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TAJIKISTAN

RUSSIA EDUCATION AID FOR DEVELOPMENT (READ) TRUST FUND

Development of Classroom Assessment Package for Primary Grades

Module 1: Defining Formative [Classroom]

Assessment Trainer’s Guide

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Module 1: Defining Formative [Classroom] Assessment

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this training module candidates will be able to:

• understand formative [classroom] assessment as an integral part of teaching pedagogy and the learning process.

• explore factors leading to a definition to inform and support their use of formative [classroom] assessment

• complete a robust definition of formative [classroom] assessment which clarifies the relationship of assessment to teaching and learning

Training resources

• Teacher’s Modules and research publications (see the list below)

• Flipcharts and markers

• Power point presentations (developed by the trainer) if there are appropriate technologies available

Research publications (Translated in Tajik):

1) Formative assessment for teaching & learning: Boyle & Charles 2013, SAGE 2) David, Mr Bear and Bernstein: Searching for an equitable pedagogy through guided

group work. Boyle & Charles 2012. The Curriculum Journal 23 (1) p.117-133

3) The missing disciplinary substance of formative assessment. Coffey, Hammer, Levin, Grant 2011. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 48 (10) p.1109-36

4) Formative assessment: Revisiting the territory from the point of view of teachers. Morrissette 2011. McGill Journal of Education 46 (2) p 247-64

5) From a formative evaluation to a controlled regulation of learning processes towards a wider conceptual field. Perrenoud.1998. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy &

Practice. 5 (1), p.85-102

Introduction

Introduce yourself and ask candidates to introduce themselves. You can use different

introduction techniques e.g. Ask participants to work in pairs and get to know each

other and report back to the group about their new partner.

Program overview

Draw candidates’ attentions to the Module 1 outline (Attachment 1). Guide them

through the outline text. Draw their attention to the learning outcomes and

performance indicators. Start the dialogue with: “Is the module program challenging?

Why? Let the candidates share their ideas and communicate with each other. (Rashid: here I want

the trainers to create a dialogic atmosphere. Can you please, help). What they have to know and

be able to do in order to demonstrate the performance indicators?

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Unit 1. Assessment linked to pedagogy

Unit 1/Session 1.

I would like to explore with you some terms and concepts which will be central to your

thinking and understanding during this module. I have found that whatever the theme that

is being studied, a good starting point is always developing a shared definition of the

theme. Sharing a common definition is best achieved through exploring different understandings

and definitions of the theme across the group. Let us examine our theme of ‘Formative assessment’

through theoretical discussion.

Classroom desk arrangement tip: During this session you will be using dialogic strategy.

Remember “Dialogue” is NOT ‘question and answer’ or “brainstorming activity” as usually used

to elicit responses. Candidates need to become accustomed to having ‘learning time’ to reflect on

problems and questions, posing their own questions to you (as a trainer) and peers and to engage

in task-related conversations with their peers. In order to create more effective and suitable

environment for this type of dialogue to happen, you need different desk/classroom arrangements

compared to traditional rows. Below is one of the examples that you can apply (or use different

style that you think is more suitable).

U-shape desk arrangement

Write the below questions on the flipchart or demonstrate slide # 1 from the Power

Point Presentation for this training module.

Defining assessment linked to pedagogy

• From your own experience as pupil, student or teacher, what words would you use to

describe the act of teaching?

• What do you think makes a good teacher?

• How would you now define the ‘act of teaching’?

• What do you mean by ‘pedagogy’?

• In what situations would you use the word ‘pedagogy’?

• How have the words ‘transmission’ or ‘transaction’ been part of your discussion?

• How would you use the words ‘transmission’ and ‘transaction’ in a teaching context?

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Ask candidates to pay attention to (read) each question [present each of the

question below one by one] and ask them to think for a moment and communicate

his/her own response to the class/group. Encourage candidates to join in and

create a dialogue.

Shaping Definition of Teaching

Present slides 2, 3 and 4 (in a sequence). After each “definition” encourage candidates

to think and connect the presented definition with their own understanding and share

their ideas. Create links between the definition and questions above.

Co-construction of definitions through guided group strategy

Divide the class into groups of five [for division use your primary observation

and analyses of candidates. Make sure that those who you feel that are not

getting focused or have less understanding of the discussed concept are in “a

guided group”]. The main objective is to get the candidates to shape their understanding of the

new terms and concepts through group discussion/collaboration. Distribute “Teacher’s Guide”,

ask groups to select group work strategy and complete the below task:

References for developing the discussion and shaping the candidate’s definition of teaching:

• “Pedagogy is the observable act of teaching together with its attendant discourse of

educational theories, values, evidence and justifications. It is what one needs to know,

and the skills one needs to command in order to make and justify the many different

kinds of decisions of which teaching is constituted” (Alexander 2008, p.29)

• “Pedagogy involves human interaction and joy, and playing with new ideas,

challenging all educators to look beyond the complexities and familiarities of their own

teaching” (Wink 2005)

• “Pedagogy refers to an educational position or approach that includes both theory and practice” (Roswell, Kosnick & Beck, 2008 p. 110).

