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Example Powerpoint for the Core LTA Priorities

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Staff could use this to consider the effectiveness of their strategies before or after

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Assessment for Learning - Impact of Methods Worksheet

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Part 1 Video of a CPD Session on introducing AFL to a department

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Part 1 Video of a CPD Session on introducing AFL to a department

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Part 1 of a session BB delivered to Creative Arts and Media

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Part 2 Video of a CPD session on introducing AFL to a department 

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Part 2 Video of a CPD session on introducing AFL to a department 

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Part 2 of a session BB delivered to Creative Arts and Media

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Part 3 Video of a CPD Session on introducing AFL to a department

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Part 3 Video of a CPD Session on introducing AFL to a department

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Part 3 of a session BB delivered to Creative Arts and Media

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Assessment for learning in practice

AFL emphasises the creation of a learner-centred classroom with a supportive atmosphere, where students are not afraid to make mistakes and learn from them.
We are going to look at five approaches or strategies that you can use in a lesson or programme of study.

1. Questioning
Questions are a quick and important way of finding out what your learner understands about a subject. You can use this information to plan their teaching.

There are two main types of question: closed and open.

A closed question requires a short answer, such as remembering a fact. The answer is usually right or wrong.
For example, a Geography teacher might ask: 'What is the capital of Peru?'

On average, teachers only wait 0.9 seconds after asking a question before taking an answer from a learner. Mary Rowe suggests that increasing 'wait time' to three seconds improves the quality of answers.

One way to help increase 'wait time', and to ensure the whole class is actively engaged, is to ask your learners to write down the answer to a closed question on a piece of paper, mini whiteboard or tablet, and hold it up. This immediately gives you feedback about who understands, who does not, and therefore what the next steps in the learning might be.

A good strategy to use if a learner gets the answer wrong is to make this into a positive event. You could say: 'I'm glad you said that, as I'm sure lots of other students have the same misunderstanding.'

In an AFL classroom, finding out what learners do not know is as valuable as finding out what they do know. This knowledge will help you to see what material your learners need to spend extra time on to make sure that they all understand.

Open questions need longer answers, and often require the learner to provide an opinion.
E.g. A Physics teacher might ask: 'What will happen to the flow of water through a hose pipe if a smaller nozzle is fitted to it? Explain how this relates to the study of voltage, current and resistance in a simple electric circuit.'

Open questions like this allow all learners to try to answer the question and be part of a discussion. You can then facilitate this discussion, asking questions to develop the discussion such as 'Tell me more about that' and 'Why do you think that?'

'Dialogic teaching' is a term that describes on-going talk between teachers and learners, which leads to effective learning. If you discuss ideas with your learners, you can get a clearer view of what understanding your learners have about a topic, and put right any misunderstandings.

Reflection
Watch the video of a teacher talking about how he uses questioning. Do you use any of these techniques in your own classroom?
Transcript
Want to know more?
This video shows good use of closed questioning. How would you adapt this for your own classroom?

2. Feedback
Feedback is the process in which learners come together with their teachers to discuss where they are in their learning, where they want to be in their learning, and how they are going to get there. It usually involves looking at a particular piece of work done by the learner. Feedback can be described as the 'bridge' between teaching and learning.

The aims and objectives of any assignment must be clearly understood by both the teacher and the learner. You can help by providing 'success criteria' before your learners start work.

Feedback might involve marking. However, a learner may only remember the mark/grade and not act on any comments to improve their work. In an AFL classroom, a teacher will give 'comment only' feedback on their learners' work. If you do want to add a grade, give this later on, so that the learners read the comments before they receive the grade. Effective feedback depends on task-focused comments, rather than ego-focused comments.

Here is an example of ego-focused feedback: 'Great work Melanie, the best in the class.' This kind of feedback can make strong learners complacent, thinking that they do not have anything to do to improve. They might also be scared of trying something they find difficult in case they lose their high place. Weak learners can feel as if there is nothing they can do to get better.

You should aim to provide feedback to each learner that praises task-focused aspects of their work, but also contains targets about how to improve their learning.
E.g. 'Ali, you have written a good introduction to your story. Now, can you think how you can make the description of the main character more striking?'

Reflection
Think about a time when you gave feedback to a learner that could be described as more ego-specific than task specific. What might you have done differently?

