Assessment for Learning
OVERVIEW
You may have heard the term ‘Assessment for Learning’ (AfL) being used recently and wondered what exactly is new or different about it. This is the first of two articles explaining what it is and how it works.
Assessment
The general term ‘assessment’, which refers mostly to measuring pupils’ progress. But assessment can do more than that, and AfL is assessment designed mainly to promote pupils’ learning. Assessment can give information that teachers can use to improve their teaching and pupils’ learning activities. AfL tracks pupils’ progress, provides specific feedback and supports their next steps. Assessment used in this way, to help adapt teaching to meet learning needs, is called ‘formative assessment’.
Background
Like many things in education, AfL is nothing new. Skilled teachers have been using AfL techniques for years in some form or another. The current focus nationally on AfL is actually part of a broader spotlight on personalised learning, drawing together examples of good classroom practice. Teachers have always tried to tell pupils how they’re doing. For pupils to progress in their learning, research now shows that feedback has to be:
– constructive
– immediate
– easily accessible to pupils.
Teachers have to be flexible enough in their approach and skilled enough in understanding assessment results to adapt their teaching quickly to suit individual pupils.
Effective use of AfL:
– creates a pupil/ teacher dialogue and focuses attention on the learning taking place
– enables everyone to think about their learning and consider how they learn best
– gives pupils the responsibility and skills to learn more independently.
AfL helps pupils to understand why they need to be learning what they’re learning, both supporting and challenging them. There is no single approach to implementing AfL in school; but it does mean a change of culture – and that takes time.
AfL in the classroom
What does it mean for teachers and pupils? AfL techniques and strategies can be broken down into four main areas:
1. sharing objectives
2. feedback
3. questioning
4. assessment
Let’s look at these each in turn:
1. Sharing objectives: involving pupils in the aims of the lesson from the outset
(a) Learning objectives
Clarifying learning objectives at the planning stage enables teachers to focus on what they want pupils to learn rather than on activities to be completed. Teachers record the learning objectives in child-friendly language (eg ‘to write a letter’) and these objectives are shared and discussed with pupils in every lesson. This objective needs to be discussed with pupils in every lesson.
With older pupils, many teachers find it useful to keep the learning objective (often as part of the daily timetable) on display throughout the lesson for constant reference. This also facilitates discussion at the end of the lesson to assess pupils’ understanding.
(b) Success criteria
Success criteria are carefully planned, tightly focused and clearly expressed. Any older pupils use criteria they’ve create themselves to assess their own progress.
E.g. success criteria for the objective to write a letter may be:
1) Include your address on the top right-hand corner
2) Start with a salutation
3) Write persuasively
4) Include powerful verbs
5) Use a range of punctuation
2. Feedback: sharing with pupils how they’re doing and how to improve further
(a) Oral feedback
Teachers’ comments during lessons generally focus on learning objectives and success criteria. Whole classes often mark their work together and discuss their answers. This encourages questions and talk about learning. Pupils are very honest and constructive when assessing each other’s work.
We use marking ladders which enable children to mark against the success criteria agreed. In writing these contain the key features of texts.
(b) Written feedback
In the past, teachers’ written comments were often sweeping, even subjective, statements (‘excellent work’, ‘good effort’, etc), which indicated only how pleased the teacher was with the work.
In contrast, using the AfL ‘three-stars-and-a-wish’ approach, the teacher highlights three areas where the pupil has achieved the success criteria (against the overall learning objective) and then indicates, where possible, how the work could be improved.
Pupils of all ages respond well to this style of marking. They often respond in writing to the teacher’s comments, creating a real dialogue about the learning taking place. Teachers often build in time at the start of each lesson to allow pupils the chance to read and respond to their written comments before moving on to the next lesson.
3. Questioning: involving all pupils through varied questioning techniques
When a teacher asks a class of 30 pupils a question, the same few hands usually go up each time from pupils eager to give an answer.
AfL questioning techniques employ a variety of strategies to engage all pupils in the class. For example, teachers often have a session where it’s ‘no hands up’. Pupils are expected to respond instead to questions when their name is mentioned. No one knows who will be asked to answer: everyone must be ready. The ‘phone-a-friend’ technique allows a pupil who does not know the answer to pick someone to help. The person chosen is encouraged to rephrase or comment on their friend’s answer. ‘Ask the audience’ or ‘50/50’ gives the pupil a body of knowledge from which to choose (eg two or four alternative answers).
4. Assessment: training pupils to assess their own and other’s performance
(a) Self-assessment
Training pupils to assess their own performance allows them to take ownership of their learning. The plenary session at the end of lessons offers a valuable opportunity for pupils to reflect on their learning. The teacher can get rid of misunderstandings and provide links to future learning. Again, research places vital importance on pupils evaluating their own learning with questions such as: ‘What am I most pleased with?’, ‘What would I have done differently?’, ‘What did I find difficult?’ and ‘What did I find easy?’.
–At parents’ evenings, as you look through your child’s exercise books – does the guidance indicate what your child could do better?
–Ask your child how their teacher lets them know how they’re doing and how to improve.
–Is your child able to talk about their learning and how they learn best?
How can I use AfL techniques and strategies at home?
All of the techniques and strategies mentioned above can be adapted for use at home. In a nutshell, parents can improve the interaction with their children when helping with homework by focusing on suggestions such as those below rather than commenting on the completion of the task or the neatness of the handwriting:
– use positive body language
– use prompts to help children improve step by step
– make comments such as:
* ‘Tell me what you have to do for this piece of work?’
* ‘Can you find three aspects of this piece of work that your teacher will be pleased with?’
* ‘What could you do to improve this piece of work?’
* ‘Tell me more about…’
TO SUM UP
Assessment for Learning techniques and strategies are extremely powerful in improving learning and teaching.
Unlike many educational innovations and approaches in recent decades, AfL is not a fad… or even a new way of doing things. Rather it is a pulling together of longstanding and widespread good practice. It gives pupils ownership of their own learning; and provides a skills base to apply to life beyond school.