Education Scotland
Sheila Quigley
Development Officer
Assessment, Qualifications, Quality
assurance & Moderation
sheila.quigley@educationscotland.gov.uk
Transforming lives through learning
Aims for the session:
 put assessment in its Scottish context
 share how Education Scotland is
building capacity and assessment expertise
Transforming lives through learning
The Scottish Context
Curriculum for Excellence
The overall aspirations of CfE are to:
•
raise attainment and educational outcomes for all children
and young people
• close the gap between the highest achieving young people
and those at risk of missing out
• prepare our young people for an ever changing future, with
the confidence, knowledge and skills to compete in global
markets
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Experiences and Outcomes
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Assessment –
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3
Key Messages
1. Assessment is integral to learning and teaching
• assessment is part of learning and is on-going daily in the classroom
• learners understand their learning and are involved in dialogue
about it
• at times, more formal or structured assessment is used to test
understanding, skill development or attitudes
• the profiling process and the production of a profile are part of a
child understanding their own learning
• involves all stakeholders
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2. Assessment builds capacity in practitioners
to make professional judgements underpinned
by professional dialogue
• it is about staff discussing –
planning of learning
pedagogy
a range of assessment evidence e.g. learning logs and/or more
structured or formal evidence).
•
it is robust in assessing learning and the range of learning
•
moderation is integral to assessment
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3. Assessment is holistic and informative
• it reflects and captures a range of understanding, skills and attitudes
• it can range across contexts for learning including learning out of
school
• it should include learners’ ability to work in, and with, higher order
thinking skills
• it informs future learning
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What are the Challenges?
1. These approaches to assessment require dialogue between :
• staff and learners
• staff to plan and reflect together
• staff and senior staff to plan, reflect, identify support
• authorities and schools
2. A cultural change in the ‘role of the teacher’ and the ‘role of the
learner’, as well as the model of leadership is required.
3. The development of the assessment literacy of all involved –
assessment for growth rather than measurement.
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Building the Curriculum 5
Education Scotland:
 provides advice, support and CPD relating to assessment
working closely with national bodies to develop capacity in
the teaching profession
 leads and facilitates professional development to help
teachers develop a shared understanding…including
through quality assurance and moderation of the broad
general education
(2010, p.53)
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The National Assessment Resource (NAR)

supports assessment approaches and enhances expertise in
all aspects of assessment and the variety of approaches which
can be employed (by both using and developing NAR) for
learners aged 3-18.

supports moderation by providing exemplification and materials
that inform discussions about standards and expectations as well
as emerging models of moderation.

develops capacity to make professional judgements about
progress and achievement
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What does NAR currently provide?
 quality marked and quality assured examples of a wide range
of assessment approaches and evidence
 Literacy and numeracy materials developed by the Scottish
Qualifications Authority (SQA)
 Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) materials
 practitioner resources quality assured at school or local
authority level
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How are practitioners using NAR?
• as an opportunity to reflect on effective practice in
learning, teaching and assessment, drawing on the work
published on NAR
• as an opportunity for school/cluster and local authority
staff to review processes such as profiling, reporting,
transition and moderation, drawing on the exemplification
on NAR
• as a vehicle for practitioners to fulfill their role in relation to
assessment outlined in BtC5
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Taking a closer look at the National
Assessment Resource, a professional
learning resource
 developed in collaboration with partners, Education
Authorities, Education Scotland staff and practitioners
 provides an opportunity for staff to reflect on effective practice
in learning, teaching and assessment, drawing on the work
published on the National Assessment Resource (NAR) with
useful links to exemplars
 materials that enable staff to ‘dip in’ to aspects of the
learning, teaching and assessment process where they wish
to reflect on their practice.
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Reflective questions and Action points
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How can leadership teams build capacity in staff to
use the resource effectively?
 Leadership team reflective questions
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“…the most successful education systems do more than seek to
attain particular standards of competence and to achieve change
through prescription. They invest in developing their teachers as
reflective, accomplished and enquiring professionals who have
the capacity to engage fully with the complexities of education
and to be key actors in shaping and leading educational
change”.
(Teaching Scotland’s Future, 2011, p.4)
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