# data[].attributes.body
“Ticket to leave” (or “exit ticket”) is an ideal way to end a class.  It can serve a number of purposes:

provide feedback to the teacher about the class;

require the student to do some synthesis of the day’s content;

challenge the student with a question requiring some application of what was learned in the lesson.

# data[].attributes.body
A nice video from Sweden.

# data[].attributes.body
This policy encourages students to look in three places (“see three before me”) to find the answer to their question before they contact the instructor.

# data[].attributes.body
Students identify two positive aspects of the work of a peer and then express a wish about what the peer might do next time in order to improve another aspect of the work. 'I want to give you a star for the start of your story and a star for the way you described the house. I wish that you will tell us more about Billy.'

Teachers model this strategy several times, using samples of student work, before asking the students to use the strategy in pairs on their own. They check the process and ask pairs who have implemented the strategy successfully to demonstrate it to the whole group.

# data[].attributes.body
Ask students to watch a video outlining the key points for Prep rather than 'teaching' the lesson.

Use the lesson time to engage in conversation, more work on interactive learning, work and assessment.

# data[].attributes.body
Ask a student a question. Teachers wait on average less than 1 second. It should be 3 to 5 seconds.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Engagement and effort are essential characteristics of good learners. Research indicates that children who start school socially and academically ahead of their peers tend to be more successful in school. This results in an achievement gap, which widens as children move through the school system if it persists.

One of the factors that can influence this is the way assessment is perceived by youngsters who start at a disadvantage; it can either strengthen or break their belief in their capabilities.

Schools in England have become data driven; teachers are heavily influenced by the need to produce summative performance data to assess school effectiveness, set targets and monitor standards. Most schools have amalgamated this into their regular monitoring systems with teachers being asked to report on achievement every few months. This approach to assessment amplifies the negative messages that low-attainers perceive about their lack of success compared to others in their class. This can lead to increased feelings of helplessness and further decreased motivation.

Assessment need not have this effect on learners if teachers focus their efforts on formative assessment, which supports learning rather than judging achievement. This is known as Assessment for Learning (AfL). Through AfL, teachers find out what students know, what they partly know and what they do not know so that the follow-on activities can advance learning. They encourage students to talk about their learning and can then gauge what's needed more accurately.

At the same time, students can question their own learning as they try to make sense of their own ideas. Through the process and routine of feedback, learners can sort out small problems and misunderstandings, and form better links between ideas. This develops the learner and prevents them losing sight of their long-term goal.

The goal of AfL is not just to motivate students to work hard on challenging problems, but also to develop their identities as capable learners. For low-attaining students, AfL refocuses their attitude towards assessment as something that can help them learn rather than a process that highlights their incompetencies. For high attainers, it offers a more challenging curriculum that focuses on their progress rather than simply meeting targets.

Putting AfL into practice is not easy. It requires schools to prioritise this approach to assessment and ensure that other initiatives do not clash with its implementation. Schools should stop relying on summative assessments that tell students how they are performing in relation to national curriculum sub-levels, something which demotivates many learners. Pupils don't need to be told every few weeks that they are level 4a, and so on. Instead they need to know whether they are making progress and where they need to improve.

Putting AfL into practice also requires teachers to change the way they work with their students. It is not simply a matter of adding on to existing practice - it requires a reconsideration of practice to enhance the necessary feedback loops involved and help pupils become more active and collaborative in their learning and assessment.

There are many reasons why teachers have found it difficult to incorporate AfL, but perhaps the most fundamental one is that they cannot conceptualise AfL fully before they begin to develop it in their classrooms; they are unable to perceive the types of changes they need to make in their day-to-day practice.

This makes implementing a new pedagogic approach very difficult. Teachers' beliefs about lesson planning, assessment and evaluation influence their actions and decisions in the classroom. While context and experience strongly influence practice, it's difficult to bring about change in practice; often new pedagogic ideas are confined into the realms of previous ideas.