• “Pedagogy captures the multi-layered and dynamic practice necessary to support children’s holistic development” (Hayes 2008, p.436).

• “If we are to take quality seriously we have to get closer to our learners, their needs, their learning styles and their motivation” (Reeves, 1993).

• Alexander cautions against a simplistic interpretation: “For children then, the preferred indicators are affective as much as cognitive and instrumental...focussing on affectivity

alone is conceptually and empirically restrictive as is the treating of mathematical test

scores and educational outcomes as synonymous” (Alexander 2008, p.3)

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Task for guided group work: Work together. Read text (Sections 1.2 and 1.3. (TBD) and other

related research articles (Attachments to the Guide), discuss in your group. Develop adopted

(common) definition (do not copy from the provided text but develop shared definition) to the

below terms and concepts. Write your group’s definition in the Worksheet. If you still have

concerns regarding the concepts, write a question or statement in the given space.

Plan for the guided group work

1) Define your group working strategy (what will you do to get the learning task completed; who will do what and how)

2) Work in accordance to a discussed and agreed group work strategy 3) Share your inputs to the group and ask for comments and movement towards a common

definition

4) Develop first draft of the definitions 5) With your group members discuss every definition and come to a single shared definition

for each term, if still not sure (or agreed) write your questions and concerns on the space

provided

6) Define how you verify your definitions (talk to other groups, share with the trainer) 7) Present your work to another group or the whole candidate group, compare your

definitions with others.

For the trainer: join the group that you defined to be closely guided as they (based

on your primary observation) need more support. [Faiziddin/Rashid: we need to be

careful with this narrowing definition of a ‘guided group’ – it is not always the group

which needs most support – the guided group should rotate so that everybody has an opportunity

to be in a guided group session – the guided group may contain individuals [in one case, for

example] that are really pushing innovation and NOT needing support! Let’s be careful that we do

not mislead ou candidates] First go through the plan and encourage the members to take lead.

Observe their work and guide them through the text. e.g. What if we re-read section (…) on page

(…)? Does this section provide enough information to understand the concept on (…)? Work

(guide) this group during until they complete their task (but make sure that the team will manage

the task in the given time period, e.g. 20 minutes.

Session wrap up. (Dear Rashid, Please, help to define the session wrap up activity)

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Unit 1 /Session 2. Relationship of teaching and learning

Tell participants that in this session you will be discussing the relationship between

teaching and learning.

Important Note: Definitions for “learning” and “teaching” in Tajik and Russian

Омӯзиш (гирифтан)

Таълим (додан)

Post each set of the below questions (or use Slide 6 from PP for Module 1) and

encourage candidates to share own ideas. Encourage or conduct mini-

discussion/dialogue for each question/statement. Allow plenty of time for

candidates to reflect on the definitions and probe so that everybody contributes. Trainer can

intervene with his/her thoughts sometimes – just to keep discussion moving forward if necessary.

Divide the class into groups of six. Give each group a set of slips of paper

with the below terms (separately written on each slip of paper): (1) learner

involvement; (2) content pedagogical knowledge; (3) content subject

knowledge; (4) motivation; (5) the link between affective and conative domains; (6)

relationship.

Ask groups (1) to discuss and distribute the terms among members (who will read and prepare

what); (2) ask them to read Section ??? on page ??? of the Teacher’s Guide (TBD) and gather

information about there “term” and talk about: What are some of the important factors in making

a successful link between teaching and learning? [Discuss issues such as ‘what is effective

learning?’ ‘How do we know if learning has been effective?’ ‘learner involvement’; content

pedagogical knowledge; content subject knowledge; motivation; affective and conative domain;

relationship].

What relationship do you think there is between teaching and learning? Describe what

made a good learning experience for you in your own ‘learning journey’. That experience

can either be through life or in previous forms of education study or work?

What was a poor learning experience for you – what were the conditions that caused this to

be a poor rather than a good learning experience?

With the experience that you now have of life and education, how would you have changed

the conditions of that ‘poor’ learning experience to be a ‘good’ learning experience?

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Demonstrate Slide 7 (or post below statements) ask candidates share their

understandings of the statements. How they as teachers can create learning environment

to support conation?

Post each set of the below questions (or use Slide 8 from PP for Module 1) and

encourage candidates to share own ideas. Conduct mini-discussion/dialogue for each

question/statement.

Demonstrate Slide 9 (or post below statements) ask candidates share their

understandings of the statements and compare them with their original ideas shared

earlier in the discussion

Conation is in the ‘work domain’ of learning. Pupils will engage or disengage their desire or

will to learn based on whether the theme or concept has some personal or ‘real life’ meaning

for them.

