”
(Using feedback for feedforward purposes
is essential if real learning gains are to
be made)
Principles underpinning
Practice: What differentiates
AfL from AoL?
1. Focus on improving teaching and
learning
2. Pupils actively involved (e.g. through
self and peer assessment)
Principles underpinning
Practice: What differentiates
AfL from AoL?
1. Focus on improving teaching and
learning
2. Pupils actively involved (e.g. through self
and peer assessment)
3. Timing: as well as taking periodic
snapshots of attainment, assessment
forms an ongoing, integral element of
teaching
Using assessment to inform
planning
“The most important single factor
influencing learning is what the learner
already knows: ascertain this and teach
him [her] accordingly.”
(Ausubel 1968)
Principles underpinning
Practice: What differentiates
AfL from AoL?
1. Focus on teaching and learning
2. Pupils actively involved
3. Timing: assessment forms an ongoing,
integral element of teaching
4. Rich, detailed feedback replaces
summary information
Principles underpinning
Practice: What differentiates
AfL from AoL?
5. Effective communication with a small,
intimate audience – not the broader
audience interested in the results of
summative assessment
Distinguishing AfL from AoL
FORMATIVE
• TIMING (ongoing and
continuous feature of
teaching and learning)
• PURPOSE (Enhancing
teaching and learning)
• FORM (Written/verbal
feedback + feedforward)
• AUDIENCE (Pupils,
teachers and parents)
SUMMATIVE
• TIMING (Snapshot taken
at particular point in time)
• PURPOSE (Measuring
the learning that has
taken place)
• FORM (Summary e.g. a
grade, level, mark or
percentage)
• AUDIENCE (Other
interested parties: FE
and HE, government,
employers)
TRADITIONAL APPROACH
PLAN
TEACH
ASSESS
(Traditionally, assessment was a terminal
activity i.e.summative)
INNOVATIVE APPROACH
PLAN
TEACH
ASSESS
ASSESS
ASSESS
(Assessment is an ongoing and integral part of
teaching and learning i.e. formative)
Teaching/learning/assessment:
a cyclical process
Assess
Plan
Teach
Assess
Assess
Research which was instrumental
in stimulating change
Version 1 (for the academic community)
Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998) “Assessment and
Classroom Learning” Assessment in Education
5 (1), pp. 7-78.
Version 2 (for policy makers and practitioners)
Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998) Inside the Black
Box: Raising Standards through Classroom
Assessment (London, King’s College).
Distinctive Features of
Black & Wiliam’s Research
• Focus - neglected topic of formative
assessment
• Literature review (aim: to ensure that
policy and practice are evidence-based)
• Scale - in-depth survey of 250 separate
studies
• Scope - international/ covers learners of
all ages and types/different subjects
Distinctive Features of
Black & Wiliam’s Research
• Emphasis on quasi-experimental studies
which produced measures of effect
• Well-suited to a climate where there is a
preoccupation with measurable
outcomes in the form of improved test
and examination results.
Principal findings of Black and
Wiliam (1998)
• No evidence of an adverse effect on
attainment
• Positive effect sizes ranging between 0.4 and
0.7
• Compares favourably with effect sizes
produced by other initiatives designed to
raise attainment
• AfL reduces the spread of attainment whilst
raising it overall
Issues Arising from the
Research
• Some of the studies on which conclusions are
based did not take place as part of normal
classroom life
• “It is hard to see how any innovation in
formative assessment can be treated as a
marginal change in classroom work” (Black and
Wiliam 1998, p. 16)
• “… formative assessment is not well
understood by teachers and is weak in practice”
(Black and Wiliam, 1998)
• So for them the question was not “Does it
work?” but “How do we get it to happen?”
Follow-up Study
• KMOFAP (Kings, Medway, Oxfordshire
Formative Assessment Project)
• Empirical research involving 6
secondary schools and teachers of 3
subjects (Science, Maths and English)
Research focus
Original
• Questioning
• Feedback
• Sharing criteria
• Self-assessment
Revised
• Questioning
• Feedback through
marking
• Peer and selfassessment
• The formative use of
summative tests
Main Publications arising
from the Research
• Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B.
and Wiliam, D (2003) Assessment for
Learning: Putting it into Practice (Open
University Press)
• Black, P. et al. (2002) Working Inside the
Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the
Classroom (London, King’s College).
AfL and Planning: Research
Evidence
• Large-scale study involving 800+ American
kindergarten children
• Children came primarily from economically
disadvantaged homes
• 8-week experimental programme
– 29 teachers in experimental group trained to use
assessment at the planning stage to match provision
to needs
– 27 teachers in the control group adopted their usual
approach
Findings
• Pre- and post-tests (reading ability,
mathematics and science) used to
measure effects
• Children in the experimental group
achieved significantly better results in
post-tests than those in control group
• Incidence of special education referrals
– Control group: 1 in every 3.7
– Experimental group: 1 in 17
AfL and Planning: Putting it
into Practice
• Creation of flexible plans containing space
to respond to feedback
• Baseline assessment of a topic that is
about to be introduced
– Use of end-of-topic test as a pre-test
– Concept-mapping
AfL and Feedback: Research
Evidence
Israeli study investigating the effects of
different types of feedback on pupils’
motivation and attainment
• Comment only (individually composed
comment on the level of match between a
child’s work and the assessment criteria
which were explained to all beforehand)
• Individual comment plus grade
• Grade only
Group
Performance
Comment only Raised and the
improvement was
sustained over
sequence of tasks
Grade +
comment
Grade only
Motivation
Influenced by ability:
High achievers
maintained a high
level of interest
Steady decline across irrespective of
feedback type
tasks
Initial improvement
which was not
sustained
• Low achievers who
received grades
quickly lost interest
Note: both feedback types which used grades were associated
with a deterioration in performance and motivation.
