Assessment for learning in everyday lessons

1. Assessment for learning in everyday lessons

2. Objectives • To identify the key features of assessment for learning in high-quality teaching and learning • To identify strategies for improving assessment for learning Assessment for learning in everyday lessons OHT 1.1

3. Assessment for learning – definitions ‘In this paper … the term assessment refers to all those activities undertaken by teachers, and by their students in assessing themselves, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged.’ Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998) ‘Assessment for learning involves: • gathering and interpreting evidence about students’ learning; and • learners and their teachers using that evidence to decide where students are in their learning, where they are going and how to take the next steps.’ Assessment for learning in everyday lessons OHT 1.2

4. Assessment for learning –key characteristics Assessment for learning: • is embedded in a view of teaching and learning of which it is an essential part; • involves sharing learning goals with pupils; • aims to help pupils to know and recognise the standards they are aiming for; • involves pupils in [peer and] self-assessment; • provides feedback which leads to pupils recognising their next steps and how to take them; • involves both teacher and pupils reviewing and reflecting on assessment data [information]. Assessment for learning: beyond the black box, Assessment Reform Group (1999) Assessment for learning in everyday lessons OHT 1.3

5. Ready for more? Next half-term ‘have a go’. Step 1 Focus on one or two strategies you have identified on handout 1.3 and use them in a series of lessons. Step 2 After the first few lessons, discuss with a colleague what went well and what didn’t. Step 3 Consider what further support or training might be helpful. (For example, look at the summaries of the other training modules to see if they are directly relevant.) Assessment for learning in everyday lessons OHT 1.4

6. The formative use of summative assessment

7. Objectives • To recognise some of the key characteristics of assessment for learning • To show how assessment of learning can contribute to assessment for learning • To recognise the influence assessment has on motivation, self-esteem and learning • To consider the impact of feedback to pupils on their learning • To demonstrate how assessment for learning can actively involve pupils in setting their own individual targets • To plan a series of actions designed to promote developments in assessment for learning The formative use of summative assessment OHT 2.1

8. Assessment for learning -key characteristics Assessment for learning: • is embedded in a view of teaching and learning of which it is an essential part; • involves sharing learning goals with pupils; • aims to help pupils to know and recognise the standards they are aiming for; • involves pupils in [peer and] self-assessment; • provides feedback which leads to pupils recognising their next steps and how to take them; • involves both teacher and pupils reviewing and reflecting on assessment data [information]. Assessment for learning: beyond the black box, Assessment Reform Group (1999) The formative use of summative assessment OHT 2.2

9. Factors that contributed to the pupils learning on the video • Communicating the aims of the lesson clearly to pupils • Making assessment criteria clear and accessible to pupils • Longer wait time during questioning • Oral and written feedback • Pupils required to reflect on their learning using assessment criteria • Balance of self-, peer and teacher assessment • Pupils trained in how to behave cooperatively in group work • Feedback specifing targets for improvement • Different media used to assess pupils so that some can demonstrate their understanding through means other than writing The formative use of summative assessment OHT 2.3

10. Ready for more? Identify three ways you can carry out assessment for learning using summative assessment in your own subject – for example: • adapting National Curriculum level descriptions into ‘pupil speak’ to enable clearer feedback on progress in the National Curriculum; • developing regular and planned periodic peer and self-assessment opportunities; • developing class, group and individual target setting. Where is the existing good practice in curriculum target setting in your school (using evidence from department audits)? How can this good practice be shared more widely? The formative use of summative assessment OHT 2.4

11. Planning lessons

12. Objectives • To clarify the nature of lesson objectives and consider how these may be most effectively shared with pupils • To help teachers prepare simpler and more effective lesson plans Planning lessons OHT 3.1

13. The importance of sharingobjectives with pupils Plans should help teachers make clear to pupils: • lesson objectives (what is taught and learned – what the pupils should know, understand, be able to do, or be aware of as a result of the lesson); • the big picture (the broad purpose of the lesson, which may directly refer to longer-term objectives/targets and how the lesson links to other lessons). Planning lessons OHT 3.2

14. Writing objectives: useful stems By the end of the lesson pupils will: • know that … (knowledge: factual information, for example names, places, symbols, formulae, events); • develop / be able to … (skills: using knowledge, applying techniques, analysing information, etc.); • understand how/why … (understanding: concepts, reasons, effects, principles, processes,etc.); • develop / be aware of … (attitudes and values: empathy, caring, sensitivity towards social issues, feelings, moral issues, etc.). Objectives may also focus on how pupils learn. Planning lessons OHT 3.3

15. Key elements of good lesson plans Good lesson plans are brief but usually have: • lesson objectives which can be shared with pupils; • a clear structure for the lesson; • brief notes on key questions and teaching points; • brief notes on specific activities; • brief notes relating to needs of individuals or groups (for example, SEN or G&T); • a note of how any additional support will be used; • reference to subject issues, for example developing vocabulary; • references to relevant resources; • an indication of any homework to be set. Planning lessons OHT 3.4