‘Conation can be thought of as an ‘internal engine’ that drives external tasks and desires for

the pupil. The drive shaft links ‘what I want to know’ to ‘how I feel about the task’ and then

‘how I will respond to the task’ [Huitt & Cain 2005, p2, in Boyle & Charles 2013 p.178]

How does the teacher identify if a student is ‘learning’? What are optimal conditions for

student learning? How do these vary in the classroom situation? For example, what kinds

of ‘group work’ are there? What is the candidate’s understanding of for example, ‘guided

group’ strategy? Or ‘social pedagogical groupings (SPG)?

How does the teacher’s role in supporting learning change? If the teacher has planned a

lesson or activity or task, does s/he see the need to adjust aspects of the activity to enable

learning to take place? How does s/he make those adjustments?

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Check your understanding. Work individually (however, you are allowed to discuss

with your peers and trainers). Write your own responds to the given questions. Write

references to each of your responses (who said where). You can use Teacher’s Guides,

Internet sources etc.

1. What are some of the important factors for a successful link between teaching and

learning to be established?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Reference/s:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. How does the teacher identify if a student is ‘learning’? What are optimal conditions for

student learning? How do these vary in the classroom situation?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

‘It is important for learners to adopt an ‘incremental’ not an ‘entity theory of their own

intelligence, and it is important for learners to acquire robust and enduring ‘habits of mind’

that assume effort and application are important in learning’ (Dweck, 1999, p.3)

‘Is it wrong to hold stereotypes? Don’t groups in fact often differ from each other in

important ways?... Dangers arise when people lose sight of this complexity and go beyond

the evidence to conclude that some groups are inherently superior or inferior to others, or

that most members of a group share the same qualities’ (Dweck, 1999, p.94)

‘Changes in the structure of initial teacher education programmes have focused on

students’ development of curriculum knowledge at the expense of classroom pedagogy

(Kutnick, 2002, p.204)...and classroom teachers are under pressure to produce curriculum-

oriented ‘results’ in formally tested situations’ (DfEE, 1997, P.20)

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Reference/s:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. How does the teacher’s role in supporting learning change? If the teacher has planned a

lesson or activity or task, does s/he see the need to adjust aspects of the activity to enable

learning to take place? How does s/he make those adjustments? Give an example of an

‘adjustment’ made in a real teaching situation.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Reference/s:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Task: Develop a written presentation based on your responses.

Unit 1 / Session 3. Relationship of teaching, learning and assessment

Tell participants that in this session you will be discussing the relationship between

teaching, learning and assessment.

Demonstrate Slide 10 (or post below questions) ask candidates to share their experiences

with the class. Guide and encourage all candidates to share their ideas. Use relevant

supplementary questions to identify how the experience made learning more effective –

at surface or at deeper levels of learning.

What is your own understanding and experience of assessment?

At what times of the school or working year did you experience assessment?

How did you find this assessment process useful or not useful to supporting your own learning

experience?

Describe an example where you had experience of a teacher using assessment to support your

learning.

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Ask the groups (of five) to read the instruction (Slide 11). Work together to discuss

the statement and questions.

For the trainer: join the group that you defined to be closely guided as they (based on your

primary observation) need more support. [See my earlier comment about ‘narrow definition of

guided group’ We do need to be very careful here or the candidates will internalize ‘guided group’

as being for ‘special needs’ or ‘more support’ – a ‘guided group’ session focuses on an issue – that

may be a high level learning issue or it may be a basic level issue – the point is that all the members

of the guided group are working on that issue with the teacher at that time – then the teacher moves

on to another learning issue with another group] First go through the plan and encourage the

members to take lead. Observe their work and guide them through the text. e.g. What if we re-read

section (…) on page (…)? Does this section provide enough information to understand the concept

on (…)? Work (guide) this group during until they complete their task (but make sure that the team

will manage the task in the given time period, e.g. 20 minutes.

Roles of teacher and learner

Post each set of the below questions (or use Slide 12 from PP for Module 1) and

encourage candidates to share own ideas. Conduct mini-discussion/dialogue for

each question/statement

The word ‘assessment’ derives from the Latin word ‘assidere’ meaning to ‘sit beside’ – this

can be taken to mean a close relationship between the ‘teacher/assessor’ and the learner in the

assessment process (Good 2011). How do you understand this in the classroom situation?

Describe an example of how you have assessed a student or students in this way? Do you think

that you will have a deeper understanding of the student’s learning by ‘sitting beside’? Will

this enable you to use the assessment evidence to plan more effectively for the students’

learning needs? How will the student/learner be involved in this process? Importance of

conation being integrated with cognition?

• If the main role of the teacher is to make learning more effective for each learner how

can s/he do this?

• What indicators does the teacher look for to ascertain if a pupil is learning? How can a

teacher support a pupil to learn more effectively?

• What would pupil outcomes look like if the pupils were involved in the whole learning

and assessment process?

• How is it possible for a teacher to support the learner to be ‘involved in learning’? Is

the teacher adjusting from the evidence observed in class?

