Formative Assessment
Evidence, Practice and
Teacher Change
Christine Harrison
School of Education
King’s College London
Christine.Harrison@kcl.ac.uk
Formative Assessment
• An assessment activity can help learning if it provides
information to be used as feedback, by teachers, and by
their students, in assessing themselves and each other, to
modify the teaching and learning activities in which they
are engaged.
•
Feedback is two-way
– Student to teacher
– Teacher to student
•
Feedback can be
– oral or written
– short term or medium term
Evidence of Effects
• Black and Wiliam (1998) review
• 30 control/experimental studies
• Effect sizes 0.4 – 0.7
– Many rigorous studies show that standards are raised
by formative assessment.
– The positive effect is greater as the range of the
formative feedback is expanded.
• King’s project work with schools
– Standards were raised
– Teachers happy about the way they had changed
KMOFAP
• King’s Medway Oxfordshire Formative Assessment
Project
• 24 teachers (science and maths)
• Qualitative evidence
• Quantitative evidence
– Standards were raised
– Teachers happy about the way they had changed
Qualitative evidence
Feedback in Discussion
Questioning in Class
My whole teaching style has become more interactive.
Instead of showing how to find solutions, a question is
asked and pupils given time to explore answers together.
My Year 8 target class is now well-used to this way of
working. I find myself using this method more and more
with other groups
(Nancy, Riverside School)
Feedback in Discussion
Questioning in Class
•No hands
Unless specifically asked pupils know not to put their
hands up if they know the answer to a question. All pupils
are expected to be able to answer at any time even if it is
an ‘I don’t know’.
• Supportive climate
Pupils are comfortable with giving a wrong answer. They
know that these can be as useful as correct ones. They
are happy for other pupils to help explore their wrong
answers further.
(Nancy, Riverside School)
Changes in Questioning
• Teachers role : move from presentation to exploration
of students’ ideas, involving them in the exploration
• Students role : more active, realising that learning
depends on readiness to express and discuss, not on
spotting right answers
• Teachers spend more effort on framing questions to
explore issues critical to development of students’
understanding
Feedback on Written Work
Comment-only marking
• Those given feedback as marks are likely to see it
as a way to compare themselves with others (egoinvolvement), those given only comments see it as
helping them to improve (task-involvement): the
latter group out-perform the former.
• Feedback given as rewards or grades enhances
ego rather than task involvement.
(Butler, 1987).
Feedback on Written Work
Comment-only marking
Previously I would have marked the work
and graded it and made a comment. The
pupils only saw the mark and/or credit.
After a credit they lost the motive to
improve. Now they get a credit after we
have gone over the work so they have an
incentive to understand the work.
Rose, Brownfields School.
Feedback on Written Work
Comment-only marking
Comment only marking has made a difference in
that students do now read what I write. I now
give rewards to those who respond to my
written questions or instructions and make it
clear that this is the easiest way to get merits.
The whole faculty moved to comment only
assessment policy in September in the light of
the [project’s] work. I am not aware of a single
parent expressing concern over the lack of
grades/levels/marks.
James, Two Bishop’s School
Peer marking
• The kids are not skilled in what I am trying to get them to
do. I think the process is more effective long term. If you
invest time in it, it will pay off big dividends, this process of
getting the students to be more independent in the way that
they learn and taking the responsibility themselves.
Tom, Riverside School
• We regularly do peer marking—I find this very helpful
indeed. A lot of misconceptions come to the fore and we
then discuss these as we are going over the homework. I
then go over the peer marking and talk to pupils individually
as I go round the room.
Rose, Brownfields School
Putting it into practice
As well as assessing and marking (through
discussion and clear guidance) their own work they
also assess and mark the work of others. This they
do in a very mature and sensible way and this has
proved to be a very worthwhile experiment. The
students know that homework will be checked by
themselves or another girl in the class at the start of
the next lesson. …... They take pride in clear and
well presented work that one of their peers may be
asked to mark.
Alice, Waterford School
Changes in Marking
• Teachers changed their view of the role of written
work in promoting learning
• Teachers were challenged to compose comments
which address the needs of the individual and
reflect key aspects of the subject
• Teachers had to give more attention to
differentiation in feedback
• Students changed their view of the role of written
work as part of their learning
Quantitative evidence
Effect Sizes
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Reported on reality of classroom practice
19 teachers and 23 classes
Majority between 0.2 and 0.3
Mean effect size 0.34
Teacher change
Categorised practice
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•
•
•
experts
moving pioneers
static pioneers
triallers
No obvious trend in effect size but interquartile range of
effect sizes reduce as teachers become more expert.
Other Developments
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ARG
Key Stage 3 Strategy
Primary National Strategy
CAPITAL, JAFA, AiFL, KREST, PLPs
14-19
Contact details
•
e-mail :
paul.black@kcl.ac.uk
• Web-site:
www.kcl.ac.uk/education/research/kal.html
• Inside the Black Box Black and Wiliam
1998 nferNelson
• Working Inside the Black Box.
• Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall & Wiliam
• 2002 nferNelson
• Assessment for learning : Putting it into practice.
Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall & Wiliam
• 2003 Open University Press