Formative Assessment

Inside The Black Box
With the departure of ERO this term there has been a highlight of the need for a common level of practice in the use of our data.  This post is particularly focussed on the use of formative assessment data to improve our practice, planning, reporting and general knowledge of our learning progress. 

It was recommended to us to use as one of the core academic sources an article by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam called Inside the Black Box : Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment  [click on the title to link to an online copy].  This article is somewhat dated (circa 1998) but was a quick read (only sixteen pages) and written with the teacher in mind. 

I believed that my own practice around formative assessment is/was very sound.  It has morfed slightly over my years as a teacher of Mathematics - but primarily has involved the same strategy.  Specifically that looked like beginning lessons with some "do now" questions (maths material that focusses on the work covered in recent lessons or earlier this year).  I have detailed roll book (see attached document). 

My formative assessment data would be the scores out of 10.  These I used as a means of gauging whether the class are 'getting it'.  Inside the Black Box really challenged my assumptions and drilled down into the quality of what my formative practice has actually been. 

Here are some of the quotes which if found to be most profound...
  

"Improved formative assessment helps low achievers more than other students and so reduces the range of achieved while raising achievement overall." (p. 4)

A strong statement on the importance of a concentration on the use of data. 

"Pupils who come to see themselves as unable to learn usually cease to take school seriously." (p. 4). 

With honest personal reflection I can see this trait is a valid observable factor in with 9BK - students that are giving up on Maths as they see themselves unable to do it.  Making this one of my priority goals as an teachers. 

"Teachers are often able to predict pupils' results on external tests because their own tests imitate them, but at the same time teachers know too little about their pupils' learning needs." (p. 5)

This is notable in my own formative assessment - I know who's on track for the summative assessment but I'm not specifically able to pin point exactly where they're deficient (and therefore I'm lacking in my practice with feedback/feedforward). 

"Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons with other pupils." (p. 7) 

Black and Wiliam highlight a particular shortcoming of my own use of formative data;

"It is essential to ensure the quality of feedback.  Research studies have shown that, if pupils are given only marks or grades, they do not benefit from feedback." (p. 9)

And they challenge with a self assessment questions of;

"Do I really know enough about the understanding of my pupils to be able to help each of them?" (p. 10)

Here are the questions that the ERO team were asking staff and management...

For Staff

1. Where is your formative data?  Can I see it?
2. How do you use your formative data to plan?
3. Can I see the notes you've made for yourself that you use to follow up on?
4. Where are your reflections on your students?

For Management

1. What tools are you expecting your staff to use to gather formative data?
2. What do you provide to staff as guidelines and expectations you have for your staff?
3. What are the your expectations on recording formative observations?

 Finally they commented "We can see the data, we can't see overtly the use of that data."





This material relates to RTC #
11. analyse and appropriately use assessment information, which has been gathered formally and informally - and - RTC # 8. demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn