Assessment for Teaching (Patrick Griffin and Pam Robertson)
to inform teaching has major consequences for classroom practice
Skills, not scores
more significant change occurs in the minds of teachers and school leaders
requiring
teachers to recognise a range of abilities in their classes and to teach accordingly
use targeted
instruction
students at different levels are taught different skills and knowledge
to teach each student
individually
Argued
we argue that this is not necessary,
Since students in most classes can be grouped into three, four or five readiness groups for teaching purposes.
needed.
longstanding practice of assuming a particular standard for a particular year level is abandoned
assumption encourages the view that students who do not meet the standard are operating below the
expected level
attention focuses on what they cannot do.
developmental approach does not
establish a standard or expectation that some students may not meet
developmental level at which students are actually operating, and targets instruction to focus on the skills
and knowledge the student needs to develop in order to move to the next level.
development, not deficit
Evidence, not inference
More than tests
A focus on students
change in attitude toward assessment is the recognition that scores such as percentages,
and grades such as A’s and B’s, are not helpful or informative representations of assessment
They do not tell us what the student is ready to learn – what actual skills or knowledge they
have learned – or what they are ready to be taught next.
If students are given tests to assess their
progress through different stages of developmen
students are tested at a
level where they are likely to answer approximately 50 per cent of questions correctly
the important comparison is between their current skill level and the result of their previous skills assessment
not between their results and those of other
this change can be difficult to accept for students who are
accustomed to receiving a grade (for example, ‘A’) or a high percentage score
Teachers, too, can
struggle to accept that a high score for a student is not helpful
skills
strength
knowledge of their discipline,
understanding of student learning styles
activities for students
resource and teaching strategies
ability to select suitable
classroom-management skills
their home background and its influence on learning
Intuition
intuitions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of their students
make inferences about the intellectual ability
academic potential,
of individual students
An evidence-based approach ensures that teachers’ inferences are founded on
observable and recordable behavior
these behaviors provide evidence of skills that can be
located on a developmental progression
teacher teams can help each other to stay on track by reminding each other to rely on evidence, not inference
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tests provide the only acceptable evidence of learning
classroom observations, are required to provide evidence of student progress to
complement test results
Teachers often feel that a test result does not match their view of a student’s
ability
Written assignments can provide additional evidence of literacy skills,
including knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and logic
Work on a Maths problem can provide evidence
of method or strategy that is not mere trial and error
Work on a Maths problem can provide evidence
of method or strategy that is not mere trial and error
observations can help to inform teaching, giving teachers a more complete picture of what their students
Success story: T may share stories of their
pedagogical methods, classroom strategies or teaching techniques
how a teaching method or approach has succeeded in engaging a class or communicating a new
concept
Failure: how a lot of hard work in planning, preparation and
execution led to a disappointing outcome