https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose Share your reflections en-us 2014-01-08 18:24:07 UTC 2026-02-23 20:23:41 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1803804674 I like Newtons levels of purpose.  Masters definition is a bit vague and Broadfoot's aspects can probably slot into Newtons 3 levels.  3 is a good number to remember.

Our tests are used to determine working at levels and be used to inform predications for GCSE students.  As you mark a test we are expected to informally note issues particular students may be having that we can address.  Any PM targets are based on final GCSE grades.

I don't feel that our assessments are over loaded in their purpose. After every test we are supposed to feed-forward to fill in gaps in student knowledge that became apparent through the test. But no one tells you what the best way to do that is. So at times I've not done it effectively, or it has basically resulted in me just re-teaching. Through a lack of instruction, time and resources I don't think I extract as much use out of them as I could.  ]]> 2021-10-09 08:23:12 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1803804674 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1817272445 Newton's approach makes sense but feels more woolly; I will struggle to clearly remember the three points by this time next week. I quite like the first three of Broadhurst's points, they feel more based in the reality of the school setting. Like many things, if we can keep it simple we should. On a day to day basis I think I generally know why I am choosing to do the assessment and what I want the outcome to inform. Designing and implementing the assessment is the hard part. ]]> 2021-10-14 14:33:28 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1817272445 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1851998130 I agree with judgement, decision and impact being. good guide frame for purpose of assessment. 

Thinking about summative assessment, I also think timing is crucial when talking about impact. For instance, how many mock exams are you going to have? If you are conducting speaking exams in May, for instance, and the only mock you conduct is in April, will the impact of the mock in terms of setting students up confidently for May be met? We conduct a speaking in term 1.1 of Y11 to let students experience an exam in a speaking booth, and also let them feel what it feels like to be under-prepared if they do not work hard enough. We follow this in term 2.2 with a further mock, in which students know the routine, have learnt from their earlier mistakes and perform better. This is before the final real exam in May. If the timing wasn't considered - the resulting impact would be hugely different.]]> 2021-10-28 17:16:26 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1851998130 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1855555274 I agree and can understand Newton's three levels, but whether I will have time to consider all three of these when planning the purpose of an assessment is very unlikely. 

Realistically, the purpose of assessments at school are to recognise which students need more support. I totally agree with other comments on this padlet, that curriculum demands don't allow for us to go back over assessments in depth, if the purpose isn't right. ]]> 2021-10-30 14:18:03 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1855555274 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1860626892 I absolutely love the simplicity of Newton's levels of purpose even though I know that I have not been considering all three. {We learn everyday}.
When the purpose of an assessment is known, its quality is boosted and extraneous materials are avoided.
In our school we engage in
*End of Unit Tests: To check if the learning objectives in a unit have been achieved.
*Mid Term Assessments: To check that a variety of concepts learned in 6weeks can be linked and applied in problem solving.
*End of Term Assessments: Same as Mid Term Assessments but on a broader spectrum.

]]> 2021-11-02 04:24:45 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1860626892 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1941907526 As head of history, I was trying to put an assessment together for a topic in the junior school. In my head, the purpose was so I would have an answer to the question: ‘What are standards like in your subject?’ Is this a valid purpose or the only purpose for it? It would also be useful for reporting to parents in conjunction with everyday teacher assessments. But at the very end of the term, or into the next term to check for long term learning, teachers would be highly unlikely to revisit misconceptions - we would have moved on! I am still mulling this one over.]]> 2021-12-11 16:54:06 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1941907526 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1954873140

Why is it important to consider the purpose of an assessment? This is important to ensure that the assessment is one of the most important aspects when creating assessments. They have to have purpose - they must provide information to pupils and staff in a way which allows movement forward - time to respond and improve. Without clear purpose, the assessment may essentially be invalid - we must question every assessment in this way. I will be doing this much more purposefully (!) from now on - thinking to myself and asking  my team 'what is the purpose of this' - what are we and pupils getting from this?

Do you find Newton's (2007) three levels of purpose - Judgement, Decision and Impact - useful when thinking about purpose? - I thought this was super clear and simple. I will be using this with my team in the new year. For me, this seems to be the best process to work through when assessing at any level. really simple and clear. 

We definitely carry out some assessments at my school which ay not be needed - some of the end of topic tests seem to clash with whole school exam weeks - this needs looking at.

]]> 2021-12-18 15:21:25 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/1954873140 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/2047913624 It’s important to consider what you want to find out from your assessments.  When designing assessments you need to focus on exactly what content you want to see if students have understood and try to avoid any construct-irrelevant variance.  The other key thing to consider is how your assessment can actually be used as a tool to help improve student progression.  When designing assessments you can take the opportunity to give students some preparation and practice in the sorts of questions they will face when taking their exams.  It’s important that when designing assessments we constantly look at the way exams are being designed and the way exam boards are constructing questions.  This is further linked with looking at how this may affect any grade boundaries and how you can use them to make accurate predictions on what outcomes students may achieve.

]]> 2022-02-15 06:42:26 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/2047913624 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/2055039191 I actually agree with Masters about the fundamental purpose of assessment. I think Newton's 3 levels just elaborate and explain why finding out where learners are is so important. In redesigning our assessments I think I have been particularly (perhaps excessively?) focusing on 'decisions' in terms of responsive teaching, and perhaps just taking 'judgement' as a given. I am very interested in the 'impact' in terms of helping students develop metacognition through assessment as this to me, seems like the holy grail of education.
I agree that if teachers are really going to use assessment to inform 'decisions' and have real 'impact' then the curriculum design needs to allow flexibility and space for this.

]]> 2022-02-18 10:52:13 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/2055039191 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/2074396053 I think the purpose of assessment is so important, and I think it absolutely has to be informed by the three apsects of Newton's framework. We do need to carefully consider what we are aiming to judge for it to be worthwhile and to ensure we design the assessment to have validity. I have always tried to ensure my assessments adquately set out to reflect what students should have learnt. Assessment should always inform your next decisions, as a teacher in the short term and as a HOD when making longer term plans.
Perhaps sometimes we forgot to consider the impact we want the assessment to have on students. I think we know we want students to take aways their strengths and weaknesses, but I think I could consider how I might get students to become reflective about the metacognitive processes they use when embarking on an assessment.
I certainly think there is tension between assessment purposes in schools sometimes. For example, in English we may only assess writing, but find ourselves entering a predicted grade for overall outcomes. Arguably, this grade is generated from our wider knowledge, but we do also have to justify the grade based on students' most recent assessment, which may not be a holistic assessment of all key skills.]]> 2022-03-02 20:46:48 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/reflectassessmentpurpose/wish/2074396053