4th APS Global Education Conference
Singapore, July 2012
Leading in Assessment for Learning
(AfL):
Mediating the Change
Chris Davison,
School of Education,
The University of New South Wales
“No matter how good you are,
you can always do better”
By the end of this session you
will have a better understanding
of how assessment for learning
can actually help improve
learning and teaching, and how
educational leaders can better
lead this process
We know that many traditional assessment activities
and processes fail learners and teachers by:
1. not integrating assessment into learning and teaching, hence
assessment information is not used to shape and guide learning
while learning
2. not providing sufficient qualitative information about assessment
tasks, nor effective feedback about their learning, hence many
students don’t know what to do, nor how to improve
3. not supporting and scaffolding lower level students (and not
challenging and extending those at a higher level), hence
undermining student motivation and ensuring students do not
reach their potential
4. not emphasizing what students can so, only what they cannot
This is especially the case with assessments which have
traditionally relied heavily on externally set and assessed
tests and impressionistic and/or norm-based processes to
sort and rank students
• “I was really upset because it’s completely inappropriate,
it gives me information that I am already able to gather in
my own classroom, ... there are many issues that I find
are very problematic ... the experience is quite traumatic
for my students, you know, because its overwhelming for
them because...I’m asking them to do tasks that are way
beyond them and so in most instances, I’ve just stopped
because the child just sits there, and there is a sense of
feeling of failure ... and that’s not what an assessment
should do, you know, it should be gathering
information in a non- threatening supportive way.”
(Australian primary teacher, 2011)
• Sometimes I‘ll do something, I think, “oh, its’ just
going to be too hard, but I just want to see” and
I’m really surprised, you know, that there are
some who get to that, and I think it’s good for us
to realise and for others, you know, teachers to
realise, that they (students) can be stretched,
you know, they‘re not just at that point.
(Australian secondary teacher, 2011)
• “The best kind of testing is what you generate
yourself and that relates to what you're doing
in the classroom”
(Australian primary teacher, 2011)
For these reasons [School-based] Assessment for
Learning (AFL) is being strongly promulgated by a
large number of education systems internationally,
e.g. Department of Education and the Arts, 2005;
Hong Kong Curriculum Development Council, 2001;
Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2006; Singapore
Ministry of Education, 2008; New Zealand Ministry
of Education, 2002, as well as by various
educational systems in Australia, including
– NSW DET, 2008,
http://arc.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/sc/afl/
– Curriculum Corporation/ Education Services Australia
http://www.assessmentforlearning.edu.au;
Assessment for learning (AfL) is any
assessment (including summative assessment)
for which the first priority in its design and
practice is to serve the purpose of promoting
pupils’ learning. An assessment activity can
help learning if it provides information to be used
as feedback, by teachers, and by their pupils in
assessing themselves and each other, to modify
the teaching and learning activities in which they
are engaged
(adapted from Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall & Wiliam, 2003, p. 2-3)
In Australia…
“The new Years 7-10 syllabuses advocate
assessment for learning, as this is a type of
quality assessment that has had world-wide
success in enhancing teaching and improving
student learning. Assessment for learning gives
students opportunities to produce work that
leads to development of their knowledge,
understanding and skills. Teachers decide
how and when to assess student achievement,
as they plan the work students will do, using a
range of appropriate assessment strategies
including self-assessment and peer assessment
.. (so) assessment helps students learn better,
rather than just achieve a better mark.”
