Monitoring and Assessment is at the heart of all good teaching. Discuss.

University Degree Education and Teaching

Kate O’Mahoney

Monitoring and Assessment is at the heart of all good teaching

At the start of my teaching career AfL was a phrase that was beginning to crop up on a daily basis and it is an acronym for a process I will always have to be aware of within my chosen career path of teaching.

The word ‘assessment’ can mean almost anything therefore it is imperative that we are careful when attempting to define its boundaries. Lambert and Lines (2000) define assessment as “the process of gathering, interpreting, recording and using information about pupils’ responses to educational tasks” ( 2000 pg 298-309). While this is an acceptable definition of assessment, Graham Butt(1997) expands on this definition by proposing that assessment has four main roles within teaching and learning.

Providing feedback to teachers and students about each child’s progress in order to shape their future learning (a formative role). This is similar to the diagnostic role of assessment in pin-pointing the precise needs of an individual child.
Providing information about the level of a student’s achievements at a particular point, for example at the end of a school year or at the end of a Key Stage (a summative role).
A tool for filtering students based on qualification (a certification role).
Assessment helps people to judge the effectiveness of the education system as an evaluation role.

Little was known about the formative role of assessment within teaching and learning prior to the work of Black and Williams (1998). By 1997 it was clear the assessment emphasis within England and Wales was focused on summative assessment practices such as end-of-key-stage levelling rather than an ongoing profile of student learning and understanding. The work of Black and William (1998) was crucial in raising the profile of formative assessment or Assessment for Learning (AfL) in UK schools.

Students are at the heart of teaching and learning. Therefore, at the heart of any ‘learning’, ‘assessment’ and ‘assessment for learning’ must be students. This is a common ‘truth’ and perhaps even a cliché that educators tend to use when talking about their role in the classroom on a daily basis. Recent studies and changes in paradigms have challenged such concepts. These changes have forced us to think about our method of teaching and how it might impact the lives of our students.
In this essay I will demonstrate my understanding of these three commonly used terms, the thread that connects them and the reason behind my conclusions.

In my opinion there is no single view of learning which can adequately explain such a complex process. Learning provides an individual with the empowerment to make sense of the world around them and adapt accordingly to survive.

Although I believe that this is how learning takes place, I also believe that it ignores the value of individual learning styles. Dunn (2000) believes a student will respond better when taught in a way that best suits their individual needs. This emphasises the importance of identifying an individual’s learning style and adapting appropriate teaching techniques. Therefore, I believe for effective learning, the individual, even within the context of a group, must be able to make sense of a given task and use their understanding to change not only their world but that of others.

I gained experience of working in a class with children who had severe learning difficulties at a primary school in Cobh, Ireland. Helping these children to learn gave me a real sense of fulfilment. By assisting the special needs assistants I learnt how to cater for children with special educational needs and that having a disability should not be an obstacle for children to gain an education. It was not the fault of the child. A teacher’s role is about making the way clear so that children can realise their own abilities. A teacher should facilitate this by placing the student at the centre of the education experience and endeavouring to highlight their strengths instead of their weaknesses. This understanding of learning has shaped my approach to teaching this year.

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At the start of my first placement a key goal was to gain a clear understanding of how to differentiate learning abilities. Throughout my placement I familiarised myself with the mixed ability classes that I worked with which enabled me to identify different learning abilities and incorporate them within my everyday planning. Wolten (1993) believes that “Differentiation is an equal opportunities issue and it is the right that every student has equal access to the curriculum” (1993 p8). By understanding that every child matters I was able to take into consideration the varying attainment levels of individual students, and the class as a whole, and differentiate tasks to meet those needs. As much as possible I accounted for the lower ability students by providing simplified resources and for the higher ability students by providing more complex resources. Battersby (1997) (cited in Tilbury and Williams 1997 pg 71) states that “quality of pupil’s learning environment…encourages and enables effective learning to take place”. I took this into account when arranging the seating plan for my class and tried to sit less able students next to more able students to encourage them to help each other. I also used the traffic light system for effort with written work in their exercise books together with positive comments to motivate all students, irrespective of their ability, whilst assessing their work and ability to meet the objectives of the task. (See in Appendix 3)