AfL and Feedback: Putting it
into Practice
Comment-only marking
• Task-involving feedback focuses on knowledge,
skills and concepts necessary to be successful
• Detailed guidance on what pupils are doing
well, what they need to improve and how to
make the improvements
• Feedback should “scaffold” improvement
• Opportunities must be built into lessons for
pupils to read feedback and respond
• Feedback needs to be regular and rapid
AfL and Questioning: Research
Evidence
• Teachers ask too many questions to be
able to give serious thought to the
quality of their questioning
• Pupils who are over-questioned tend to
become passive and teacher-dependent
• The goal: fewer, better questions
Encouraging Thoughtful
Behaviour
• One study found an average wait time of
0.9 of a second before teachers reworded a question or answered it
• Requiring an almost instant response
only works well with knowledge/recall
questions
• Some teachers are increasing their wait
time, to allow students to formulate more
thoughtful answers
Effects of increasing the wait time
after a question:
• In one study the average wait time was about a
second but: ‘where a longer silence was left – even
as short as three seconds – the quality and extent of
pupils’ responses improved dramatically… not only
longer but also more thoughtful’ (Woods 1998:176).
• More pupils offer answers
• The number of ‘I don’t know’ responses decreases
• The number of hypothetical answers increases
• The frequency of answers from less able students
increases
• Students more likely to challenge and/or improve
each other’s answers
Bloom et al’s Taxonomy:
A Hierarchy of Thinking Skills
Higher order
• Evaluation
• Synthesis
• Analysis
Lower order
• Application
• Comprehension
• Knowledge
Engaging more learners
‘No hands’ policy
• Pupils are trained not to raise their
hands to answer a question
• Works well with increased thinking
time/questions requiring more thought
• Everyone is expected to provide an
answer if called upon
Other Strategies for Obtaining
fuller feedback
• Response partners/groups
• Pupil votes
• Answers written on hand-held dry-wipe
boards
• True/false cards
• Traffic lights (green = fully understood,
amber = partial understanding, red = not
understood)
• Thumbs (up = confident; horizontal = limited
confidence; down = not confident)
Peer and Self-Assessment:
Research Evidence
• Portugese study
• Pupils (N= 354) taught by teachers in the
experimental group were trained to use selfassessment on a regular, usually daily, basis in
Mathematics
• Pupils in the control group (N=313) did not use
self-assessment in Mathematics
• Pre- and post-tests of performance: children in
the experimental group made almost double the
progress of pupils in the control group
Peer and Self-Assessment:
Issues
• Self-assessment is “essential” rather than
a “luxury” (Black and Wiliam 1998)
• Some teachers
– Confuse self-assessment with self-marking
– worry that students cannot be trusted to mark
their own work accurately and honestly
• A difficult and demanding skill which can
take a long time to master
Requirements
• Assessment criteria shared with pupils in
an accessible language and format
• Pupils must develop a ‘nose’ for standards
so that they can recognise how well work
meets criteria (Exemplification material demystifies assessment providing concrete
examples of what success looks like)
• Best completed during rather than at the
end of an activity
Use of traffic light icons
• Pupils use them to
– Indicate how well they have understood a topic
(Green = completely understood; amber = partial
understanding; red = not understood)
– To formulate a revision strategy ( e.g. pupils who
have coded a topic green or amber can work
together leaving the teacher free to work
intensively with the ‘reds’)
Review of Aims
To identify
• the principles underpinning AfL and how
these principles differentiate formative
from summative assessment
• studies which have been instrumental in
bringing about change
• key ways in which teachers are changing
how they teach and assess
Sources of Information
• Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998) Inside the Black
Box: Raising Standards through Classroom
Assessment (London, King’s College)
• Black, P. et al. (2002) Working Inside the Black Box:
Assessment for Learning in the Classroom (London,
King’s College)
• Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. and
Wiliam, D (2003) Assessment for Learning: Putting
it into Practice (Open University Press)
• Centre for Educational Research and Innovation
(2005) Formative Assessment: Improving Learning
in Secondary Classrooms (Paris, OECD).
Useful websites
• King’s College Assessment for Learning Group
www.kcl.ac.uk
• Association for Achievement and Improvement
through Assessment www.aaia.org.uk
• Suffolk Learning and Management Network
www.slamnet.org.uk
• Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
www.qca.org.uk
• Scotland: Assessment is for Learning
www.ltscotland.org.uk