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In this session we will explore the term ‘de-regulation’ of the teaching and learning

roles and we will explore the work of researchers such as Philippe Perrenoud, Paulo

Freire.

Consider the implications from the perspective of Paulo Freire who suggests that teaching

students to regulate their learning is entangled in practices of conformity to a particular social

order (Freire, 2000, p.34). There is little consideration of how self-regulated learning [SRL] is

entangled in politics of control, conformity, obedience, and oppression. This results from an

assumption that SRL is neutral, value-free, natural, and beneficial. Therefore, researchers and

practitioners may be driven to humanistic concerns to teach students to regulate their academic

learning, while ignoring the possibility that SRL is entangled in what Ayers & Ayers (2011) refer

to as the ‘hidden curriculum of obedience’

In your groups talk through and plan and develop a teaching opportunity in

which the teacher [you] plans to have the pupils actively involved in the

learning and the assessment process. Select boundaries such as primary or

secondary age/phase; subject/areas of learning; duration of activity. Share your thinking and your

group’s planning and outcomes with the whole class.

Integration of the teacher, learner and the assessment process

The close association between the assessor and the learner in the assessment process:

how does this match your own experiences of being assessed as students?

Formative assessment requires the empowering of pupils to have more involvement in the

learning process through co-construction of learning with the teacher. The teacher needs to

understand that assessment is a continuous process not a summative measure. The information

(learning evidence) that the teacher elicits from formative assessment has to be planned in to

support for the pupil while the pupil is still involved in the learning activity (therefore the pupil is

in a state of high self-motivation).

How would you capture a group’s involvement in this process of learning and feedback?

Formative assessment through its structural philosophy of evidence elicitation, analysis and

action supplies the strategy to make teaching effective and learning deep and sustained.

Formative assessment is much more deeply embedded within pedagogy than the simplistic

mantra of ‘closing the gap’ which often accompanies descriptions of its effect on teaching and

learning. [Boyle & Charles 2013 p.2]

Written assignment. How do you understand the relationship of teaching, learning and assessment? T: ask candidates to write AND EXEMPLIFY their own understanding of the relationship

of teaching, learning and assessment. Candidates select the format of the written work (they may develop a presentation, diagram, concept maps, bring in some visual/filmed material etc.). Ask them to show references and demonstrate how this can be inserted in the text.

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Unit 2 / Session 1. Important factors in making a successful link between teaching, learning and assessment

Tell participants that in this session you will be discussing important factors in making

successful links between teaching, learning and assessment. Ask participants to talk

about relationship between teaching, learning and assessment from previous session.

Demonstrate slides 15 and 16. Read the definitions and give some time for

candidates/participants to think. Ask them to share their ideas. Guide and encourage the

candidates and use relevant supplementary questions.

Question: What is ‘depth’ of learning? How can that be achieved by a student?

What actions of the teacher can enable that ‘depth’ of learning to take place? How

does/can a learner demonstrate that his/her understanding of a concept has been

internalised?

Discussion.

Present each statement (Slides 17 onwards) stop after each statement and encourage the

candidates to share their ideas. How do they understand the statement? How can they

plan this? Is the statement applicable to Tajikistan situation? Why? Why not? What are the

practical implications of these statements for application in the classroom situation?

Definitions of formative assessment: Sharing definitions: what are your thoughts on the

following definitions?

‘Formative assessment takes place day by day and allows the teacher and the student to adapt

their respective actions to the teaching/learning situation in question. It is a privileged occasion

for conscious reflection on their experience’ (Audibert 1980, p.62).

As Audibert says, formative assessment is constant analysis of a connected moving picture: if

the action taken on the basis of the assessment is effective [‘effective’ being defined within the

iterative nature of learning in which pupils will re-visit the same concepts several times on

their educational journeys – the ‘spiral curriculum’], the learner has progressed through his/her

misconceptions being analysed, re-visited and solutions for learning progression supported.

Therefore formative assessment is a rich source of evidence about the pupil’s learning. If

assessment is only intermittent or occasional, that evidence cannot be used formatively –

because learners do not stop learning, they are learning all the time – therefore the assessment

process has to keep pace with and support that learning.

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‘Formative assessment is not a test but a process that produces not a score but a qualitative

insight into the learner’s understanding’ (Popham W J, 2008)

Coffey et al (2011) remind teachers that ‘it is essential that formative assessment – and

accounts of it in the literature – consider more than the ‘gap’ between pupil thinking and the

correct concepts’ (p.1129).

Consider the ‘distance’ from the learning concept that the pupil is positioned against- rather

than using terms such as ‘gap’. This only negates the complexity of human experience [pupil

as deficit] and ignores factors such as individual pace of learning, time needed, readiness for

the concept, relevance of the concept to prior and current learning, immersion [involvement] of

the pupil in the concept/theme.

It is attention to how a pupil [group of pupils] is thinking that will cause the teacher to adjust

his/her original teaching plan for the lesson.

