Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Assessment for Learning Factsheet
What is 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 (Assessment Reform Group UK, 2002).
What are the benefits of Assessment for Learning?
In a review of 20 studies on classroom assessment, Black and Wiliam (1998) found an average 25% shift in
performance for Assessment for Learning groups, compared to control groups, after 2.5 years of
implementation.
Assessment for learning is a vehicle for educational improvement that:
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provides students with opportunities to integrate and synthesise concepts and skills;
promotes engagement in higher order thinking;
increases ability to engage in substantive conversations;
promotes deep knowledge leading to complex understandings; and
enables connections to the world beyond the classroom.
Assessment for Learning Principles and Strategies
A key principle of assessment for learning is that it engages students, as informed participants, in
assessment (O'Donovan, Price & Rust, 2008), developing their assessment literacy while at the same time
enhancing their learning.
Good assessment for learning tasks should:
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help clarify what good performance is;
encourage time and effort on challenging learning tasks;
involve both teacher and learners in review and reflection;
deliver high quality feedback that helps learners self-correct; and
encourage interaction and dialogue around learning (Nicol, 2007).
Strategic questioning
Strategic questioning may be formal (written) questions or part of informal class discussions. Either way, it
is designed to elicit evidence of where students are in their learning. Good strategic questioning will
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be closely aligned with learning outcomes;
be at an appropriate cognitive level;
give students think time;
probe, explore and challenge ('Can you tell me more about …?’, ‘How would that work?’, ‘Can you
give me an example of …?’); and
scaffold student learning by asking students to build on each other’s responses.
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Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Using summative assessments formatively
Summative assessments can be used formatively, either before or after the initial assessment.
Before a test/exam
1. Provide students with a list of the skills, knowledge and understandings the test will focus on, and ask
them to apply traffic lights or a similar method to help focus their revision:
 ‘I could teach this to someone else.’ (green light)
 ‘I think I get it but can’t really explain it.’ (amber light)
 ‘I don’t understand this.’ (red light).
2. Ask students to design test questions (with answers), then share in class.
After a test/exam
Instead of simply handing back the marked tests to students and then going through the test to explain the
required answers, teachers can use strategies which encourage further reinforcement and learning.
1. Before the test is marked and returned to students, allocate different sections or questions to groups of
students. The role of the students is to agree on a response to each of the questions and then share
their work with the class.
2. Identify those questions which caused the most difficulty for students, and work through them with the
class before handing out the marked tests.
(Ideas adapted from the Assessment for Learning website developed by the Curriculum Corporation on
behalf of the education departments of the States, Territories and Commonwealth of Australia.)
Using feedback
Teachers are often disappointed when students don’t seem to make use of their feedback. By changing the
timing of the feedback so that it is given on a draft we give students the opportunity – and a good reason –
to use the feedback. To lighten the feedback load on the teacher, and improve student learning at the same
time, consider also implementing peer feedback below.
Students can also be asked to respond to feedback they’ve received, writing a short statement about what
feedback they’ve incorporated into their final product and what they’ve rejected (with a brief explanation
about why it was rejected).
Peer feedback
Peer feedback occurs when students consider the work of a peer in relation to task criteria:
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identifying what has been done well and what could be improved; and
offering suggestions about how the work could be improved.
See Student Peer Review on the ECU Learning Intranet for more information on this strategy.
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Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
References
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment.
Granada Learning.
Nicol, D. (2007, May). Principles of good assessment and feedback: Theory and practice. In REAP
International online conference on assessment design for learner responsibility (pp. 1-9).
O'Donovan, B., Price, M., & Rust, C. (2008). Developing student understanding of assessment standards: a
nested hierarchy of approaches. Teaching in Higher Education, 13(2), 205-217.
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