I also felt from the outset of the school year in my first placement, I would be challenged to find ways to include and assess all students in my lessons. From formative assessment i.e. correcting homework, questioning in class and observing students participation, I began to notice the varying abilities of students in my classes. Initially I made small changes to my teaching style. I began to vary my questioning technique. By asking a mixture of higher and lower order questions, I was able to make a distinction between weaker and stronger students without it being obvious that I was doing so. The seating plan was readjusted enabling the more capable students to help those who were struggling such as Paul with cognitative learning disabilities, especially through group and pair work activities. Generally, I would set a task for the whole class but additional questions were then set for those who finished an exercise earlier than others.(See in Appendix 4) These basic techniques worked well during my first few weeks of teaching and after a while I didn’t realise I was even doing them. Over the course of my placement I became more confident and started to set and mark GSCE questions to the higher and foundation tier students along with administrating end of unit assessments in KS3 which I marked in line with the National Curriculum level guidelines. (See in Appendix 1 and 2)

However, I do not believe on end of topic assessment alone, I believe in order to see the true character of any learner a variety of assessment methods should be given to allow all students to show what they know, understand and can do. I began to balance the assessment of knowledge, understanding and skills to match the assessment tasks to the learning objectives as Lambert and Balderstone (2000) comment. Through discussions in class it allowed me to focus on getting the students to draw from their own knowledge and experiences while also giving me an idea of how much the students know about the topic. Allowing time for group work also allowed me to assess how students work in groups and retrieve their answers from the information given and to come up with a justified conclusion. Vygotsky believed that “talking is necessary to clarify important point but also that talking with others helps us to learn more about communication” (Pound,2005 p 40). Setting tasks also allows me to see if the learning objective has been achieved. I used the traffic light system as another method for assessing the students which allowed me to conclude whether the lesson was successful and whether to proceed with the following lesson in the scheme. Challenging activities was an assessment opportunity for me to see what the students understood rather than see what they just knew. Oral or written feedback from the students was another assessment opportunity to see if the objectives were being achieved.

I hoped that through formative assessment I would be able to collect rich evidence of students' understandings. My aim was not only to find out what they know and what they do not know but also, and most importantly, what they partly know. I believe that teaching is about helping learners realise this and then help guide them through and improve their part-knowledge to a fuller understanding. Formative assessment is a more effective way of assessing students than assessment of learning as it provides ways of helping students in moving their knowledge and understanding forward. Lambert and Weeden (2007) stated “For formative to be effective it is essential that teachers share their understanding of important ideas with their students.” (2007 p11) They believed within the Geography curriculum that rich questions should explicitly recognise the interaction between the physical and human world and in responding to students’ answers teachers can emphasise the importance of this interaction.

I also believe that the opportunity for peer discussion is a major tool in the development of a student and always try to encourage some discussion within the classroom. Creating a classroom culture in which students feel they can reveal current understanding and be helped to firmer understanding is an essential ingredient in making formative assessment functional. I feel that peer discussion plays an important role in creating a supportive environment that encourages students to interact. It also allows students to articulate and check ideas before revealing their answers to the class. Group activity allows for better formed answers and then if the answer is incorrect or limited, individuals are less threatened as they are all part of the one group.

However, teachers can continue to create wonderful lessons by facilitating peer discussions through debates and provide guidance on the next learning steps but it is only the learner who can do the learning, it can not be done for them. Therefore students need to be able to self-assess. This is not an easy task as it requires the students to have a clear picture of the targets and providing means to move forward to close the learning gap. I believe self-assessment strategies allow the students to become more involved through a deeper awareness of the goals. I try to incorporate peer assessment or self assessment into most of my lessons as I feel it helps students to develop their self assessment skills while also allowing students to develop their ability to recognise both quality and inadequacies in other students' work even if the level of attainment that they are performing is a different level then the level of work they are reading. Peer assessment also enables the students to see the strengths and weaknesses of their own work with greater clarity encouraging them to improve their work as they begin to see how small changes or different ways of approaching the work can raise the quality. I find through incorporating this into my lessons it helps embed better learning behaviours and raise overall attainment levels.

As well as these methods of formative assessment I also believe in creating the improving classroom, which allows the students to develop an understanding that the teacher does want a piece of work improved and that the improvement is being monitored. This process must involve support within the classroom for the students to succeed and believe that all learners can achieve. It allows all students to achieve to a higher standard, in particular giving good results to lower attainers, where it concentrates on specific problems with their work.

I came across this in my first placement with one particular student, Connie, who stood out from the fray and I worried about finding a way to include her as well as improve her attainment level. Her hearing impediment challenged me to find ways to engage and involve her meaningfully in class throughout the year.