Formative assessment will reveal ‘learning objectives’ that a teacher will not have had in

his/her conceptual planning at the outset of planning for a lesson, theme or unit of work – and

at two levels. The first level is one of conceptualisation – how the pupil understands the

concept – while the other is at the level of how the pupil approaches the theme [concept].

The teacher should always be working to move pupils into engaging with a learning concept

[learning objective] as if those pupils are researchers – in that way, the pupils become engaged,

have time for reflection and immersion in the concept and this leads to rich, deep learning.

In conceptualising assessment as ‘learner behavioural analysis’, the teacher is formatively

assessing pupil thinking by paying close attention to the demonstrations through learning

behaviours and outcomes of that thinking. The teacher needs to understand what the pupils are

thinking – and why – just like any participant in a meaningful discussion.

‘Formative assessment should be understood and presented as nothing other than genuine

engagement with ideas, which includes being responsive to them and using them to inform

next moves’ (Coffey et al, 2011).

‘Formative assessment involves a combination of task and instrument and process’ (Bennett,

2011)

What are the daily realities of planning for teaching, learning and assessment?

‘It is within this humanistic framework that formative assessment has to be located and seen

as an integral cog in the cognitive, affective and conative environment of the learner.’ (Boyle

& Charles 2011).

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Written assignment. How do you understand the critical importance of the inter-relationship between teaching, learning and assessment in all teaching sessions?

The candidate should supply an evidenced example [either written, audio, visual] that s/he has analysed and reflected either on her/his own or on a peer’s practice and that s/he understands and practices the critical importance of the inter-relationship between teaching, learning and assessment in all teaching sessions.

RASHID: How can we guide the candidates and how we can use the result of this written task?

Unit 2/ Session 2. Developing understanding and experience of formative assessment

Here is a Case Study which details an interview with an experienced teacher (Teacher

M) about how she used formative assessment in her teaching. The Case Study records

Teacher M’s process and understanding of planning for and managing a classroom

assessment session. After you have read through the Case Study, it would be

interesting to analyze and discuss your thoughts on the Case Study:

Distribute copies of the Case Study.

Case Study (Suggested timing 15 minutes)

Question. What about individual pupil needs, how do you feel about that? (Probing the teacher’s

understanding and use of Differentiation and of guided group methodology)

Teacher M: ‘Well I am not used to sitting with individual children, zoning in on how they are

thinking, questioning them, so that is, you know, a different way of assessing them that is very

informative and may be useful for me as a teacher.

Question. What is your understanding of assessment? (Probing the issue of Testing versus

Assessment)

Teacher M: But I wouldn’t have done these assessment pieces every day, they are just one-offs for

the benefit of this assessment, whereas I am teaching and ‘scaffolding’ all other times, the days

that I am working with them. If I am not there (when work is done unsupported) what can you do

without me? Without the teacher that is truly what you can do, sometimes the pupils can become

reliant on the teacher being there, you know, they say, ‘what do I do now?’ and then the teacher

tells them, which is fine, but I think the pupils need to know that they don’t always need that

teacher and when she is not around they can still do it.

Question. What teaching style do you use for the assessment? (Probing teacher’s pedagogy and

repertoire, e.g., whole class/ individual/groups?)

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Teacher M: Because it was an assessment, I would have seen that as showing them the way too

much. In the weeks before, I was modelling and writing a different story. At the beginning of the

story, you’d be looking at grammar, capital letters and full stops. Yes, I see this [the assessment]

as if we want to see what they can do. They need to do it individually with no help so you get a

true picture of what they can do. (Extracted from ‘Formative Assessment for Teaching &

Learning’, Boyle & Charles 2013)

Post each set of the below questions (or use Slide 20 from PP for Module 1) and

encourage candidates to share own ideas. Conduct mini-discussion/dialogue for

each question based on the above case study.

• What are your observations?

• How would you describe the teacher’s thinking about ‘assessment’ and its use?

• What kinds of information was s/he getting from these assessments?

• What use do you think s/he would make of the assessment information?

• How could the teacher have more involved the learner in the assessment process?

• What should the teacher be thinking about for next steps in using the assessment information in her teaching and learning?

Divide the candidates into groups of five. Ask them to review three samples of

students works marked differently. [different levels of comment; mixture of

grades and comments, etc]. Discuss how individual teachers are thinking about

supporting learning, scaffolding pupil understanding of problems.

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Unit 2/ Session 3. Using the assessment information to adjust teaching

Demonstrate slide 24 and start class discussion/dialogue.

Adjustment: we have already used this word a lot in our sessions. Give an example of how you

have conceptualised and internalised its meaning for your own future use in the classroom.

Which of those forms of adjustment do you use most in your teaching?

Demonstrate slide 25 and start class discussion/dialogue.

Ask candidates how do they address this reality in planning for teaching, learning

and especially assessment?

