PRIMARY NQT ALUMNI
CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 2014
Assessment for Learning and
National Curriculum 2014
Veronica Thomas
v.thomas@mmu.ac.uk
AfL - what's it all about?
National Curriculum 2014 - Taking a view!
Outstanding curriculum! What's that?
Putting it all together!
Outline of the session
Assessment …
What do you think of when you hear this word?
Formative
Formative assessment does not
count towards final course
grades directly, but measures
progress and provides students
with valuable feedback
Summative
Summative assessment counts
towards final results in relation
to learning outcomes
Accountability - The current stance
 ‘Ofsted will expect to see evidence of pupils’ progress, with
inspections informed by the school’s chosen pupil tracking data.’
Primary assessment and accountability under the new National Curriculum, DfE, July 2013
 “Inspectors will … want to see how well schools are responding to
changes to the national curriculum from September [2014]. Every
headteacher should be asking themselves the sort of questions that
we will be asking when we inspect schools in the weeks and months
ahead:
 How is the school’s assessment model linked to the programmes of study
and schemes of work in the new curriculum?”
Sir Michael Wilshaw - head of Ofsted http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/north-of-england-educationconference-2014-hmci-speech, extract from speech at the North of England Education Conference on the 14th
January 2014.
I
DfE
principles
Effective
assessment
systems
N
F Give reliable information to parents about how their child, and
their child’s school, is performing
O a. Allow meaningful tracking of pupils towards end of key stage
expectations
in
the
new
curriculum,
including
regular
feedback
R to parents.
M b. Provide information which is transferable and easily
understood and covers both qualitative and quantitative
I assessment.
Differentiate attainment between pupils of different abilities,
N c.giving
early recognition of pupils who are falling behind and
G those who are excelling.
d. Are reliable and free from bias.
I
DfE principles - Effective assessment systems
M
P Help drive improvement for pupils and teachers
R a. Are closely linked to improving the quality of teaching.
O b. Ensure feedback to pupils contributes to improved
learning and is focused on specific and tangible objectives.
V
c. Produce recordable measures which can demonstrate
I comparison against expected standards and reflect
progress
over
time.
N
G
I
DfE
principles
Effective
assessment
systems
N
N Make sure the school is keeping up with external best
O practice and innovation
a.
Are
created
in
consultation
with
those
delivering
best
V practice locally.
A b. Are created in consideration of, and are benchmarked
T against, international best practice
I
N
G
As a % of pupils in the
year that have achieved
their targets
Using ‘milestones’
(beginning/develop
ing/secure)
Monitoring teacher
performance
Against expected
progress (for pupils,
and for groups)
Identifying key
vulnerable groups
(such as pupil
premium, SEN, etc)
Identifying
underperforming
groups
Key terminology!
Assessment is derived from Latin ‘assidere’ to sit with or beside. It is
something we do with and for a student, not something we do to
them.
(Wiggins, cited in Green, 1998)
Assessment of Learning (AoL) - more closely associated
with Summative Assessment
Assessment for Learning (AfL) - more closely associated
with Formative Assessment
O
R
I
G
I
N
S
What is assessment for learning? (AfL)
 Dylan Wiliam , emeritus professor, University of London's
Institute of Education
 Paul Black emeritus professor, from King's College London
Co authors of ‘Inside the Black Box’ (1998)
Analogies!
9 hours - east
Lands
London?
Next!
If pilots flew like teachers assess…?
Analogies!
Analogy
‘…if we think of our children as plants …
 summative assessment of the plants is the process
of simply measuring them. The measurements
might be interesting to compare and analyse, but
in themselves, they do not affect the growth of the
plants.
 Formative assessment on the other hand, is the
garden equivalent of feeding and watering
plants‐directly affecting their growth.’
Shirley Clarke . (2001), Unlocking Formative Assessment
Measuring learning! - Structure of Observed Learning Outcome
http://www.johnbiggs.com.au/academic/solo-taxonomy/
The SOLO Taxonomy with
sample verbs indicating levels of understanding
Competence
Identify
Name
Follow simple
procedure
Combine
Describe
Enumerate
Perform serial skills
List
Analyse
Apply
Argue
Compare/
contrast
Criticize
Explain causes
Relate
Justify
Create
Formulate
Generate
Hypothesize
Reflect
Theorize
....
Fail
Incompetent
Misses point
Incompetence
Prestructural
one relevant
aspect
Unistructural
several relevant
independent aspects
integrated into
a structure
Multistructural
Relational
generalized to
new domain
Extended Abstract
Principles of AfL
 Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions.
 Eliciting evidence of pupil learning, through the use of
‘tests’ and quizzes, for example.
 Providing feedback that moves learning forward.
 Using pupils as learning resources for one another, through
methods such as peer assessment and peer tutoring.
