Assessment for Learning: Classroom
Strategies to Improve Learning
NESA Winter Training Institute
New Delhi, January 30-31, 2010
Damian Cooper
(905) 823-6298
dcooper3@rogers.com
Session Outcomes

Understand the critical role played by
“assessment for learning” in providing
students with the information they need to
improve
 Learn about research-based “assessment for
learning” strategies that are proving to be
effective in improving student learning
 Share with colleagues how these strategies
may be appropriate to my own classroom
Changing Goals
Mean
Changing Goals
Range of Competent
Achievement
If the new goal of education is success for
all, then we have no choice but to
Differentiate Instruction & Assessment
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Instruction
Students bring different
knowledge &
experience to school
Students learn at
different rates
Students learn in
different ways
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Assessment
Not all students are
able to demonstrate
their learning in the
same way
Not all students
respond the same way
to test pressure
Some students need
more scaffolding than
others
Assessment for Learning
“Assessment for learning is
any assessment for which the
first priority in its design and
practice is to serve the purpose
of promoting students’
learning. It thus differs from
assessment designed primarily
to serve the purposes of
accountability, or of ranking,
or of certifying competence.”
Black, Wiliam et al. 2004
Assessment of Learning
“Assessment of learning
includes those tasks that are
designed to determine how
much learning has occurred
after a significant period of
instruction. The data from
such assessments is often
used to determine report
card grades.”
Components of Assessment for Learning
(Black & Wiliam, 1999)
•
The provision of effective feedback to students
•
The active involvement of students in their own
learning
•
Adjusting teaching to take account of the results of
assessment
•
Recognition of the profound influence assessment
has on motivation and self-esteem
•
The need for students to be able to assess
themselves and understand how to improve
Components of Assessment for
Learning (Black & Wiliam, 2003)

Oral questioning

Marking as feedback

Peer and self-assessment

Formative use of summative tests
Components of Assessment for
Learning (Wiliam, 2007)
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Clarifying learning intentions and sharing
criteria for success
Engineering effective classroom discussions,
questions, and learning tasks that elicit
evidence of learning
Providing feedback that moves learners
forward
Activating students as owners of their own
learning
Activating students as instructional sources for
one another
Components of Assessment for
Learning, (Chappuis, ETS)
Clear learning targets
 Examples of student work
 Feedback
 Self-assessment & goal-setting
 Focus on one aspect of quality at a time
 Teach students focused revision
 Student self-reflection, tracking &
sharing learning

Time to Talk About Assessment

At your table, discuss which elements of
assessment for learning are common to
all the research
Components of Assessment for Learning
(Cooper, 2007)
1.
Do I routinely share learning goals with my students so they
know where we are heading?
2.
Do I routinely communicate to students the standards they are
aiming for before they begin work on a task?
3.
Do I routinely have students self and peer assess their work in
ways that improve their learning?
4.
Does my questioning technique include all students and
promote increased understanding?
5.
Do I routinely provide individual feedback to students that
informs them how to improve?
6.
Do I routinely provide opportunities for students to make use of
this feedback to improve specific pieces of work?
Assessment for Learning:
am I already doing it?
1.
Do I routinely share learning goals with my
students so they know where we are
heading?
Math Class

Learning Goal: You will demonstrate that you
understand the relationship between the numerator
and the denominator in a fraction.

At the end of the lesson, Linda points to the poster on
the classroom wall and asks her students:
What did you learn in this lesson today?

Their exit slip is to answer on a “leaf” and post it on the
“knowledge tree”
Linda told me that the most effective AFL strategy for
her has been to write the learning goal for each day’s
lesson on the board.
Assessment for Learning:
am I already doing it?
1.
Do I routinely share learning goals with my
students so they know where we are
heading?
2.
Do I routinely communicate to students the
standards they are aiming for before they
begin work on a task?
Clear Targets
Clarity of curriculum standards
 High quality assessment tasks
 Rubrics to describe what quality looks
like
 Anchors to show students what quality
looks like
 Checklists to enable students to monitor
their own progress

Time to Talk About Assessment

With your colleagues, respond to
Jackie’s class in terms of ...
- what was effective
-what was ineffective
-what you would do differently
Assessment for Learning:
am I already doing it?
1.
Do I routinely share learning goals with my
students so they know where we are
heading?
2.
Do I routinely communicate to students the
standards they are aiming for before they
begin work on a task?
3.
Do I routinely have students self and peer
assess their work in ways that improve their
learning?
Formative Assessment Strategies
Self and Peer Assessment

