Assessment for Learning

Produced as part of the Partnership Development Schools (PDS) Strategy Phase 3 2008-09 (Lead PDS: The Park Community School. Contact Chris Ley (cley@parkcommunity.devon.sch.uk)

Assessment for Learning?

• “..assessment….undertaken by teachers, and by their students in assessing themselves, … to be used to modify teaching and learning activities “(Black & William 1998 p.2)

• “..seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are… where they need to go and how best to get there”Assessment Reform Group 2002

Where do you expect to see AfL

• AfL should be embedded within every single aspect of every one of your lessons

• PLAN to use it• Use it sparingly• Act on the results

What makes “Assessment for Learning” different from “Assessment”

• Both are intended to monitor and evaluate teaching and learning

• Both can be referenced to published criteria (SAT levels, GCSE grades etc.)

• Assessment tends to make students passive learners and can lead to reinforcement of failure

• AfL makes students active learners

Now have a go yourself:

This is the first page of a test sat by Anna (Year 8)

She sat the test very recently

Like many tests you will set your students, there is no official mark scheme!!!!

What information is there here?

Better?

Now what have we got?

Any better?

What should we do now?

How would we know our actions have been successful?

Better?

We’ve assessed

We’ve levelled

We’ve fed back

She’s read

She’s acted on it.

That it?

Other ways to use AfL

• Homework• Coursework• Peer reflection• Self marking of classwork• Oral questioning• Differentiating lessons• Alternative lesson “pathways”• Intervention at KS3 & KS4

8A Task Sheet (L3-5)The journey of a cheese sandwich

Key words:anus, carbohydrate, fat, gullet, large intestine, liver, mouth, small intestine, protein, stomach, teeth

You must explain the journey of a cheese sandwich through your digestive system.

You can choose to explain your ideas through either:

• writing a story;• drawing a cartoon.• Top tips:• Describe what happens in each

organ of the digestive system.

• Consider which food groups are in a cheese sandwich.

• Use scientific ideas of cells and particles if you can.

• A typical homework task• Used once for each

“topic”• Levelled according to

KS3 structure• Use peer marking or self

assessment• Identify weaknesses and

set action plan for the future

• Check that action has been taken

• Identify exemplar pieces of work for future reference

Oral questioning

• Use open questions

• Allow time for students to reply

• Don’t use a lot of questions

• Be careful who you ask

• Correct misapprehensions wisely

• Ask specific questions to specific students

Intervention

• Identify students who are underperforming

• Understand how they are “failing”

• Develop strategies to bring them back to up to their target level

• Evaluate effectiveness

• Build action plans for the future

Displays

• Exemplar materials

• Level descriptors

• “How to” posters

• Topic contents

Hand - outs

By the end of this topic:

All of you will……….……………………

Most of you……………………

Some of you ………..…………

• A5• Start of the topic• Use for self or peer

reflection• Reference to FFT

data• Set action plans• Ofsted approved

Marking

• Should we mark every piece of work?

• Should we level every piece?

• Should we comment on each piece?

• Should we suggest improvements each time?

• Tick. Have one levelled task every three weeks or so.