Formative assessment in NyGIVHordaland Flykeslommune

Bergen, 9 March 2012

Gordon StobartEmeritus Professor of Education

Institute of Education, University of Londong.stobart@ioe.ac.uk

Formative assessment in Ny GIVThe Big Picture

• School retention and achievement– an international problem

• What we know about effective learning • How classroom assessment can support learning• Assessment for Learning – key features• How can they help with the NyG project?

Keeping students in school and engaged in learning is not just a Norwegian problem• Other countries struggle with this (eg Australia,

Canada, Denmark, UK, USA) – a common policy concern about early exit. (But gender?)

• How do schools retain less engaged students and at the same time maintain high academic standards?

• Apprenticeship schemes only want ‘good’ students & schools don’t want to send unreliable ones.

• Retention is not enough – we need quality learning• PISA (2009): Norway well above average on reading,

but below average on reading for enjoyment

Thinking about learning – starting from where we are (and avoiding the blame game)

How we learn• What am I good at?• How and why did I get good?• How do I know I’m good?

• What am I not good at?• How and why did I not get good?• How do I know I’m not good?

How would your student answer this?

How we learn• What am I good at?

Everybody is good at something – importance to learning how to learn

• How did I get good? Start early? Practice opportunities? (10K hours),

motivation, Risk, failure and rewards

• How do I know I’m good?Recognition, rewards & satisfaction

What do we know about effective learning?Learning = ‘A significant change in capability or

understanding’ (eg swimming; ‘I get it’ moment)The three key principles of effective learning are:1. The learner makes sense of the material – gets the

‘big picture’, creates meaning2. The learning builds on what is already known3. Learning is an active and social process (yet the

dominant model of teaching is ‘teachers teach and learners listen’)

Remembering

• Wmroanshtehyrtlrl

• 938473652830

Remembering by making sense and ‘chunking’

• norwayisthehomeoftrolls

• 191420121939

Aligning assessment and learning

What forms of classroom assessment will help effective classroom learning?

i. Builds on what we know – assessment that finds out where learners are in their learning

ii. Makes meaning - ‘makes sense’- makes clear the learning intentions, recognises success

iii. Is active and social – learners take part in their own assessment; importance of classroom interaction (feedback); development of self-regulating learners.

Assessment: key definitions and frequent misunderstandings

Summative assessment (Assessment of Learning). Assessment which ‘sums up’ where somebody has got in their learning. Often at the end of a course or topic.Misunderstanding: That frequent classroom tests during a course are formative. Unless they are used for further learning, they are better seen as frequent summative (‘mini-summative’) testsFormative assessment (Assessment for Learning). Assessment which is used as part of the learning process. It ‘informs’ learning.Misunderstanding: That formative assessment is only about testing. It includes many other forms of information-gathering (observation, oral work, misunderstandings, feedback).

Assessment for Learning

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)

Finding out where learners are• Classroom diagnostics: written work, tests, performance

(reading)• Classroom dialogue: questions, discussions

[Teachers talk 70-80% of time; ask 200-300 questions a day, 60% recall facts, 20% procedural; <5% group discussion or meaningful ideas; 70% of answers less than 5 secs (3 words)] Source J. Hattie 2012

Questions > ‘thinking time’ (wait time)> pair and share > no hands up.Rich questions (open ended): Describe what a poem is. Would putting a coat on a snowman help to stop it melting?

Misconceptions are valuable: 1/3 + 1/5 = 2/8.

Quality questioning• Using good question stems:

‘why does...?’; ‘what if...?’; ‘how would you...?’;‘could you explain...?’

• Poker face - focus on the task, don’t give clues• Basketball not ping-pong• Statements instead of questions• Avoids: asking too many questions at once;

answering it yourself; only asking the best students; ignoring answers; failing to build on answers

‘..where they need need to go’:Learning intentions

• High expectations are the key to improving learning• The teacher is clear about what is being learned

(progression in learning)• What we will be learning rather than what we will be

doing• The importance of ‘tuning in’ (building on ‘where

learners are in their learning’):setting the scene (why we are learning this), explaining the situation, linking to what is known, unfamiliar words & phrases explained (eg ‘scale’)

‘Its not that I haven’t learned much. It’s just that I don’t understand what I’m doing’(15 yr old,Harris, 1995)

Comfort zonelllllllllllComfort zone

Learning zone

Panic zone

Effective learningDeliberate practice

Source: Colvin, 2009

Layers of learning intentions1. Big picture -‘essence’ - curriculum aim – ‘by engaging with

text-based activities become increasingly skilled speakers and writers’

2. Curriculum– curriculum strand and level – ‘show a developing understanding of how to shape (written) texts for different audiences and purposes...’

3. Translation of aim– from prior assessment of students – ‘we are learning to write an argument which is convincing’

4. Immediate learning –– ‘we are learning to sequence an argument’

5. Specific learning – ‘we are learning what a paragraph is and when to start a new one’ (based on M.Absolum)

Knowing where learners need to go: Success criteria – understanding what is needed

What will a good performance look like?Success criteria need:- Negotiation- Exemplars - Modelling

Traffic lights and guided practice – activity > independent practice

AfL in practice: teaching Sudoku

...and how best to get there. Feedback

‘Provides information which allows the learner to close the gap between current and desired performance’

Feedback is most effective when:• It focuses on the TASK rather than the learner • It gives information about what is needed to close the

gap• It is specific and clear• It offers strategies rather than solutions; • It challenges, requires action, and is achievable;• It is effectively timed to encourage self-regulation

Feedback prompts (1)Teach rather than wait for feedback (level 0)

When there are common misunderstandings don’t wait for mistakes

Example prompt (level 1)When need to clarify what student is attempting to learn – for example a student is struggling to find a quick strategy to solve a maths problem: 32 + 59. The teacher shows two ways it could be solved: ‘You could add the tens and then the ones and add the two together or you could take 2 from 32 and add it to 59. ...we are trying to create tidy numbers that are easier to add..you could do either or you may have thought of another strategy’ (M.Absolum )

Feedback prompts (2)Scaffolding prompt (level 2)When student still struggling with concepts or skills – ‘Your

introduction tells me who went to the zoo and when, but it doesn’t say why’ (need to include purpose in explanatory writing)

Reminder prompt (level 3)When learning ‘almost there’ and need reminder to use it –

‘Remember that the conclusion must link back to the topic in the opening paragraph’

Provocative prompt (level 4)When the learner has met the success criteria feedback which calls

for further development/thinking - ‘You’ve succeeded in this – can you think of another method you could have used’; ‘What if there had been far fewer resources for the project?’

‘Medal and mission’

20 ways to make 20 – be creative(first maths homework in secondary school)

How can Assessment for Learning help in Ny GIV?

AfL reminds us to:1. Find out where learners are in their learning – good

diagnostics, rich classroom dialogue, using misunderstandings creatively.

2. Spend more time ‘tuning in’. Make clear what is being learned (and why), involve the student in seeing what a good performance is like. Make deep learning demands.

3. Give feedback that focuses on the task, is informative and helps to ‘close the gap’

4. Help the learner to become actively responsible for their own learning (‘self-regulation’)