http://arc.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/7-8/assessment-for-learning-inyears-7-10/
In Hong Kong …
“Based on the beliefs that every student is unique and
possesses the ability to learn, and that we should
develop their multiple intelligences and potentials …
there should be a change in assessment practices and
schools should put more emphasis on 'Assessment for
Learning' as an integral part of the learning, teaching
and assessment cycle … teachers should use
assessments (e.g. as simple as effective verbal
questioning, observation of student behaviour) and
provide immediate feedback to enhance student
learning in everyday classroom lessons. The focus is on
why they do not learn well and how to help them to
improve rather than just to use assessments to find out
what knowledge students have learned”
http://cd.emb.gov.hk/basic_guide/BEGuideeng0821/chapter05.html
Assessment for Learning Resource Bank –
References on Assessment
暗箱內探 透過課堂評估 提高學習水平 (譯本) (
課程發展處, 2002)
Original title: Inside the Black Box: Raising
standards through classroom assessment
© 1998 Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam
促進學習的評估 飛越暗箱 (譯本) (課程發展處,
2002)
Original Title:Assessment for Learning: Beyond
the Black Box
© 1999 The Assessment Reform Group
In Brunei:
Two key concepts :
School-based
assessment (SBA)
+
Assessment for
learning (AfL)
= SBAfL
Brunei SBAfL Implementation
1.
2.
3.
Eight one day PD modules with between-module activities at
school, supported by local staff developers
Resources: video clips, course materials, key readings and
weblinks provided by the PD facilitators; online sharing and
support
Key components of the program:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
4.
Teacher reflection/discussion on current assessment
practices/challenges/issues
Input by facilitators on key principles/practices
Group activities: Practical hands-on activities to develop and apply
understanding of key SBA concepts
Handouts: Exemplars of good practice/material to use for activities
DVD clips: local and international examples of AfL practices. Input
from external experts
Follow-up classroom – based tasks and readings: To be completed by
teachers after each module
Follow up school-based support and ongoing professional
development; development of an assessment for learning
competencies framework (Alonzo, under development); ongoing
monitoring and evaluation
16
In Singapore …
“For teaching and learning to be effective,
teachers will identify and monitor pupils’
changing needs, abilities and interests so
that they can modify or adapt their teaching
methods to help pupils improve their learning.
Teachers will also give timely and useful
feedback to pupils and provide them with
opportunities to act on the feedback to improve
their learning. Together, the processes of
diagnosing pupils’ needs, abilities and interests,
monitoring pupils’ learning progress, and
feeding-forward to improve learning constitute
Assessment for Learning (AfL).”
(Ministry of Education, 2008)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The key characteristics of “assessment” in AfL:
assessment is embedded in teaching and
learning;
learning goals are explicitly shared with
students and students are taught how to know
and to recognize the standards they are
aiming for;
students are engaged in continuous peer
and self-assessment;
constructive qualitative feedback helps
students to recognize the next steps needed
for learning and how to take them;
teachers, parents and students regularly
review and reflect on assessment data;
it is assumed every student can improve
(adapted from the Assessment Reform Group, 1999, p.7)
The key characteristics of “assessment” in AfL:
Exemplar 1: P5/6 whole class lesson
Exemplar 2: S3 teacher – student feedback
Exemplar 3: Student-led parent teacher
conference
Exemplar 4: Student formative evaluation
Why so much advocacy of AfL?
1. Black & Wiliam (1998) have convincingly
demonstrated the learning gains that can be
achieved through well focused teacher-based
formative assessment enhance students’
learning more than any other strategy across
age levels and in different contexts
2. Hattie (2009) in a more recent study of major
influences on educational achievement (using
800+ meta-analyses) found that formative
practice, in particular self-assessment and
feedback, had the highest effect sizes (i.e.,
impact on student outcomes) out of more than
100 different instructional and contextual factors
Influences on student
achievement
.30
.40
.50
.60
.15
.70
ZONE OF
DESIRED
EFFECTS
0
REVERSE
.80
.90
1.0
Role of assessment?