During the few months of my first placement, it was important for me to use clear and simple language when explaining new concepts. I wrote new vocabulary on the blackboard and where possible, wrote instructions for class activities in short statements on the board also. As often as I could I would ensure that Connie heard, saw and verbally expressed the new concepts we were covering in order for her to understand it but also to assist me when assessing her within the classroom environment. I quickly realised that Connie was an extremely bright and able child when she understood what was being asked of her and I became very conscious to help her develop her very obvious potential. I made greater use of visual methods of presenting information whenever possible.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been consistently making handouts and worksheets, not just for Connie's class but also for all my other class groups. I found that this assisted students when being assessed but also allowed me to formatively assess the students and see if the objectives of the class were being met. They have been an invaluable resource. I was happy therefore when I learned that it was important to provide printed notes for students with a hearing impairment to ensure that key lesson content is available to them in case it may not have been picked up during the lesson. I have endeavoured to include Connie as much as possible in lessons and always ensure that she has a partner for group or pair work activities therefore allowing her to have input in the answers.

I was very conscious not to make it obvious that I was implementing these strategies. It cannot be overemphasised that the teacher must be careful in using the many checklists of indicators that have been laid out in various guidelines. I did not want Connie to feel like I was singling her out, especially as she was demonstrating such apparent aptitude. After a while I didn’t realise that I was assessing; it just came naturally. Apart from our conversation at the beginning of the year, I have never spoken to Connie or she to me about the issue. From assessing Connie’s work and seeing her active participation in class, I felt that there was no need to bring it up as she appeared to be doing very well.

It is said that assessment is the key component in the process of learning and has been recognised through research and written about in many official reports. For the first day of my second placement it was evident that the school’s principle aim was to promote children’s learning. These were demonstrated through statistics from the DCSF which show that GCSE level performance is well above the average performance locally and nationally. The key guide to this judgement is the percent of pupils achieving remarkable grades at GCSE. The statistics show that the GCSE results maintained an improving trend in 2008 with 65% of students achieving 5 or more grades at A*- C including English and Maths compared to the national average of 47.5% and a local average at 51.5%. In 2008 the school was within the top 55% of similar schools for students progress from age 11 to age 16.

Ofsted made three recommendations following an inspection in June 2007. One of these was that “teachers share their best practice on assessing students’ work and in showing students how to improve”

Since this time the school has “made substantial progress on this recommendation through sharing existing good practice and through closer departmental monitoring of students’ work. Students are now monitoring their progress more effectively in relation to their personal target levels or grades. Students are also much clearer about how to improve their knowledge, understanding and skills.” (Warden Park School Profile, 2009, pg.9, see in Appendix 5)

The school has done this by setting up CPD sessions for all staff to assist each other through sharing good practice and ideas within these sessions and students’ progress is consistently improving and also putting up a display in the marking room for the use of all teachers displaying good practice of assessment of learning and assessment for learning. This is also demonstrated through different activities performed within a lesson for example collective memory skills activities along with in depth feedback lessons based on how to improve their knowledge and improve their answering within assessments. (See in Appendix 6)

Ofsted possibly saw that some departments implemented assessment strategies slightly better than others and as a consequence, set a target to ensure good practice was shared. Due to this recommendation the school has now made progress in making formative and summative assessment a priority to ensure students’ learning. This is supported in the detailed feedback they give after an assessment has been taken and the detailed reports that are given to each student in every year group.

It is hoped that these entries have highlighted my understandings of these words that are so commonly used in our daily discourse and the ‘thread’ that connects all these terms and have explained some reasons why I have come to these conclusions. I believe that there are thousands of teachers who in their different contexts share the same interest in developing effective pedagogies through formative assessment and through that we all believe at the heart of teaching and learning are students; therefore, at the heart of any ‘learning’, ‘assessment’ and ‘assessment for learning’ must be students.

Word Count: 3,103

Bibliography:

Battersby,J (1997) Differentiation in Teaching and Learning Geography in Tilbury,D. and Williams, M. Teaching and Learning Geography. London: Routledge
Black P.J and William, D.(1998) Inside the Black Box.London
Butt,G( 1997)Language and Learning In Geography in Tilbury, D. and Williams, M Teaching and Learning Geography. London: Routledge
Dunn, R. (2002). Can students identify their own learning styles? When it’s important to them, they can. London: SAGE Ltd
Educational Leadership Lambert, D. and Lines, D.(2000): Understanding Assessment. London: RoutledgeFalmer
Lambert, D. And Balderstone, D (2000): Learning to Teach Geography in the Secondary School London:RoutledgeFalmer
Pound, L. (2005): How children learn. London: Step Forward
Weeden, P. and Lambert, D. (2007): Geography inside the black box. London: nferNelson
Warden Park School (2009). Warden Park School Profile 22nd February 2009.Warden Park School
Wolten, J. (1993) Guidelines for Secondary Schools for effective differentiation in the classroom. Essex County Council