16. Ready for more? • As a department, review and, if appropriate, revise the planning format for lessons to ensure that it addresses the key elements of lesson planning in a manageable way. • Revise a week’s lesson plans to ensure there is a clear focus on objectives and an indication of the evidence needed to demonstrate what pupils have learned. • Question pupils during the lessons to check that: (a) they understand the lesson objectives; (b) they can explain how they will know when they have achieved them. • Make sure that objectives are referred to during plenaries. • Try different ways of introducing lesson objectives, for example through whole-class discussion, whole-class questioning, writing them on the board, providing them on cards. Planning lessons OHT 3.5

17. Questioning

18. Objectives • To develop teachers’ self-awareness and analysis of their own questioning techniques • To identify key features of good questioning • To enhance the planning for, and use of, questions • To identify relevant skills and plans for professional development (related to questioning) which teachers can then pursue Questioning OHT 4.1

19. Importance of questioning Questioning is a critical skill for teachers because it is: • the most common form of interaction between teacher and pupil; • an element of virtually every type and model of lesson; • a key method of providing appropriate challenge for all pupils; • an important influence on the extent of progress made; • the most immediate and accessible way for a teacher to assess learning. Questioning OHT 4.2

20. Purposes of questioning • To interest, engage and challenge pupils • To check on prior knowledge • To stimulate recall and use of existing knowledge and experience in order to create new understanding and meaning • To focus thinking on key concepts and issues • To extend pupils’ thinking from the concrete and factual to the analytical and evaluative • To lead pupils through a planned sequence which progressively establishes key understandings • To promote reasoning, problem solving, evaluation and the formulation of hypotheses • To promote pupils’ thinking about the way they have learned Questioning OHT 4.3

21. Pitfalls of questioning It is easy to fall into the trap of: • asking too many closed questions; • asking pupils questions to which they can respond with a simple yes or no answer; • asking too many short-answer, recall-based questions; • asking bogus ‘guess what I’m thinking’ questions; • starting all questions with the same stem; Questioning OHT 4.4a

22. Pitfalls of questioning It is easy to fall into the trap of: • pursuing red herrings; • dealing ineffectively with incorrect answers or misconceptions; • focusing on a small number of pupils and not involving the whole class; • making the sequence of questions too rigid; • not giving pupils time to reflect, or to pose their own questions; • asking questions when another strategy might be more appropriate. Questioning OHT 4.4b

23. Bloom’s taxomony of questioning • Knowledge • Comprehension • Application • Analysis • Synthesis • Evaluation Questioning OHT 4.5

24. Effective questioning Effective questioning: • reinforces and revisits the learning objectives; • includes ‘staging’ questions to draw pupils towards key understanding or to increase the level of challenge in a lesson as it proceeds; • involves all pupils; • engages pupils in thinking for themselves; • promotes justification and reasoning; • creates an atmosphere of trust where pupils’ opinions and ideas are valued; Questioning OHT 4.6a

25. Effective questioning Effective questioning: • shows connections between previous and new learning; • encourages pupils to speculate and hypothesise; • encourages pupils to ask as well as to ‘receive’ questions; • encourages pupils to listen and respond to each other as well as to the teacher. Questioning OHT 4.6b

26. Ready for more? • Use a tape or video recorder to record a whole-class question-and-answer session. Replay the tape to help you to evaluate the different aspects of your own questioning. You may find it useful to focus upon whether: – you asked too many questions; – you had a balance of open and closed, high- and low-order questions; – you encouraged opinion, informed speculation and tentative answers; – you handled incorrect answers effectively; – you provided thinking time. • Begin to build key questions into your lesson planning. • In a departmental meeting discuss how you might plan sequences of questions that build up pupils’ understanding of important concepts. Questioning OHT 4.7

27. Explaining

28. Objectives • To demonstrate the significance of explaining as a teaching skill • To show how teachers can analyse the quality of explanations • To demonstrate the principles of planning explanations Explaining OHT 5.1

29. Types of explanation • Concepts • Similarities and differences • Cause and effect • Purposes • Processes Explaining OHT 5.2

30. Characteristics of explanations • Keys • The ‘tease’ or hook • Use of voice and body • Signposts • Props • Humour • Examples and non-examples • Connections to pupils’ experience • Questions Explaining OHT 5.3

31. Ready for more? Possible next steps are: • more deliberate (and perhaps collaborative) planning of explanations; • observation or video recording of explanations so that they can be analysed, reflected upon and improved; • studying pupils’ work for signs of things that are not well understood, so that particular areas can be targeted for better explanations. Explaining OHT 5.4

32. Modelling

33. Objectives • To illustrate modelling as a teaching strategy • To consider and evaluate some examples of modelling • To show how modelling can help pupils to use skills and processes independently Modelling OHT 6.1

34. When learning a new skill it helps to: • see somebody do it; • hear somebody thinking aloud about what they are doing and why; • hear somebody explaining what they are doing as they go; • be able to ask questions about the process as it is happening; • slow the process down to look at what is happening and ask questions; • see the process demonstrated visually; • make time to discuss what has been done. Modelling OHT 6.2

