Formative e-assessment in
primary schools
Juliet Sizmur
National Foundation for Educational Research
UK
Contents
A formative e-assessment for primary schools
Conception
Conclusions
Realisation
Integration
Background
Assessment in England (for the last 20 yrs)
Statutory National tests for 11 year olds
• Reading
• Writing
• Maths
• Science (till summer 2009; 2010 national sampling)
• Supported by politicians and public
• Less so by the assessment academics
and the teaching profession
Formative Assessment / 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.
(ARG 2002)
http://www.assessment-reform-group.org/CIE3.PDF
http://www.assessment-reform-group.org/publications.html
Formative assessment for learning…
1. is part of effective planning
2. focuses on how students learn
3. is central to classroom practice
www.assessment-reform-group.org/images/Principles for website.doc
Formative assessment for learning…
4. is a key professional skill
5. has an emotional impact
6. affects learner motivation
www.assessment-reform-group.org/images/Principles for website.doc
Formative assessment for learning…
7. promotes commitment to learning goals
and assessment criteria
8. helps learners know how to improve
9. encourages self-assessment
10.recognises all achievements
www.assessment-reform-group.org/images/Principles for website.doc
What is i-nfer plan?
Currently most
assessment data is
used to report to
external parties.
NFER believes that this
data should be used to
make a difference in the
classroom.
i-nfer plan is a formative
e-assessment package
that helps implement
Assessment for
Learning (AfL)
AfL
Conception
The challenge would be to develop an automated system which gave
feedback that was accurate and fine-grained enough actually to be of
practical use to teachers in planning teaching and grouping children
Decisions and specifications
• Not high stakes
• Support teaching and learning by giving
focused feedback
• Curriculum-based: reading, mathematics,
science
• Curriculum topics
• Before-and-after structure
Assessment purposes
and processes
Summative
Formative
Formal
Tests and examinations
i-nfer plan
Informal
Portfolios
Classroom assessment
What does it look like?
•
•
•
•
i-nfer plan is made up of short, regular e-assessments
(Challenges)
All tests are marked instantly with reports available on-line
Extensive summative reporting including levels, age
standardised scores and progress measures is provided …
provides practical descriptive formative reporting helping
teachers to make a difference in the classroom
Realisation
Development process
•
•
•
•
•
•
Test specification
Question generation
Think-aloud trials
Technology development
Large-scale trials
Analysis
– IRT leading to scale scores
– Latent class analysis
Progression of thinking skills
• Knowledge
(of basic mechanics/terms/tools - remembering)
• Comprehension
(demonstrating knowledge or understanding)
• Application (using the knowledge or understanding)
• Analysis
(eliciting and answering own questions; making connections)
• Synthesis
(using a range of sources; forming an overview)
• Evaluation (critical review and reflection)
(Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy of knowledge acquisition skills)
Reading topics covered
Ages 5-7
Ages 7-9
Ages 9-11
Stories
Stories
Stories
Fables
Playscripts
Playscripts
Traditional tales
Poetry
Poetry
Information (2 units)
Newspapers
Biography
Poetry
Information (website)
Persuasion
Early reading
Letters
Explanation (website)
Mathematics topics covered
Ages 5-7
Ages 7-9
Ages 9-11
Number
Number and shape
Models for calculation
Calculations
Fractions and decimals
Fractions
Money
Handling data
Decimals
Measures
Shape and space
Algebra
Data handling
Base ten
Angles and rotation
Shape and space
Proportions
Position and movement
Science topics covered
Ages 5-7
Ages 7-9
Ages 9-11
Ourselves
Magnets and Springs
Interdependence and
Adaptation
Green plants
Characteristics of
Materials
Life Cycles
Animals in the
environment
Electricity
Changing State
Sorting materials
Solids, Liquids and
Gases
Reversible and
Irreversible Changes
Forces
Growing Things
How we see things
Electricity
How Plants Grow
Earth Sun and Moon
Demonstration 1
– Reading challenge
– Ages 7-9
– Playscripts
Demonstration 2
– Reporting website
Supporting
Assessment for Learning
• Feedback is the central idea of Assessment
for Learning
• Assessment information can be elicited in
many different ways, formal and informal
• Profiles give feedback about strengths and
weaknesses in words, not numbers
• Suggested grouping for teaching
• Next steps suggestions can be built into
teaching plans
• Child-speak profiles can support self
assessment
Example profile:
‘child-speak’ version
Well done for completing the Reading Challenge. You are a
Reasoning reader. Here are some of the things that the
challenge showed about you as a reader:
• You have a good understanding of what you read and know
how plays are presented.
• You are quite good at understanding what different
characters are like.
• You could take a little more time to think about what
characters might be thinking and why.
• You are ready to look more closely at how the author
conveys character by making them behave or speak in
certain ways, and how you are able to work out their
thoughts and feelings.
What does i-nfer plan help teachers to do?
i-nfer plan helps teachers to:
• Integrate Assessment for Learning
• Personalise learning
• Support teacher assessment
-By• Knowing where pupils are
• Knowing what to do about it
• Knowing whether it has worked …
Integration
Follow-up research
• Every school had a ‘champion’ who
believed in the value of e-assessment and
knew about the product
One teacher, one subject, one class
All teachers, all subjects, all classes
24
Case study:
assessment for learning and
e-assessment
• Explaining learning intentions
• Identifying the ‘gaps’ in children’s learning
• Planning teaching to build on the
strengths and fill the gaps
• Giving feedback
Explaining learning intentions
Identifying the gaps
For a baseline assessment in September,
when you want to get the assessment
done as soon as possible, so you know
your next steps … just the quickness of it
has been really helpful.
Year 5 teacher
Planning teaching
[These three children] all came out with
the same profile. So you can look at that
and group them together and say right, as
a group, these children need to be
working on this area. Can we do that
through guided reading? Yes we can.
Year 5 teacher
Using feedback
‘I think that’s myself …’
Can a formal e-assessment
support formative assessment?
Tests do not have the immediacy of
spontaneous classroom interaction, but …
– Give the same information for each child
– Give a well-informed starting point for
observations and discussions
– Give teachers a shared language
– Children say they aid concentration
– Have sometimes given teachers surprises
Conclusions
Is it a ‘quick fix’ that prevents
teachers from developing skills?
Not in the schools we have visited,
perhaps because …
– Decision to adopt i-nfer plan is part of
thorough review of assessment policy
– It is not particularly quick!
– Descriptive feedback almost compels
teachers to give attention to children’s
learning
Formative e-assessment
• can be used successfully to support
learning in the classroom
• the crucial factor is how the results are
used
• continuous dialogue and reflection
improves motivation AND results
33
Assessment for learning:
recent UK research
• Focus has shifted:
– from demonstrating that AfL is a good thing
– to looking in detail at how to bring about
change in pedagogy
• Threats
– Mechanistic application of techniques
rather than real understanding
– Fails to penetrate to all teachers
34
Thank you
Department for Research in
Assessment and Measurement
National Foundation for Educational Research
in England and Wales
www.nfer.ac.uk
Some useful websites
Assessment Reform Group
http://www.assessment-reform-group.org/CIE3.PDF
www.assessment-reform-group.org/images/Principles for website.doc
http://www.assessment-reform-group.org/publications.html
I-nfer
http://www.i-nfer.co.uk/
AAIA - for some practical guidance (eg Managing AfL)
http://www.aaia.org.uk/publication/