 Encouraging pupils to be owners of their own learning,
through self- assessment and other methods.
S
T
A
Y
I
N
G
O
N
T
R
A
C
K
What does AfL look like in the classroom?
Minute by minute adjustments!
Day by day adaptations!
Successful effective feedback!
Good feedback that causes thinking!
Choices - Protection or Growth!
Recognition and Meta Cognition - fixed ability/fixed
mindset or growth ability/growth mindset
N
E
X
T
S
T
E
P
S
I
N
L
E
A
R
N
I
N
G
AfL - what's it all about?
Word associations!
Word associations!
Acknowledge or Judge
Prompt or Halt
Propel or Repress
Pass or Fail
Motivate or Hinder
Evaluate or Appraise
Review or Test
Commentary or Comment
Further reading and practical resources
 Journey to Excellence - Dylan Wiliam but also a wealth of other videos too
 http://www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk/videos/expertspeakers/feedbackonlearningdylan
wiliam.asp
 How not to talk to your kids! - Considerations around mindset
 http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/
 John Hattie on Visible learning and effect size
 http://visible-learning.org/2013/02/john-hattie-presentation-maximising-the-impactvideo-transcript/
 Counter considerations for problematising and synthesis
 http://meridianvale.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/what-if-feedback-wasnt-all-it-wascracked-up-to-be/
 AfL strategies to try!
 http://www.slideshare.net/mikegershon/afl-toolkit
National Curriculum 2014 - Taking a view!
Some BIG questions!
 What is the concept of education? What
is education for?
 What exactly do we mean when we talk
about the curriculum and is this
distinguishable from a National
Curriculum? If so, in what ways?
 If it was up to you what would choose
to put into a National Curriculum?
Outstanding curriculum! What's that?
1. is underpinned by aims, values and purpose
2. develops the whole person - knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes
3. is broad, balanced and has clear progression in subject knowledge and skills
The top 10 hallmarks
of an outstanding
curriculum…
4. is filled with rich first-hand purposeful experiences
5. is flexible and responsive to individual needs and interests
6. embeds the principle of sustainability
7. has an eye on the future and the needs of future citizens
8. encourages the use of environments and expertise beyond the classroom
9. makes meaningful links between areas of knowledge across the curriculum and the major issues of our time
10. has a local, national and international dimension
How can we develop a well designed curriculum that does this?
‘The big idea is – know thy impact! Expert teachers are not
wedded to specific teaching strategies – rather, they regularly
focus on evaluating the effects they have on students, and
adjust teaching methods accordingly.
When teaching and learning are “visible” – that is, when it is
clear what teachers are teaching and what students are
learning, student achievement increases. ‘
John Hattie
Hattie Research - Visible Learning
School effects
Teacher effects
Teaching effects
Student effects
Curricula effects
Home effects
Average effect size of all
the interventions he
studied was 0.40.
The top ten!
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/mediaspeeches/guestlectures/pdfs/tgls-hattie.pdf
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/mediaspeeches/guestlectures/pdfs/tgls-hattie.pdf
The other end!
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/mediaspeeches/guestlectures/pdfs/tgls-hattie.pdf
The in-betweners!
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/mediaspeeches/guestlectures/pdfs/tgls-hattie.pdf
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/mediaspeeches/guestlectures/pdfs/tgls-hattie.pdf
Putting it all together!
Back to the start then but the ball in firmly in your court!
 AfL strategies! - Pros and cons!
 National Curriculum - Being that ‘conduit’!
 Being and Becoming a teacher - Growing an identity!
Seeing the bigger picture!
Divergent thinking!
Criticality!
Synthesis!
Further reading and practical resources
 Shirley Clarke
 Active Learning Through Formative Assessment (2008)
 Guy Claxton
 Building Learning Power: Helping Young People Become Better Learners
(2002)
 Carol Dweck
 Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2007)
 Dylan Wiliam and Paul Black
 Inside the Black Box: v. 1: Raising Standards Through Classroom
Assessment (2006)
T
One
final
thought!
H
A John Hattie on the art of teaching
N  “… the act of teaching reaches its epitome of success after the lesson
has
been
structured,
after
the
content
has
been
delivered,
and
after
the
K classroom has been organised. The art of teaching, and its major
Y
O
U

successes, relate to “what happens next” – the manner in which the
teacher reacts to how the student interprets, accommodates, rejects
and/or reinvents the content and skills, how the student relates and
applies the content to other tasks, and how the student reacts in light of
success and failure apropos the content and methods that the teacher
taught. Learning is spontaneous, individualistic, and often earned
through effort. It is a timeworn, slow, gradual, fits-and-starts kind of
process, which can have a flow of its own, but requires passion,
patience, and attention to detail (from the teacher and the student)”.