Effect Size
Self-evaluation
1.44
Feedback
Providing formative
evaluation to teachers
Frequent/ Effects of
testing
Teaching test taking
skills
.72
.70
.46
.22
Effective Feedback
(adapted from Kluger & DeNisi, 1996, from Hattie, 2007)
1. Provide correct(ive) feedback
.43
2. About previous attempts
.55
3. Related to more difficult goals
.51
4. That does not discourage
.33
5. or threaten self-esteem
.47
International research highlights five key
characteristics of successful assessment reform
1. First, teachers (and school leaders) need to
emphasize
– the change in the purposes of assessment
(enhancing learning and teaching) and
– the change in teacher and student roles
(involving learners more actively in evaluating
and improving their own learning)
… i.e., ensure assessment reform goes beyond
superficial adjustments in assessment format,
frequency and feedback (Davison, 2007)
2. Second, teachers (and school leaders) need to
learn how to develop assessment tasks and
activities and assessment criteria/rubrics which
are appropriate for range of individual needs
“It’s a good piece of assessment, but it’s not a good
piece of….ah…..it doesn’t actually help them. It
helps us to assess them, but it doesn’t help them to
progress.” (Hong Kong English teacher, 2006)
Although such instruments can be difficult to
construct and more time-consuming than
traditional testing and/or impressionistic marking
(Fox, 2008), investment in system-wide
change can make huge differences to
student outcomes.
3. Third, teachers (and school leaders) need to
develop more effective and dialogue-based
feedback practices which scaffold and support
less confident learners and engage and
challenge higher level learners, so all are able
to take responsibility for their learning and
achieve their best
BUT … this means not just changing the
assessment practice, but changing the
assessment culture (Davison & Leung, 2009),
and this take time (7-10 years) .
4. Fourth, teachers (and school leaders) need to
ensure the reliability, i.e. trustworthiness, of
teacher-based assessments, thus it is critical to
incorporate mechanisms to ensure teachers
(and students) are making consistent and
trustworthy assessment decisions, e.g.
through widespread use of exemplars of
performance expectations/levels, recording and
reviewing of data, benchmarking with other
classes (and educational systems) and
developing online communities of practice
e.g.. See Queensland Assessment Authority,
http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/3162.html
Example 1: Key changes Hong Kong 2005-2010
1. From a focus on task types to a focus on
learners and their needs, although not
surprisingly strong bias towards more formal
assessment, and still little or no reference to
whole-class contingent formative assessment
practices
2. From a focus on the timing of assessment to a
focus on “making the time”, particularly
through the integration of formative
assessments into the regular curriculum
– “We know we have to give feedback though we are
busy – it’s really teaching, not assessment”
3. From a focus on student improvement to a
focus on teachers helping students
improve, with a particular emphasis on
sharing and evaluating success criteria
– “We now have an awareness of levels in assessing
students so we can help them improve”
– “We support each student individually, to learn
more about how to help students improve”
4. From a slight focus on teachers to a strong
focus on learners and their roles, although
still less confidence and skill with self and peer
assessment than other aspects of formative
assessment
–
“The assessment gives me more confidence in
assessing my student and guiding them in peer
assessment”
5. From an focus on better grades to a
developing focus on better learning and
teaching, and more trustworthy assessment
decisions, although still very teacher-directed,
rather than student-directed
– “Jointly assessing the students' performances … is
useful as we can discuss the criteria, the task and
the score”
– “Now I'm able to compare my students’ (work) with
their counterparts and can help/improve my
teaching”
Perhaps not surprisingly, improvements in
the teacher-student relationship were also
reported by teachers
– “(It has) Enhanced the relationship with my students!”
– “I have more chances to know my students, get more
chances to motivate and give orientation to students”
– “It has increased the magnitude of my oral
communication with my students”
– “There has been a major change in my role as a
teacher. I've been actively involved in helping my
students to improve their learning, helping them to
understand the assessment criteria and providing
feedback on how they can do better”
BUT still a need for further teacher development
and support:
– “We need more on setting scaffolding questions/
guiding questions for students.”
– “I still find it difficult to design good assessment tasks
which fit for students' needs (especially a class of
diversified students)”
– “We still to learn more about how to come up with
better tasks that can be integrate into the
curriculum, tasks that are really interesting
relevant & fun”
– “I need to scaffold the tasks to the actual
assessment, to set a tasks which can elicit quality
language use!”