Critical reflections on models of the ‘pupil as learner’

As each pupil has his/her own unique socially constructed individual context, therefore ideas,

concepts and meanings are not common, fixed nor standardised across a class of students.

Therefore the individual outcomes of learning situations will be diverse.

Demonstrate slide 26 -27 and start class discussion/dialogue.

Consequences of ‘testing’on narrowing classroom pedagogy

Researchers have drawn attention to the consequences of testing practices causing narrowing

classroom pedagogy.

‘How assessment links to and is an ongoing inherent aspect of teaching and learning is a

perennial issue. The definition and role of formative assessment are crucial. A reductionist

definition of assessment with its aim defined as an increase in ‘learner performance’ measured as

test-outcome data is too narrow a concept to guide teaching’. [Boyle & Charles 2013, p.8].

Linda Allal [1988] has produced a typology of remediation post-assessment of a learning

concept as follows:

Adjustment: retroactive adjustment: takes place after a shorter or longer learning sequence,

on the basis of micro evaluation; interactive adjustment: takes place through the learning

process; proactive adjustment: takes place when the pupil is set an activity or enters a

teaching situation [Allal,1988, in Boyle & Charles 2013 p.8-9]

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What are your thoughts on this issue?

Include in your discussion, issues such as: student motivation in narrow, test-based teaching;

superficial learning v breadth and depth of learning; coaching and cramming v time for reflection

on concepts; what information does a test supply which a teacher and a learner can actually use

in ‘real time’?]

Perrenoud [1998] advocates an even stronger link between formative assessment and the

teaching and learning process – the link is so strong that the assessment becomes completely

integrated within the teaching and learning – Perrenoud believes that there is no formal

assessment needed because the teacher has analysed the learner’s conceptual understanding and

is working alongside him/her to develop and deepen that understanding of a concept, without any

need to ‘test’ the student.

‘The more the assessment is integrated into situations, becomes interactive and lasts, the further

it distances itself from normative or summative assessment, the province of tests and exams and

their consequences.’ (Perrenoud 1998, p.100).

Divide the candidates into groups of five. Demonstrate Slide 28. Ask the groups

discuss the key issues.

Written assignment. How would you use assessment information to adjust your teaching?

Note: The candidate has to describe in a critical analysis [written, audio, visual presentation] a real example of how and why in a personal or observed situation a teacher adjusts teaching, planning or feedback as a result of formative assessment. S/he must rationalize, using supportive

Discussion:

‘However, despite the centrality of using evidence from formative assessment to adapt their

teaching, its use can present a challenge for some teachers’ (Heritage 2011, p.67-84).

What challenges might Heritage be referring to?

Consider these three key issues for teachers:

(i) Locating where learners are in their learning;

(ii) Locating where they are going

(iii) Locating what needs to be done to get them there.

Are there more important or relevant issues which you have experienced?

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research literature, and explain through an example how these adjustments have enabled more effective learning by the individual or the group being taught.

Unit 3 / Session 1. Complexity of learning and the methods through which formative

assessment supports effective teaching and learning.

Introduction

Т. If the main role of the teacher is to make learning more effective for each learner

how can s/he do this? What indicators does the teacher look for to ascertain if a pupil

is learning? This will mean an analysis of the cultural, environmental, contextual and

practical conditions in the classroom to enable a range of student learning

behaviours.

Т. We are starting Unit 3 of Module 1. There are several questions for discussion. I would

like you to share your ideas through theoretical discussion.

For the trainer:

Dialogue is a type of communication that has three key characteristics:

• Communicative (contents);

• Interactive (interaction/transaction);

• Perceptive (feelings, emotions).

The dialogue can be established if all features of communication are presented.

What do we need?

1. Trainer (teacher, facilitator) and moreover training participant (student) should be ready to share

the information. In other words, he/she should have basic information. If we are talking about

dialogue, there should be a motivation for dialogue. (“I want to talk!”, “I am interested to talk

about this!” “I want to talk with the teacher, peers. Classmates etc.) This what is related to the

communication features of the dialogue – sharing the information. Participants should have task-

related information that they are ready to share.

2. The efficiency of the dialogue depends on the clear structure of the transaction (collaboration)

with whom and how to collaborate. In this case it is clear why interactive methods are effective.

They provide structure for collaborations.

3. Perceptive features of the communication are provided by the third conditions – friendly and open

communication. Here we can repeat what we always refer to as the learning environment.

During discussions ask supportive – clarification questions, involve all participants in the

discussion and ensure there is an open atmosphere in which everybody feels able to contribute, to

talk. Smoothly move from one question to another after ensuring that all participants have had the

opportunity to contribute and to reflect before and after contributing. Listen carefully and

objectively. Manage the discussion process give opportunity to all participants, not only more

active ones.

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Write the below questions on the flipchart or demonstrate slide # 1 from the Power

Point Presentation for this training module.