Want to know more?
In this video, Dylan Wiliam explains why task-focused feedback is more effective than ego-focused feedback.

There are some good examples of how to give effective feedback in different subject areas on http://www.teachthought.com.

In this handout, by the RAPPS project, you will find lots of suggestions for different ways of giving classroom feedback.

3. Peer assessment or peer feedback
Peer feedback, or peer assessment, is the process by which learners assess each other's work and give each other feedback. This feedback is based on an understanding of what makes a successful piece of work. The teacher is vital to this process, as teachers know their learners and can help them to develop their critical and reflective thinking skills.

Giving learners independence is a great way for them to take responsibility for their own learning. Peer feedback also helps learners to develop their social skills and to use higher-level skills such as thinking critically and analytically.

A successful peer feedback session requires learners to 'think like a teacher' for each other. Each learner will apply the success criteria to another learner's work, and make value judgements based on these. The learner then has to give their partner ideas for how to improve the work. In doing this, they will both be increasing their own understanding of what makes a successful piece of work.

At primary school level, the theory behind AFL is the same, but the tasks might be different, to reflect the different stages of the pupils' cognitive development. For example, learners could use pictures to describe positive and negative aspects of the work.

Reflection
Watch the video of learners taking part in a peer feedback session. Notice how independently they are working. Would this be effective for your learner?
Transcript
Want to know more?
In this video, learners explain what they like about peer feedback.
Transcript
4. Self-assessment
'Students need to learn for themselves how they move up to the next level ... they need to internalise the process. Learning cannot be done for them by the teachers.' (Mary James, 1998)

In self-assessment a learner evaluates their own work, and thinks about their own learning. This helps them to make sense of what the teacher says, relate it to previous learning and use this for new learning. Ultimately, self-assessment enables learners to set their own learning goals and be responsible for their own learning. However, be aware that learners cannot become reflective learners overnight. It takes time and practice to develop these skills, and the role of the teacher is crucial in encouraging this.

"Students need to learn for themselves how they move up to the next level."

Introducing learners to self-assessment
When you introduce self-assessment to your learners, carefully guide the process. To start with, give learners a list of questions to ask themselves, and write down the answers. Starting a 'learning log' or 'reflective journal' is good practice. This is a notebook in which the learner documents their recent experiences, asking themselves questions such as:
'What made sense and what didn't?'
'How does this subject fit in with what I already know?'
'What did I do well and what could I have improved?'

Ideally, you will talk to each of your learners individually to guide their thinking until they feel comfortable with the process. Self-assessment is an activity which requires one-to-one tutorials to be fully successful. In these short sessions, you can ask questions to help your learners to reflect on their studies.

Having thought about how their work could be improved, your learners can then set themselves targets to make their work better. These targets can cover any aspect of learning, from time management to asking more questions in class if they do not understand something.

5. The formative use of school tests and exams
This 'Getting started' guide has focused mainly on formative assessment strategies and checking learning in the classroom. However, learners often have to take summative school tests such as end-of-year exams or final exams.

Return marked test or exam papers to learners, so that they can spend time understanding where they earned most marks and where they had misunderstandings.

After the exam or test, find out which questions were answered less well by most learners. This will give you important information about what subjects, ideas and skills your learners need to work on. You can then focus on explaining the areas of the syllabus that gave problems to most learners. Your learners could also re-work exam questions in class in pairs or groups as a peer-learning activity.

www.headguruteacher.com explains in more depth how internal school tests and exams can be used to maximise learning.

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Getting started with Assessment for Learning

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AFL emphasises the creation of a learner-centred classroom with a supportive atmosphere, where students are not afraid to make mistakes and learn from them. We are going to look at five approaches or strategies that you can use in a lesson or programme of study. 1.

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A CPD session on Questioning Techniques (it has notes so click notes you may want to use/modify - with worksheets)

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Worksheet to accompany the Questioning Training Session (Worksheet 1 and answer sheet together)

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Worksheet to accompany the Questioning Training Session (Worksheet 1 and answer sheet together)

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Worksheet 1Questioning notes and some example Answers

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Get your staff to make their own AFL resources

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AFL Powerpoint and Resources

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It would be useful during your learning walks if you could comment on themes that you are coming across as being strong or require development

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Core LTA Priorities Document