Self & peer check
before submission
 Circling, NOT
correcting errors
 1st. page marking
ONLY
 Portfolio reflection
strips
Traffic Lights – peer
 Snowball and peer
assessment of
essay

Math Class
Pete has his students use “Traffic Light” signs at
the start of a lesson on equivalent fractions,
decimals and percentages to assess prior
knowledge.
Teacher: Do you know what the word “equivalent”
means?
Students show either the red or green side of the
“traffic light” in response.
He orally checks a sample of the “green”
responses to see if they do, in fact, understand the
term.
English Class
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
“Snowball” activity to activate students’ prior
knowledge about writing an effective response to an
essay question
Teacher consolidates this information on the board
Teacher presents a sample answer on the board and
guides students as they assess it, using colour coding
Students have 15 minutes to answer a sample essay
question
Students exchange responses and use coloured pencils to
assess each other’s work
English Class – peer assessment guide
Grade
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Underline in blue the best sentence. Explain why
Underline in red the worst sentence. Explain why
Underline in green a good choice of quote
Underline in purple a good explanation of the
effect of a quote
Underline in orange a good link back to the
question
Underline in pink 3 words you think I’d get
excited about
Underline in brown anything you think is correct
but that I didn’t teach you
D
C
B
A
A+
Why Involve Students in the
Assessment Process?
Students:
 Develop understanding of what quality work
looks like
 Become independent monitors of their own
work
 Develop skills of metacognition
 Develop critical thinking skills
 Develop communication and interpersonal
skills
Time to Talk About Assessment

Discuss with your colleagues 1 of the self or
peer assessment examples you’ve just heard
about.
 Discuss the pros and cons of the strategy?
 Does this approach have application to your
own classroom?
 How might you adapt the strategy to suit your
own situation?
Assessment for Learning:
am I already doing it?
4. Does my questioning technique include all
students and promote increased
understanding?
Formative Assessment Strategies
Checks for Understanding
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Thumbs Up!
Traffic Lights –self
Think. Pair. Share
Oral questionning –
no hands
Co-op hwk. take-up
Ungraded quiz –
graded test

Individual white
boards
 Oral response circle
– reciprocal
teaching
 Exit pass
Assessment for Learning:
am I already doing it?
4. Does my questioning technique include all
students and promote increased
understanding?
5. Do I routinely provide individual feedback to
students that informs them how to improve?
Provide tons of feedback …
Oral & written feedback tell students
how to improve – marks DON’T
 Establish classroom routines that create
opportunities for teacher & peer
feedback
 Provide feedback ALONE on formative
assessments; do NOT include marks
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Feedback
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Needs to cause thinking: don’t provide the
“answer”
Must not be evaluative
Must direct students towards improvement
Must make reference to specific quality
indicators (a rubric or checklist)
Must include an expectation that it will be
implemented
Must include strategies for checking that it
has been implemented
Formative Assessment Strategies
Feedback

Written feedback:
-done well
-done poorly
-try this next time
 Assignmentfocussed
conferencing

Implementing
feedback:
-mandatory
-feedback log
Assessment for Learning:
am I already doing it?
4. Does my questioning technique include all
students and promote increased
understanding?
5. Do I routinely provide individual feedback to
students that informs them how to improve?
6. Do I routinely provide opportunities for
students to make use of this feedback to
improve specific pieces of work?
Demand that feedback be acted
upon …
Include feedback logs in student work
books, binders, etc.
 Hold students accountable for showing
you “before” & “after” work
 Focus student conferencing around
feedback and how to act upon it
…
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Commitment to Action
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Spend a few moments reflecting on today ….
What was your most significant learning?
What specific actions do you plan to take
immediately and/or between now and June 2010?
Who will be involved?
What results would you like to see from these
actions?
How will you assess the effectiveness of these
actions?
Some final thoughts...
“Change is a process, not an event…
beware the implementation dip.” (Fullan)
 Don’t work alone. Collaboration will help you
problem solve and will improve the quality of
your initiatives.
 Be proactive - communicate with parents and
students before changing your practice.
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