Т. Ask candidates to read each question [present each of the question below one

by one] and tell them to reflect for 30 seconds and communicate his/her own

response to the class/group. Encourage candidates to join in and contribute to

developing this dialogue.

Refining a definition of formative assessment (10 minutes)

Т. We discussed definition of formative assessment. Let’s check it once more What is

formative assessment? Work in small groups (divide the participants into 4 small groups) answer

the questions. (The Trainer can develop 4 cards and group leaders can select one question. Groups

discuss 2-3 minutes and share the responds 2 minutes)

When all groups present their responses to one question, then ask the next question and

listen to several answers:

• How has that moved us on in our investigation of formative assessment?

• Let us see if our thinking has changed towards a definition of formative assessment.

A practical activity (Suggested time: 20-25 minutes)

• What do you understand by ‘complexity’ in a classroom situation?

• How do you understand the complexity of the learner and the learning process?

• What strategies, methods or techniques do you have to address this complexity?

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1. How does it support teaching?

2. How does it support learning?

3. How does the teacher need to change?

4. How is the pupil involved?

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Т. - Today’s session is about linking or integrating teaching, learning and assessment in theory

and practice. We have discussed the concepts theoretically, now let us explore what some of the

following practical situations that occur daily in the classroom look like.

Here are four descriptions which outline potential formative teaching scenarios.

Each group selects one case and prepares a presentation.

Т. - Demonstrate your understanding of how formative teaching can produce effective

learning.

T. - Prepare presentation on the topic of ‘What are the advantages and disadvantages of the two

opposite models of teaching, learning and assessment?’. These models are:

(i) the integration of teaching, learning and assessment in the classroom and

(ii) the traditional model of a test or quiz at the end of a lesson.

Try to start referencing your statements with literature either from your own reading or our

sessions.

Work in small groups (in pairs). Participants can use Venn’s Diagram (5-10 minutes.

Presentation of the group works. 4 presentation each 5-7 minutes (20-25 minutes)

• Learner-centred teaching based on a differentiated pedagogy [Learners set their own

learning problems and become researchers for solutions. The classroom environment

involves all pupils as active learners]

• Teacher in transaction mode, not transmission mode [Fluidity of roles between teacher

and learner. Less teacher ‘voice’, more pupil ‘voice’] Consider some implications- the

culture of a classroom needs to change- increase in ‘working noise’- movement- group

fluidity

• Strategies (such as guided group working) used to address the complexity of learning

needs. Consider implications of viewing guided group strategy as ‘remediation for slow

learners/filling gaps’ [Questions raised by pupils in active learning mode, rather than

pupils as ‘suppliers’ of answers in responding mode. Teachers develop ‘chains’ of

dialogue sequences.]

• Pupils involved in developing own learning and learning targets with the teacher.

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Unit 3 / Session 2. Practical meaning of ‘learner-centred’ teaching

How can a teacher support a pupil to learn more effectively?

What is active rather than passive pupil involvement learning?

Т. Learner-centredness: teaching interventions that are suited to the taught group of pupils’

potential levels of learning. This ‘learner-centered’ pedagogy is serviced by

(i) adult-pupil verbal interactions, (ii) differentiation and (iii) formative assessment.

Learners and learning progression should be thought about holistically as an integrated process.

Learning is not just cognition as a solo element in that process. It is the integration of the

affective, conative and cognitive domains.

Construct a working model/graph to demonstrate a groups readiness levels linked to cognitive,

conative and affective domains. (Work in pairs.)

Presentations of pair works and class discussion.

T. Involvement in own learning: [co-construction]; the pupil’s learning needs should dictate

the planning for teaching and learning – not the reverse, in which the teacher writes a plan based

on the curriculum but does so without involving the children’s learning needs, their interest,

motivations, styles of learning in developing that planning. As a result the child [learner] has no

sense of any ‘ownership’ of the learning task.

Discussion with the whole group: (up to 10 min)

- What would pupil outcomes look like if the pupils were involved in the whole learning

and assessment process?

- How is it possible for a teacher to support the learner to be ‘involved in learning’?

Т. Lesson planning.

- How you currently plan your lessons?

- Do you use Teacher’s Guide?

- How will you incorporate formative teaching, learning and assessment components into your

existing and future lesson plans?

Group discussion (up to 10 minutes). Draft an example in each group [25 minutes]

Unit 3 / Session 3. Definition of classroom assessment by developing a critique of relevant

research literature

T. – Let’s move to the next task. We will read a text using marking strategy\.

For the trainer:

In this case it is recommended to use reading through marking strategy PMI:

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P – «plus» used to mark all information that the reader likes and the information that will be used

to achieve objectives and that brings positive emotions.

М – «minus» used to mark all information that the reader doesn’t like and the information that

will not be used, or still unclear and seems boring

I – «interesting» used to mark interesting facts. Questions to the trainer (teacher).

After explanation of the reading rules Text from Appendix 1 is given to the participants. Individual

reading activity.

Т. Divide the participants into 4 groups and ask them to find answers to the below questions from

the text and prepare presentation.