35. Why model? • To show how something is done • To make best use of the teacher’s expertise • To induct pupils into new skills and understanding • To give pupils an insight into the principles and concepts that lie beneath new skills and techniques • To scaffold learning by supported, structured activity • To help pupils on the way to independence Modelling OHT 6.3

36. Video • What skills, processes or procedures were being modelled? • How did the modelling make explicit the thinking and decisions behind the task? • How did the teachers ‘scaffold’ the learning following the modelled activity in order to move the pupils towards independence? Modelling OHT 6.4

37. Most important Least important Diamond ranking • The purpose of ‘diamond ranking’ is to provoke discussion or reflection about the relative importance of a range of factors. It encourages a focus on the single most important factor, then the next two most important, the next three and so on. • In your group of four, select nine cards and agree on their relative importance. Arrange them as follows: Modelling OHT 6.5

38. What does effective modelling involve? • ‘Thinking aloud’ and being totally explicit about the thinking process • Showing precisely how • Making visible and explicit the ‘structure’ of the process, concept or knowledge • Breaking down the process into a series of manageable steps • Encouraging pupils to think for themselves or to ask their own questions • Encouraging pupils to contribute • After modelling, scaffolding the learning through shared or guided activities • Building in time for pupils to reflect on the process • Enabling pupils to do it independently Modelling OHT 6.6

39. Ready for more? • Choose a skill, task or technique from your subject and try modelling it for pupils. • Consider how you might use pupils as experts to model as an alternative to the teacher. • Plan a range of activities which will help pupils to make a bridge from modelling to being able to use the skill or process independently. Modelling OHT 6.7

40. Starters

41. Objectives • To promote the use of a range of starter activities as a means to create purposeful beginnings to lessons • To develop an understanding of the range of different starters available to introduce lessons Starters OHT 7.1

42. Starters Starters: • fulfil a wide range of purposes, in particular using prior knowledge to introduce new topics; • develop early levels of engagement and motivation; • help to get all pupils quickly on task and to inject a sense of pace and challenge; • are an alternative to commencing with a whole-class question-and-answer routine; Starters OHT 7.2a

43. Starters Starters: • create a level of challenge which is dependent upon: – prior learning; – level or order of thinking; – management of pupil response; • create an expectation that pupils will think and participate in the lesson; • create a climate of interaction and involvement; • create a sense of purpose in a part of the lesson which can be derailed by administrative and organisational tasks. Starters OHT 7.2b

44. Overcoming problems with starters Problems can be overcome by: • careful planning and preparation; • establishing a clear focus and dealing decisively with distractions; • rigorously adhering to planned timings; • using a variety of starter activities over time; • using activities and routines which latecomers can quickly assimilate and join (for example, the initial task in the starter is explained briefly on a card which can be picked up and read by each pupil as they enter the classroom even if they arrive late); Starters OHT 7.3a

45. Overcoming problems with starters Problems can be overcome by: • skilful teacher questioning, coupled with an insistence on thinking time; • providing additional support for some individual pupils (for example, use of classroom support); • adding extra challenge for some by, for example, increasing the complexity or sophistication of the activity. Starters OHT 7.3b

46. Some keys to successful starters • Plan the starter as a discrete element of the lesson. • Ensure that each element contributes directly to the overall lesson objectives. • Choose a type of starter that best meets those lesson objectives. • Take account of the range of learning needs of the group. • Plan for the activity to be brief and keep to your planned timings. • Make sure that your starters show progression over time. • Keep instructions clear and concise. • Deal with diversions and red herrings decisively. • Use varied and unusual routines to create motivation. • Plan for a brief conclusion at the end of the starter to consolidate the gains made. • Talk to colleagues in other subjects to exchange ideas. Starters OHT 7.4

47. Ready for more? • Trial three different types of starter that you have not used before. • Use your experience as a basis for a detailed departmental discussion about the possible inclusion of starters in the next unit of Year 7 work to be planned. • Ensure that the discussion includes active sharing of strategies that teachers already use or that they have heard other teachers talk about. (Module 8 ‘Plenaries’ also contains ideas that can be used as starter activities.) • In a department meeting in about eight weeks’ time, discuss the starters that team members have tried and the responses from pupils. • Add a list of potential starters to your departmental planning documentation. Starters OHT 7.5

48. Plenaries

49. Objectives • To develop an understanding of the value and significance of plenary sessions • To promote the use of a range of plenary sessions as a vital and integral element of all lesson types Plenaries OHT 8.1

50. Characteristics of plenaries Plenaries: • draw together the whole group; • summarise and take stock of learning so far; • consolidate and extend the learning; • direct pupils to the next phase of learning; • occur at strategic moments in the teaching sequence; • often occur at the end of lessons but can occur at other points in the lesson; • highlight not only what pupils learn, but how they learn; • help determine the next steps in learning. Plenaries OHT 8.2