Formative AssessmentEvidence, Practice and

Teacher ChangeChristine Harrison

School of Education

King’s College LondonChristine.Harrison@kcl.ac.uk

Formative Assessment

• An assessment activity can help learning if it provides information to be used as feedback, by teachers, and by their students, in assessing themselves and each other, to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged.

• Feedback is two-way

– Student to teacher

– Teacher to student

• Feedback can be

– oral or written

– short term or medium term

Evidence of Effects

• Black and Wiliam (1998) review• 30 control/experimental studies• Effect sizes 0.4 – 0.7

– Many rigorous studies show that standards are raised by formative assessment.

– The positive effect is greater as the range of the formative feedback is expanded.

• King’s project work with schools– Standards were raised– Teachers happy about the way they had changed

KMOFAP

• King’s Medway Oxfordshire Formative Assessment Project

• 24 teachers (science and maths)• Qualitative evidence• Quantitative evidence

– Standards were raised– Teachers happy about the way they had changed

Qualitative evidence

Feedback in DiscussionQuestioning in Class

My whole teaching style has become more interactive. Instead of showing how to find solutions, a question is asked and pupils given time to explore answers together. My Year 8 target class is now well-used to this way of working. I find myself using this method more and more with other groups

(Nancy, Riverside School)

Feedback in DiscussionQuestioning in Class

•No hands Unless specifically asked pupils know not to put their hands up if they know the answer to a question. All pupils are expected to be able to answer at any time even if it is an ‘I don’t know’.

• Supportive climatePupils are comfortable with giving a wrong answer. They know that these can be as useful as correct ones. They are happy for other pupils to help explore their wrong answers further.

(Nancy, Riverside School)

Changes in Questioning

• Teachers role : move from presentation to exploration of students’ ideas, involving them in the exploration

• Students role : more active, realising that learning depends on readiness to express and discuss, not on spotting right answers

• Teachers spend more effort on framing questions to explore issues critical to development of students’ understanding

Feedback on Written WorkComment-only marking

•Those given feedback as marks are likely to see it as a way to compare themselves with others (ego-involvement), those given only comments see it as helping them to improve (task-involvement): the latter group out-perform the former.

•Feedback given as rewards or grades enhances ego rather than task involvement. (Butler, 1987).

Feedback on Written WorkComment-only marking

Previously I would have marked the work and graded it and made a comment. The pupils only saw the mark and/or credit. After a credit they lost the motive to improve. Now they get a credit after we have gone over the work so they have an incentive to understand the work.

Rose, Brownfields School.

Feedback on Written WorkComment-only marking

Comment only marking has made a difference in that students do now read what I write. I now give rewards to those who respond to my written questions or instructions and make it clear that this is the easiest way to get merits. The whole faculty moved to comment only assessment policy in September in the light of the [project’s] work. I am not aware of a single parent expressing concern over the lack of grades/levels/marks.James, Two Bishop’s School

Peer marking

• The kids are not skilled in what I am trying to get them to do. I think the process is more effective long term. If you invest time in it, it will pay off big dividends, this process of getting the students to be more independent in the way that they learn and taking the responsibility themselves. Tom, Riverside School

• We regularly do peer marking—I find this very helpful indeed. A lot of misconceptions come to the fore and we then discuss these as we are going over the homework. I then go over the peer marking and talk to pupils individually as I go round the room. Rose, Brownfields School

Putting it into practice

As well as assessing and marking (through discussion and clear guidance) their own work they also assess and mark the work of others. This they do in a very mature and sensible way and this has proved to be a very worthwhile experiment. The students know that homework will be checked by themselves or another girl in the class at the start of the next lesson. …... They take pride in clear and well presented work that one of their peers may be asked to mark.

Alice, Waterford School

Changes in Marking

• Teachers changed their view of the role of written work in promoting learning

• Teachers were challenged to compose comments which address the needs of the individual and reflect key aspects of the subject

• Teachers had to give more attention to differentiation in feedback

• Students changed their view of the role of written work as part of their learning

Quantitative evidence

Effect Sizes

• Reported on reality of classroom practice• 19 teachers and 23 classes• Majority between 0.2 and 0.3• Mean effect size 0.34

Teacher change

Categorised practice

• experts• moving pioneers• static pioneers• triallers

No obvious trend in effect size but interquartile range of effect sizes reduce as teachers become more expert.

Other Developments

• ARG• Key Stage 3 Strategy• Primary National Strategy• CAPITAL, JAFA, AiFL, KREST, PLPs• 14-19

Contact details

• e-mail : paul.black@kcl.ac.uk• Web-site:

www.kcl.ac.uk/education/research/kal.html

• Inside the Black Box Black and Wiliam 1998 nferNelson

• Working Inside the Black Box. • Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall & Wiliam • 2002 nferNelson• Assessment for learning : Putting it into practice.

Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall & Wiliam

• 2003 Open University Press