Education Scotland

1. Education Scotland Sheila Quigley Development Officer Assessment, Qualifications, Quality assurance & Moderation sheila.quigley@educationscotland.gov.uk JUNE 19th – 21st 2013

2. Aims for the session: • put assessment in its Scottish context • share how Education Scotland is • building capacity and assessment expertise

3. 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

4. Experiences and Outcomes

5. Assessment – 3 Key Messages

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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)

11. 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

12. 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

17. 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

19. 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.

22. Reflective questions and Action points

23. How can leadership teams build capacity in staff to use the resource effectively? • Leadership team reflective questions

24. “…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)