The writings of Gipps and Stobart have confirmed my previously held thoughts on the correlation between social class and educational achievement. Gipps and Stobart propose a quite credible reason for this – that the parents of middle classes contribute to assessment by providing feedback and assistance at home – and this phenomena can be observed, to varying degrees, in the performance results of local schools.
McMillan, James H (2000) Fundamental Assessment Principles for Teachers and Administrators. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(8) Available Online downloaded on 15.03.03
McMillan emphasises the role of assessment as being critical to improve teaching practices and learning. While this may seem fundamental, McMillan provides a well- structured analysis of how assessment can be used by a teacher to maximise the performance of pupils.
McMillan notes professional judgement as being the foundation for assessment and imperative if assessment is to be properly understood and acted upon. Sound judgement is imperative for such tasks as interpreting pupils’ strengths and weaknesses, identifying any additional factors influencing assessment and using the assessment feedback to provide strategies to improve the future performance of pupils. The emphasis is on using assessment as a tool for future improvement.
McMillan asserts that good teaching is often characterised by assessments that motivate and engage students in ways that are consistent with their philosophies of teaching. This may take the form of informal question and answer sessions, formally and informally graded pieces of work and internal examinations. But McMillan points out the tensions existing between these types of formal assessments that are “within the control of the classroom teacher” and the more formal, mandated tests that exist as part of National Strategies within education. Confidence can be built by informal, sympathetic questioning only to be shattered by poor results in a “Key Stage” examination.
McMillan endorses the view that assessment is something that is integrated with instruction, and not an activity that merely offers feedback on past performances. (Shepard, 2000). Integration of assessment with instruction will inform teachers about what activities and assignments will be most useful, what level of teaching is most appropriate, and how summative assessments provide diagnostic feedback.
McMillan also points out that many forms of assessment are needed to build a full picture of what a pupil understands and is capable of doing. Therefore, teachers need to be aware of the entire range of assessment techniques and methods, whilst recognising the limitations of each method.
McMillan offers valuable insight into methods and uses of assessment. My understanding was extended by his viewpoints on the “internal” versus mandatory forms of assessment and the tensions that can result. One limitation of McMillan’s article was that it offered little insight as to the most appropriate assessment methods to be used in given circumstances.
Black, P.J. and Wiliam, D. (2001) Beyond the Black Box, Cambridge: School of Education.
Black & Wiliam assert that teaching and learning have to be interactive. Assessment provides teachers knowledge about pupils’ progress so that they can adapt their work to meet the needs of these pupils. They further assert that “assessment becomes formative assessment when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet the needs.” Black and Wiliam raise critical questions about the process of assessment.
Is there evidence that improving formative assessment raises standards?
Using information gathered in a variety of research studies, (most notably Fuchs and Fuchs 1986), Black & Wiliam conclude that “strengthening the practice of formative assessment produce significant, and often substantial, learning gains.” In particular, low attainers benefited more than the rest, thus reducing the spread of attainment whilst raising it overall. Black and Wiliam propose that this is because formative assessment is an excellent method of boosting pupils’ motivation and self-esteem. But they again point out that for assessment to function formatively, the results have to be used to adjust teaching. By inference, the ways in which teachers adjust their methods is of paramount importance.
Is there room for improvement?
“Marking often fails to offer guidance on how work can be improved”. (OFSTED, 1996).
Black & Wiliam expand on this by asserting that giving of grades and marks is over-emphasised, whilst giving useful advice is under-emphasised. Thus, pupils are told how well they did but are offered little advice on how to improve their performance.
Furthermore, Black & Wiliam identify the widespread teaching practice of comparing pupils with one another. This then fosters competition rather than personal development, and can leave lower attainers feeling demotivated.
Perhaps the most alarming evidence offered by Black and Wiliam is the amount of assessment that is carried out to satisfy “managerial needs” and is never used to improve the learning of pupils. Records are kept to provide evidence of assessment, but the results are not used, and even not intended, to improve teaching and learning practices.
Black & Wiliam raise some very important limitations to some widespread, current teaching practices. The amount of research evidence offered identifies the massive role that formative assessment can, and should, have in the classroom. Their writing is very positive in the sense that it identifies weaknesses, but also suggests strategies and policies that would allow for significant improvement.
School X’s Policy on Assessment
School X has a detailed, formal policy on assessment that is laid out in a “bullet point” format. (Appendix 1).
School X’s policy recognizes the importance of “providing feedback to pupils about their work so that they can improve their knowledge, skills and understanding”. The policy also advocates Black & Wiliam’s view that feedback should be taken into account to enable teachers to plan subsequent lessons in the most appropriate manner to maximise individual and group learning.
The policy document also raises the important aspect that teachers should evaluate their own effectiveness of planning and delivery of lessons, by the results of pupils’ assessments. The inference here is that the teacher must use assessment as a tool to decide where the line between his/her responsibility to teach and the pupils’ responsibility to learn lays. During interviews with members of the mathematics department, it emerged that a gauge often used for measuring teachers’ effectiveness is the assessment results from the whole class. If assessment reveals class widespread confusion, then teachers will re-evaluate the way they presented the lessons. If there is only a small minority who fail to understand, the teacher will try to make time, during subsequent lessons, to give individual support to those who do not understand. When these conversations about the ways lessons were subsequently replanned in light of the assessment information were perused further, I gained the impression that this is one of the areas where “professional judgement”, as highlighted by MacMillan, is being used. Therefore, the approaches used vary from teacher to teacher.