Teachers’ Overall Attitude towards SBA
Teachers' Overall Attitude Towards SBA
4.6
4.4
4.2
Longitudinal Study Round1
Mean
Longitudinal Study Round 2
Mean
Longitudinal Study Round 3
Mean
Continuation Study Round 1
Mean
Value
4
3.8
3.6
3.4
3.2
3
Teachers' views on Teachers' views on Teachers' views on Teachers’ views on Teachers' views on Teachers' views on
their preparation
their school's
implementation of potential problems the effects of SBA the effects of SBA
for SBA
preparation for
SBA
of SBA
on students
on teachers
SBA
Questionnaire Category
Key findings from Brunei: The contribution of
SBAfL to learning and teaching
Years 7-8
2010 Pre and Post-Program Questionnaires
Other interesting findings
•SBAfL is seen as a way to help teachers assess students with lower
ability levels and make their teaching more effective
The implementation of SBAfL in the classroom
Findings from the Years 7-8
2010 Pre and Post-Program Questionnaires
Overall SIGNICANTLY
POSITIVE change in
teacher assessment
readiness pre and post
PD
Note:
Lower confidence levels were
expressed by teachers in
Maths and Malay groups for
’writing effective assessment
rubrics’
Least
change
Most
change
Most importantly, there is an urgent need to
align all the key elements of assessment and
professional support to form a coherent
whole so the educational system and
processes enable teachers, students and
schools to focus on using assessment to
improve learning …
“How can we go on with our efforts on focusing on
students' needs when accountability is still an issue
every teacher has to deal with? Accountability such as
in submitting marks every single week ….and then if
no marks are submitted, we are thought to be doing
nothing in the class?”
http://sbaflforteachers.groups.live.com/discussions/discussion.aspx?id=c
ns!9E85C75729049!200
Fullan (2001) highlights the role of the school leaders,
including principals and district administrators, in mediating
and legitimating change and in providing teachers with
both psychological and material support (see also Wideen,
1994). Principals as the people most likely to be in a
position to shape the organizational conditions necessary
for success, such as the development of shared goals,
collaborative work structures and climates, and procedures
for monitoring results. However, when illustrating the
problems that a principal might confront, Fullan (2001)
argues that:
The subjective world of principals is such that many of them suffer
from the same problem in implementing a new role as facilitator of
change”as do teachers in implementing new teaching roles: What
the principal should do specifically to manage change at the school
level is a complex affair for which the principal has little preparation.
The psychological and sociological problems of change that
confront the principal are at least as great as those that confront
teachers (p.83).
Fullan (2001) concludes whether or not implementation
succeeds depends on the congruence between reformers
and local needs, and how the changes are introduced and
followed through. He argues:
– Not only is meaning difficult to grasp when different worlds have
limited interactions, but misinterpretation, attribution of motives,
feelings of being misunderstood, and disillusionment on both sides
are almost guaranteed.
– The quality of the relationships between reformers and those
impacted by the reform is crucial in supporting change efforts when
there is agreement, and to reconciling problems when there is
conflict among different groups.
In AfL such conflict is inevitable when the system itself is
not seen as part of the reform process.
Key questions to guide assessment reform
So… what kind of system and school-wide processes for
change can be adopted for the implementation/enhancement
of AfL that
• are theoretically and philosophically consistent with
AfL?
• model desired outcomes and lead - by example - to
sustainable improvements in assessment, learning
and teaching?
• put the learners and teachers at the centre of the
change process?
• involve students, parents and the wider school
community in understanding and supporting reforms?
• maintain confidence in the assessment system?
We need a parallel set of characteristics of “assessment”
reform for the introduction and development of AFL at the
system level, adapted from the original tenets of the
Assessment Reform Group (1999, p.7), that is, ensure:
– AFL is embedded in curriculum and assessment institutionally and
pedagogically;
– assessment reform goals are explicitly shared with all stakeholders
and stakeholders together work to identify how to know and to
recognize the standards they are aiming for;
– all stakeholders are engaged in continuous peer and selfassessment;
– constructive qualitative feedback helps stakeholders to recognize
the next steps needed for reform and how to take them;
– all stakeholders regularly review and reflect on assessment data;
– it is assumed every school, teacher and student can improve;
In such a system AfL is not just a target of
assessment reform but in fact the driver of how to
achieve such reform.
Question:
How can we (better) develop such and
assessment for learning culture in our schools?