Elsin 2013 presentation

ELSIN 2013
Symposium
Effective use of Assessment for
Learning (AfL) for Improved Learning
and Progress: Challenges for
Educational Institutions
Dr Joanna Goodman
Cromwell Consulting Ltd.
http://cromwell-consulting.com/

Research Context
Findings based on:
• a study into assessment practices in an
independent school for boys aged 2 ½ to 13
during a period of about 6 years
• observations of assessment practices during
school inspections

ELSIN 2013, Dr Joanna Goodman
www.cromwell-consulting.com

Research Focus
ASSESSMENT for LEARNING

Classroom assessment aimed at
improving learning
“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 needs to go and how to best get
there”. (AGR, 2002)

Assessment for Learning
Teaching

Part of the teaching
and learning cycle
aimed at
supporting student
learning

Learning
(Stobart and Gipps, 1997)


Assessment for Learning
“Any assessment for which the first priority in
its design and practice is to serve the purpose
of promoting pupils’ learning.”
(Black et al., 2002)


Effective Classroom Assessment
Embedded in
everyday
practice

Pupils
masters of
their learning

Pupil engagement
and
co-operative
working

Selfassessment,
peerassessment

Promoting
learning
through
active
engagement

Teacher
feedback
focused on
feeding
forward


The Essence of Effective AfL Practice
Pupils masters of their
learning

Sharing
learning
intentions

Pupil
engagement
and
co-operative
learning


Long-term
learning
independence

AfL: Learning Gains
AfL
understanding

AfL
strategies

Gain of
1–2
grades

Improvement in pupils’ learning = 0.4 – 0.7 effect size
“Effect size” is the ratio between the average improvement in pupils’
scores and the range of scores for typical groups of pupils on the same
tests.

Effect size of 0.4 = improvement of 1 – 2 grades in public
examinations

Challenges for the Teaching
Profession
• Lack of in-depth understanding of the AfL strategies by
the teaching profession
• Inconsistency in approach between schools and different
departments within the same schools
• Inadequate training and poor understanding of what AfL
involves
• Reluctance to change practice
• Satisfaction from own ends of using tried methods
• Poor implementation of the AfL principles
• Confusion between monitoring progress and changing
teaching methods

Disappointment with Poor
Implementation of the AfL Principles
Dylan Wiliam (2012) on 14 years of government
initiative:
There are very few schools where all the principles
of AfL, as I understand them, are being
implemented effectively.
The problem is that government told schools that it
was about monitoring of pupils’ progress; it wasn’t
about pupils becoming owners of their learning.

Issues with Implementation
Dylan Wiliam (2012):

The big mistake that Paul Black and I
made was calling that stuff
“assessment” , he said. Because when
you use the word assessment, people
think about tests and exams. For me ,
AfL is about better teaching.


Key Conclusions from my Data
Analysis
Focused Lesson Observation Data: interaction and feedback
Activity

Number of Lessons

Sum.

1

Teacher-led
questioning/discussions

17

“No hands up” approach

0

Peer-interaction
Group work
Peer-assessment

4
2
0

Self-reflection
Self-assessment
Oral evaluation

Formative
Focus

Explicit learning objectives

2
0
2

Summative activities

14


Proportion of Time Spent in Lessons on
Different Interactions
Average proportion of
lesson duration

Focus

Questioning/discussion

Focus

Summative Formative

Activity

21% of lesson time

Peer-interaction

11% of lesson time

Self-evaluation

4% of lesson time

Grading, scoring, ranking,
percentages, tests with
summative outcomes

29% of lesson time

12%


29%

Lesson Observation Data Summary
• Teacher-led discussion as main form of classroom
interaction
• More time devoted to class discussion in arts and
humanities (average 30 % of lesson time) than in
science and mathematics (average 16% of lesson
time)
• Restricted peer-interaction (in 4 out of 20 observed
lessons)
• In 14 out of 20 lessons teachers used assessment
based on summative practice

