Assessment for Learning Practical ideas to use in your classroom every day.

Assessment of learning is the summative assessment we use to evaluate students against a benchmark or standard which will probably be published in a report card.

What is assessment for learning? Assessment for learning is formative assessment. Activities are not used for formal evaluation of student achievement It is used to determine what a student knows, understands and is able to do Is used by both the teacher and student to evaluate learning and achieve goals adapted from uestions.html

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)

Effective strategies Strategic use of questioning Self and Peer Assessment Formative use of summative assessment

1. Strategic questioning Plan questions ahead of time; it should be a deliberate activity Use open questions e.g. Tell me about.., What do you think might happen…, Where might we use… Why? Only used closed questions for comprehension and knowledge based recall Pose one question at a time The teacher's positive response to both good and wrong answers is essential.

Dealing with incorrect answers 1.Teacher rephrases: “Let me put it another way…” 2. A request for clarification: “What do you mean when you say….” 3. A request for specific examples “How would this work?” “Can you give me an example of this? 4. A request for rephrasing “Can you put it another way?”

To increase student participation in questioning: -Allow them a couple of minutes to think and write down an idea first (hands down) -Work with a partner (mini- whiteboards, loose paper) -Give a few possible answers that students can choose from -Write some key words on the board that they should aim to use in their answers.

2. Self and peer assessment 2 stars and a wish Traffic lights (written & oral) Plus, minus, what’s next? Using a model/exemplar (or part of a model to avoid copying) – evaluate and discuss it Checklists/rubrics (to be used during drafting, before handing draft in)

Success criteriaIndicators of student performance HighMediumLow Content: Personal point of view relevant to the issue I selected an appropriate issue and I define the issue clearly, express my point of view and present fully developed arguments and evidence to support my personal ideas.  I define the issue that concerns me. I can state what I believe about this issue and provide one or two ideas to support my personal ideas.  I define the issue that concerns me. I provide a little evidence to support my personal ideas.  Knowledge of various perspectives relevant to the issue I show my knowledge of a number of other perspectives on the issue.  I refer to at least one other perspective as well as my own.  I discuss my personal perspective or point of view.  Knowledge of some of the arguments used to support these perspectives I use accurate information and the opinions of others to show effectively why I partly or totally disagree with other perspectives.  I try to show why I partly or totally disagree with this other viewpoint but I do this with some evidence to support my ideas.  I provide a little evidence to support my point of view. 

3. Formative use of summative assessment Using class tests: -At the start of the unit to guide the rest of the unit -Midway through a unit to reveal gaps in understanding and can give feedback to students -Students write questions for the test

-After the test: Before returning the papers, go through the difficult questions with the class. When they receive their paper back, they will understand their errors better. -Identify 10 toughest questions and have students discuss in pairs before giving back the papers.

Using assignments/projects: - Ensure students are familiar with task requirements and criteria. They should be able to explain in their own words what they have to do, and what they have to prove. - Before returning the piece (or immediately after handing it in) students should write their own “comment” on how they think they went. This can also be done at report card time. Students should then set goals for improvement.

-Use anonymous examples from the class to discuss before returning assignments/projects OR use examples from the previous cohort.