Assistant Principal / Leader of Pedagogy

Assessment, Assessment, Assessment!

Here is a word that strikes fear into the hearts of most people.  ASSESSMENT.  Ok.  I get it.  When you mention this word to people they often think about traditional assessment ideas.  Tests. Exams.  Stressful things that are done at the end of each unit or course that teachers use to determine how well each student has learnt the content and then, allocate a grade.  That’s all it’s about, right?  Discussion over.

Well, no.  We are only just getting started.  There are so many ways that teachers and students use assessment to move everyone’s learning forward.  These different types can be classified into three categories.  Assessment FOR Learning.  Assessment AS Learning and Assessment OF Learning.  Don’t get too stressed about these names.  Teachers generally don’t label the assessment they are doing in class as one of these each time (In fact, the word assessment  isn’t used much in classes at O’Connor). But it helps everyone to understand how modern classrooms work if they are explained.

Assessment FOR learning has the word “for” in it.  You can think of this coming from the word “information”.  Assessment for learning is happening any time a teacher uses information from students to adapt their teaching.  It is often referred to as Formative Assessment. Here are some examples:

• The class does a pre-test at the start of a unit and the teacher uses the results to decide what to focus on in the topic.  Also, what to leave out as the students already know it.
• Students work at their desk and ask the teacher questions about what they need help with.  The teacher helps them with personal feedback.
• The teacher asks the class to put their thumbs up, across or down to say how they are going.  See the image below.
• The teacher uses observations to form groups in the class of students with similar needs and gives them learning tasks to help them with this need.

Assessment AS Learning is when students take responsibility for assessing.  In other words, students assess their own work and other students work.  This is most effective when the criteria for marking is agreed upon.  This is often written clearly as Success Criteria.  Here are some examples:

• Self-marking worksheets.
• Peer-marking.  Students mark and provide feedback to other students.
• Students checking their progress against success criteria.
• A senior student reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses after getting an exam back.
• Students and teachers work together to set goals for the student that the student works towards achieving.

Assessment AS Learning is a key component of The Worthwhile Lessonhere at O’Connor.  Here is a snippet of that framework that we use as teachers to ensure high quality lessons.

Assessment OF learning is when students are tested on what they have learnt. It usually occurs at defined key points during a teaching work or at the end of a unit, term or semester, and may be used to rank or grade students.  Assessment of Learning assists teachers in using evidence of student learning to assess achievement against outcomes and standards. It is sometimes referred to as ‘summative assessment'.  

Examples of Assessment OF Learning include:

• End of unit tests.
• Assignments done at the end of a unit.
• Cumulative work over an extended period such as a final project or creative portfolio.
• NAPLAN Tests
• HSC Examinations
• Marking a practical project once it’s finished

It is important to note that summative assessments like these can be used to provide the teacher with information to adapt their teaching. This is assessment for learning.  Also, students can analyse their performance to identify what areas need improvement.  This is assessment as learning.

To bring it all together, I really like the following diagram from The Grattan Institute.  It shows how assessment is a key aspect to the improvement cycle.

(Goss and Hunter, 2015)

In summary, assessment is happening in our classes at O’Connor in so many different ways.  We have followed modern research that says clearly that summative assessment used with a mark or grade does not encourage students to progress their learning.  All it does is encourage the students to develop a fixed mindset.  They are at danger of coming to conclusions like “I am dumb” or “I am smart”.  Both of these views do not promote a way forward with their learning.  Teachers instead use a variety of information and observations to help each student move their learning forward.  Feedback is key to this.  But that is the beginning of another story. 

References

Targeted  teaching: How  better  use  of  data  can  improve student  learning. Goss, P.  and Hunter, J. July, 2015. The Grattan Institute. Retrieved from https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/827-Targeted-Teaching.pdf

Assessment for, as and of learning. NESA. n.d. Retrieved from: https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/understanding-the-curriculum/assessment/approaches

Mr Stephen Chapman

Assistant Principal - Leader of Pedagogy

schapman@arm.catholic.edu.au

Never stop learning; for when we stop learning, we stop growing  - Jack Lewman