Key Conclusions from Lesson
Observations
• Teaching mainly didactic in style
• Teaching focused on activities, rather than
learning (lack of sharing learning objectives)
• Limited peer-interactions
• Limited engagement of pupils through self or
peer-assessment, or evaluation
• Mainly summative practice with focus on
grades/marks/scoring/ranking

Book Scrutiny Data
Marking/feedback strategies used:
• Ticks
• Grades or/and marks
• Praise/ego enhancing comments – focused on person, rather
than task
• Comments focused on presentational aspects
• Grades and comments, e.g. ‘D’ This is not finished
• Direct organisational instructions, e.g. Should be in the back of
book
• Praise, e.g. Well done!
• Little guidance on next steps in learning

Book Scrutiny Outcomes
• Pupils rarely involved in self-assessment or
evaluation
• Little evidence of independent work or note-taking
• Little evidence of extended project work
• Over-use of worksheets
• Little opportunity to assess pupils’ reasoning
• Inconsistence in marking strategies between
different subjects


Teacher Views and Practice
• “Pupils are programmed to need grades”
• None agreed that comments without grades could be more
useful to future learning and motivation
• Some teachers were not able to say if pupils evaluated their
work or examples of self-evaluation included: “Achieve a
better % mark in assessment” or “Aim for a higher grade in
the next test”
• Most teachers demonstrated reliance on test and
examinations to assess attainment thus confirming the
practice of measuring attainment for summative purposes
• No evidence of specific target setting focused on
tasks

Pupils’ Views and Comments
All pupils agreed that the most useful feedback for
them was formative guidance: “corrected and told
us how to be done right”.

Teacher Data

Pupil Data

TENSION


Pupils: Examples of Useful Feedback
to Future Learning
Eric:
Roman:
Marc:
Jason:

When it tells me what I need to
improve on.
Well…, when it tells me how I’ve gone
wrong anywhere and where I can
improve. That kind of thing.
When I know what’s right or wrong.
Yes, that’s helpful.
It tells you what you have done
wrong and why.

Developing Learning Sustainability:
Challenges for Schools
Crucial Challenge
To develop strategies of working
successfully within the system of
high-stake tests, for certification
purposes , and developing selfregulated learners through
formative practices.


Learning Sustainability
Essential

• Self-regulation
• Self-monitoring

Skills

• Self-evaluation
• Self-assessment

For Learning
Sustainability

• Motivation
• Learning autonomy


Pupils’ Involvement in Their Own
Learning
The only kind of learning which significantly
affects behaviour is self-discovered, selfappropriated learning (Rogers, 1991)

Part of being a self-regulated learner is to
accept responsibility for learning, just as
teachers must take responsibility for creating
a context which helps learning (Stobart, 2008)

HE: some specific challenges regarding
assessment
Important to empower students to work with and understand qualifications and grades

Removing barriers: the older the students, the less they like self- and peer-assessment

To encourage collaborative learning and group presentation (reluctance where roles are
‘fuzzy’)
Student expectations: tutor feedback with grade

Clarity of communication
Cultural change

Conclusion: Assessment Practices in
British Schools
Evidence from my study:
• Teachers mainly used assessment for summative
and managerial purposes
• Lacked in-depth understanding of AfL strategies
• Saw little reason to change their practice
Evidence as observed by Black et al, 2003
• Teacher feedback to pupils served mainly
managerial functions
• Teacher tests encouraged rote learning rather than
developing understanding

Key References
Assessment Reform Group (1999). Assessment for Learning: Beyond the
Black Box. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., Wiliam, D. (2002). Working
inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom. London:
nferNelson.
Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards
Through Classroom Assessment. London: GL Assessment.
Goodman, J. (2011). Assessment Practices in an Independent School: The
Spirit versus the Letter. London: King’s College London.
Rogers, C. (1991). On Becoming a Person. Boston. MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Stobart, G. (2008). Testing Times: The uses and abuses of assessment.
Oxon: Routledge.


Dr Joanna Goodman
jg@cromwell-consulting.com

ELSIN 2013
Goodman, J. (2013). Developing Learning Sustainability: Focus on
Effective Use of Formative Assessment for Developing Learning
Autonomy.

Elsin 2013 presentation

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Elsin 2013 presentation