1. How does OECD define ‘formative’ assessment? What is the link that OECD makes

between ‘effective assessment’ and ‘formative assessment’?

2. OECD suggests ‘frequent interactive assessment of student understanding’ – in

classroom practice, what factors do you think would make this work?

3. OECD describes teachers ‘actively involving students, helping them to develop skills

that enable them to learn better’. What skills might those be?

4. ‘teachers begin to change the ways in which they interacted with

pupils……scaffolding’ students towards ‘learning goals’ – what are some of the

implications for classroom practice?

Each presentation should be completed by the overall group discussion. Discussion should be

completed by the overall group discussion of:

- Give your own summary of the OECD Policy Brief (2005).

Reading of the text (30-35 min)

Т. Wrap up of the session using below questions.

• What do you understand by the term ‘scaffolding’ in a teaching and learning context?

• How is ‘success’ currently defined in your school?

Т. assignment: Summarise the OECD Policy Brief and write a critique [positive and negative] on

the relevance of the Formative assessment Policy for your classroom teaching.

Suggested further reading:

Boyle B & Charles M (2013) Formative assessment for Teaching and Learning pages 6-22

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Appendix 1.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development [OECD] Policy Brief.

[November 2005] was issued to address the role of formative assessment in improving learning

in classrooms, the issues of what is involved in formative assessment in practice and how policy

can promote formative assessment and therefore more effective national teaching and learning

systems.

‘To be truly effective, assessment should be ‘formative’ – in other words, identifying and

responding to the students’ learning needs. In classrooms featuring formative assessment,

teachers make frequent interactive assessments of student understanding. This enables the

teachers to adjust their teaching to meet individual student needs and to better help all students to

reach high standards.

Teachers also actively involve students in the process, helping them to develop skills that enable

them to learn better.

If formative assessment is used in a framework for teaching, teachers change the way in which

they interact with students, how they set up learning situations and guide students towards

learning goals, even how they define student success.

What are the benefits of formative assessment?

Formative assessment has been shown to be highly effective in raising the level of students’

attainment, increasing equity of student outcomes and improving students’ ability to learn.

The achievement gains associated with formative assessment have been described as ‘among the

largest ever reported for educational interventions’. The study carried out by the OECD’s Centre

for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) supports these findings.

Formative assessment also improves equity of student outcomes. Schools which use formative

assessment show not only general gains in academic achievement but also particularly high gains

for previously under-achieving students. Attendance and retention of learning are also improved,

as well as the quality of students’ work.

Formative assessment builds students ‘learning to learn’ skills by emphasising the process of

teaching and learning and involving students as partners in that process. It also builds students’

skills at peer-assessment and self-assessment and helps them develop a range of effective

learning strategies. Students who are actively building their understanding of new concepts

(rather than merely absorbing information) and who are learning to judge the quality of their own

and their peers’ work against well-defined criteria are developing invaluable skills for lifelong

learning.

What does formative assessment involve in practice?

Teachers using formative assessment have changed the culture of their classrooms, putting the

emphasis on helping students feel safe to take risks and make mistakes and to develop self-

confidence in the classroom. Teachers working with students from backgrounds other than their

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own also make efforts to understand cultural preconceptions. They interact frequently with

individual or small groups of students and involve students in the assessment process, providing

them with tools to judge the quality of their own work.

Teachers also make the learning process more transparent by establishing and communicating

learning goals, tracking student progress and, where necessary, adjusting goals to better meet

student needs. Teachers often find that comments are more effective than marks for improving

student performance and helping all students to reach high standards. It is not always easy to

drop or decrease the frequency of mark-usage however. Sometimes students and their parents

prefer marks because they have traditionally been used to them – so sensitivity and clarity in the

process of replacing marks by comments is necessary.

To meet the range and complexity of student learning needs, teachers vary instruction methods.

They ensure that lessons include different approaches to explaining new concepts, provide

options for independent classroom work and encourage students who have grasped a new

concept to help their peers.

Teachers use a range of approaches to assess student understanding of what has been taught.

They may use diagnostic assessment to determine a student’s level of learning when he or she

first enters a new school or at specified times during the school term to help shape teaching

strategies. During classroom interaction teachers encourage dialogue and range of questioning

techniques. Questions regarding causality or open-ended questions often reveal a student’s

misconceptions, for example. Teachers could provide verbal or written feedback on a student’s

work. Teachers and researchers have found that the most effective feedback is timely, specific

and tied to explicit criteria. Teachers most importantly must adjust their planning and teaching

strategies to meet those learning needs identified through assessment.’

The OECD Policy Brief also stated that formative assessment needs to be practiced

systematically in international education systems and that it should be used as a framework for

teaching. By following this approach, teachers would begin to change their approach to

interacting with pupils, how they set up learning situations and ‘scaffolded’ pupils towards

learning goals, and ‘even how they define student success’ [OECD 2005, p.1]