Two crucial points raised in the school policy are: -
To ensure pupils understand by what criteria they are being assessed and are involved in the process;
To involve pupils in reviewing, and individual target setting, through discussion between pupil and teacher.
These points demonstrate that the school places emphasis on the rights and responsibilities of the pupil to participate in his/her learning experience. Tests are used for assessment and pupils are then told what SAT level they are currently obtaining. Discussions between teacher and pupil take place to identify the extent, and the areas, in which the individuals will need to improve if they are to improve their SAT level. Pupils are encouraged to voice any concerns, and to offer their own opinions, on how they are going to make the improvement. This often results in pupils voluntarily attending after school “improvement” lessons. This is certainly a method that has proved successful in countries such as Japan and Korea.(Tanner & Jones 2001).
Echoing the sentiments of Black & Wiliam, the school policy states “to inform the way forward and be positive, diagnostic, formative, constructive and specific.” As a result, teachers give verbal feedback on work as well as written comments. In addition, teachers write any outstanding achievement or high-level concerns in the Home-Contact book of the pupil. This allows parents to be fully updated on the progress of their child.
The school policy advocates assessment using “the formative process as well as the product of learning” and using “a range of assessment techniques”. These views are fully endorsed by MacMillan and Black & Wiliam. In the mathematics department, the various methods I observed were oral class feedback, individual oral feedback, a “quality award” system, individual comments written on each piece of submitted work, an extensive report which was presented to parents at the parents evening, written progress in home-school contact books and discussions with the pupils on their viewpoints as to how they felt they were progressing towards meeting agreed targets. The approaches within each of these areas of assessment varied from teacher to teacher, but there was certainly a consistent policy being applied across the mathematics department, and I am told, the rest of the school.
Conclusion - Analysis of the Effectiveness of School X’s Assessment Policy
To evaluate the success of the school’s assessment policy it is necessary to set criteria by which to judge the school. The most obvious choice of criteria is the trend of GCSE results obtained by the school, and this would indicate that the success of the policy is overwhelming and undeniable. School X has received many awards for improvement from various bodies for year on year improvements of GCSE results. (Appendix 2 & 3). But to credit this success to the initiation of the assessment policy would be an oversimplification. Many other factors have contributed to the positive trend of results.
The initiation of the assessment policy was just part of the introduction of what the school calls the “Triple A Challenge”. This is to raise standards of pupils’ Attainment, Appearance and Attendance. Consequently, allied to the initiation of this assessment policy has been the introduction of key members of teaching staff with massive amounts of determination and commitment. Whilst endeavouring to give total assessment to each and every pupil, they have introduced “support mechanisms” which offer assistance to allow pupils to react positively to assessments. These “support mechanisms” include after schools subject support groups and the provision of resources and materials for pupils to develop their ability. Without these factors the success of the assessment policy would be limited as the pupils would not be offered the full opportunity to improve in any identified areas.
School X is based in a catchment area comprising a very high percentage of “free meals” pupils. As this is often used in school polls on performance, it would be fair to say that School X is situated in a socially deprived area. If the correlation between results and social class is considered, then school X can be said to be achieving “against the odds”. Analysis of the efforts and continuous formative assessment given by the teachers, and the attempts to involve parents in the educational welfare of their children, has been the major reasons for this. School X has formed policies to ensure that parents are fully aware of the impact that their input can have on the results of their children. This is coupled with praise and reward systems that are given full attention in school assemblies and newsletters.
In conclusion, it should be stated that the assessment policy initiated by school X is part of a school wide strategy to improve the school’s performance. This strategy as a whole has proven to be very successful, and the contribution of the assessment policy should be recognised. But, in my opinion, equally vital factors are the determination shown by teachers, policies introduced on discipline for learning and involvement of pupils and parents in the learning process.
References
McMillan, James H (2000) Fundamental Assessment Principles for Teachers and Administrators. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(8) Available Online downloaded on 15.03.03
Black, P.J. and Wiliam, D. (2001) Beyond the Black Box, Cambridge: School of Education.
GIPPS, C. & STOBART, G. (1993) The Role of Assessment. Chapter 1 in : Assessment: A Teachers’ Guide to the Issues. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
SCHOOL X. (2002), Policy Statement. Locally printed and produced.
Bibliography of Additional reading
Shipman, M. (1983) Assessment in Primary and Middle Schools, Worcester: Billings Ltd.
Murphy, R. & Torrance, H. (1988), The Changing Face of Educational Assessment, Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith Ltd.
OFSTED, (1993), Assessment, Recording and Reporting, London: HMSO
Appendices
Appendix 1 (a to c) School Policy on Assessment
Appendix 2 Letter displaying many awards won by school for improving academic achievements
Appendix 3 Document showing School X’s trend of improvement of GCSE results