Schools need to reflect on how their multiple uses of assessment affect the motivation and the self-esteem of their learners. The emphasis needs to be placed on helping all pupils develop and sustain a capacity to learn that not only lasts through the years of compulsory schooling but benefits them throughout their lives.
Chris Harrison is a senior lecturer in science education at King's College London. The full version of Chris Harrison's chapter 'Testing Times: reforming classroom teaching through assessment' can be downloaded for free from IPPR.
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Looking for your next role? Take a look at Guardian jobs for schools for thousands of the latest teaching, leadership and support jobs.
Topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Assessment for learning: are you using it effectively in your classroom?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Engagement and effort are essential characteristics of good learners. Research indicates that children who start school socially and academically ahead of their peers tend to be more successful in school. This results in an achievement gap, which widens as children move through the school system if it persists.

# data[].attributes.body
Students write down one or two points on which they are least clear. This could be from the previous lesson, the rest of the unit, the preceding activity etc. The teacher and class can then seek to remedy the muddiness.

# data[].attributes.body
Students identify the most significant (useful, meaningful, unlikely) thing they have learnt during the lesson or unit.

# data[].attributes.body
Laminate a set of cards so every member of the class has four, with A,B,C and D written on them. Ask questions with four answers and pupils can show you their answer.

Encourage them not to look at other people’s response so as to copy

# data[].attributes.body
Why does…?

What if…?

How would you…?

Could you explain…?
What might…?

# data[].attributes.body
As a plenary or a starter referring to the last lesson, pupils share with a partner:

•3 new things they have learnt
•What they found easy •What they found difficult •Something they would like to learn in the future

# data[].attributes.body
At the beginning of a topic pupils create a grid with three columns –

What They Know;

What They Want To Know;

What They Have Learnt

# data[].attributes.body
Do a mind-map; share ideas; collaborate in groups; use the MWB.

Great at the start of a topic with a new class.

# data[].attributes.body
Make the students think more about what they are doing.

# data[].attributes.body
Use for quick instant responses. Adjust your lesson according to the outcomes.

# data[].attributes.body
Check class understanding of what you are teaching by asking them to show their thumbs.

Thumbs up = I get it

Thumbs half way = sort of

Thumbs down = I don’t get it

# data[].attributes.body
Students mark each others’ work according to assessment criteria.

Encourages reflection and thought about the learning as well as allowing students to see model work and reason past misconceptions.

Opportunities to do this throughout individual lessons and schemes of work.

# data[].attributes.body
Group feedback to a teacher concerning peer-assessment of work can help make the teacher aware of learning needs in a manageable way.

If a group feeds back then it draws more attention and presents information that has already been ordered and sorted (meaning less repetition for the teacher).

# data[].attributes.body
Devise questions that –
•Challenge common misconceptions •Create conflict that requires discussion •Explore ambiguity and encourage discussion and clarification

# data[].attributes.body
Students give themselves targets based on their self-assessment.
These learning goals could be recorded somewhere and revisited (i.e. inside cover of workbook).
They could be compared to teacher targets and the two brought to consensus if different.

# data[].attributes.body
Get the students to hold up cards; put a dot by a piece of work; fill in self-assessment sheets before exams.

# data[].attributes.body
Find an area for the students to post things.

# data[].attributes.body
In classrooms where assessment for learning is practiced, students are encouraged to be more active in their learning and associated assessment. The ultimate purpose of assessment for learning is to create self-regulated learners who can leave school able and confident to continue learning throughout their lives. Teachers need to know at the outset of a unit of study where their students are in terms of their learning and then continually check on how they are progressing through strengthening the feedback they get from their learners. Students are guided on what they are expected to learn and what quality work looks like. The teacher will work with the student to understand and identify any gaps or misconceptions (initial/diagnostic assessment). As the unit progresses, the teacher and student work together to assess the student’s knowledge, what she or he needs to learn to improve and extend this knowledge, and how the student can best get to that point (formative assessment). Assessment for learning occurs at all stages of the learning process.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assessment_for_learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In past decades, teachers would design a unit of study that would typically include objectives, teaching strategies, and resources. The student's mark on this test or exam was taken as the indicator of his or her understanding of the topic.