INTRODUCING ASSESSMENT

LEARNING INTENTIONS:

To understand the role and purpose of assessment in classroom learning

To identify the differences between summative and formative assessment

To consider the roles of teacher and learner in assessment for learning

READING… ASSESSMENT

Clarke, S. (2005) ‘Defining formative assessment’, in Formative Assessment in Action. Weaving the elements together, London: Hodder Murray

Nutbrown, C. (2006) ‘Assessment for learning’, in Threads of Thinking: Young Children Learning and the Role of Early Education, (3rd ed), London, Sage

What is your understanding of ‘assessment for learning’ as explored by Cathy Nutbrown?

What are some of the key elements of formative assessment? What might this look like in the classroom?

WHAT IS ... ‘ASSESSMENT’?

ASSESSMENT IS . . .• Assessment foci built into

plans/units/schemes of work

• Praise / well done/rewards

/celebrations

• Verbal feedback to children

• Written feedback to children

/ ‘Marking’/comments on

work

• Tests

• Questions

• Talk for learning e.g. TPS,

lolly sticks

• On the hoof records

• Formalised records e.g. guided reading

• Thumbs up and traffic lights

• Criteria for self and peer assessment

• Plenaries

• Reports

• Parent conferences

• APP (Assessing Pupil Progress frameworks) and moderating

• Checklists

WHO IS IT FOR?

Who? How?

Child To ensure they are making progress

Family For home/school liaison, HLE

Teacher To reflect on intervention, planning, resources etc

Government/LA accountability

FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

“If we think of our children as plants…summative assessment of the plants is the process of simply measuring them. The measurements might be interesting to compare and analyse, but in themselves, they do not affect the growth of the plant. Formative assessment , on the other hand, is the garden equivalent of feeding and watering the plants – directly affecting their growth.

Formative assessment describes the process of teaching and leaning, whereas summative assessment takes place after the teaching and learning.”

(Clarke, 2001)

WHAT IS AFL?

“Assessment for learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there”.

(Assessment Reform Group, 2002)

• Sharing learning intentions and success criteria

• Effective questioning

• Self and peer evaluation

• Effective feedback

ELEMENTS OF AFL

THE AIMS OF AFL• every child knows how they are doing, and understands what they

need to do to improve and how to get there. They get the support they need to be motivated, independent learners on an ambitious trajectory of improvement;

• every teacher is equipped to make well-founded judgements about pupils’ attainment, understands the concepts and principles of progression, and knows how to use their assessment judgements to forward plan, particularly for pupils who are not fulfilling their potential;

• every school has in place structured and systematic assessment systems for making regular, useful, manageable and accurate assessments of pupils, and for tracking their progress;

• every parent and carer knows how their child is doing, what they need to do to improve, and how they can support the child and their teachers.

(The Assessment for Learning Strategy, 2008)

A DEMOCRATIC COMMUNITY ....

‘Everyone has a contribution to make: authority for constructed knowledge does not lie solely with the teacher or in a text – it resides also with the learners, their relationship with each other and the activities they are engaged in, plus the way they are expected to view these activities.’

(Hall and Burke, in Clarke (2005))

A CLASSROOM CONTRACT…

PUPIL PERSPECTIVESelf & peer evaluation

Talk partners

Being allowed to think about and articulate ideas and opinions

Making decisions and choices

Feeling confident to question, challenge and seek help

TEACHER PERSPECTIVE

Planning lessons which explore and promote learning

Sharing learning goals

Negotiating success criteria

Planning questions which further learning

Using strategies which maximise pupil thinking and articulation

Modelling ideas by using real examples

TIME TO TRY SOME PEER EVALUATION!....

ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING IN ACTION…..

DIFFERENT TYPES OF TALK …

• Rote – drilling of facts

• Recitation – questions designed to elicit answers from clues in the question

• Instruction – giving information

• Discussion – exchange of ideas with a view to sharing information

• Dialogue – seeking common understanding through questioning and discussion to acquire new concepts

Harrison, C. & Howard, S. (2009) ‘Inside the Primary Black Box’

QUESTIONING SKILLS

QUESTIONING SKILLS

• sequencing

• pitching appropriately

• distributing questions around the class

• prompting and probing

• listening and responding in a positive way

• challenging right as well as wrong or underdeveloped answers;

• using written questions effectively

OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS INVITE CHILDREN TO THINK:'What do you think ...?' ·

'How do you know ...?' ·

'Do you have a reason ...?' ·

'How can you be sure ...?' · ‘

Is this always so ...?' ·

'Is there another way/reason/idea ...?' ·

'What if ...? / What if ... does not ...?' ·

'Where is there another example of this ...?' ·

'What do you think happens next?' 

(In ‘Tell Me’, A. Chambers promotes the use of ‘What if .....’ questions)

‘FAT’ NOT ‘SKINNY’ QUESTIONS

If Red Riding Hood’s grandmother had been out, what might the wolf have done?

If you keep a drink with ice cubes in a thermos flask, how much room do you need to leave for the ice cubes to melt?

How many ways can I make 10?

A church is like a school because...?(Harrison, C. & Howard, S. (2009) ‘Inside the Primary Black Box’)

INCREASING ‘WAIT TIME’ TO 3-5 SECONDS:

• Children give longer answers

• More children offer answers

• Children are willing to ask more questions

• Pupil responses become more thoughtful and creative

A ‘FAT’ QUESTION ....

Is assessment for learning possible without good behaviour management?

FOR NEXT TIME….Focus: Classroom organisation and management in the early years

Reading:Nutbrown, C. and Clough, P. (2006) ‘Cultures of Inclusion’ in Nutbrown, C., Clough, P. and Atherton, F. (eds) Inclusion in the Early years, London: Sage.

Robson, S. (2009) ‘The physical environment’, in Miller, L., Cable, C., and Goodliff, G. (eds) Supporting Children’s Learning in the Early Years (2nd ed), London, Routledge.

Questions: What is your understanding of the term ‘inclusion’?

What does an ‘enabling environment’ look like in the early years?