I am currently completing my final assignment and will be finishing my paper on assessment on Friday. This will therefor be my final blog entry in this blog. I have however really enjoyed keeping this blog and feel I have learned a lot from others contributions and the reading I did in order to gain ideas about what to write about. Blogging is something I will probably do again in the future on another topic. Possibly even next year when I set a personal goal to improve my feedback and feedforward as part of my appraisal.
Thank you to all those who have read my postings and especially those of you who have taken the time to comment on my blogs. I appreciate your ideas and feedback and this has contributed positively to my learning. Best of luck for the remainder of the year.
Karla Lyttle
Monday, October 19, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Assessing Key Competencies
We are currently undergoing a review of our school vision, values and curriculum. This has so far been a very interesting time with many discussions still to happen. One of the things that we have been talking about is assessment. What will we assess, when, why etc. One of the questions that has come out of these discussions is how do we assess the key competencies and report this information to parents?
I found an article on TKI by Rosemary Hipkins titled Assessing Key Competencies: Why Would We? How Could We? Hipkins suggests some strategies which could be used to assess key competencies including:
* Learning logs or journals.
* Learning stories
* Portfolios
These are all assessment strategies which teachers currently use which could be adapted to include key competencies. For example learning journals could include specific learning goals within the key competencies and children could then reflect on these learning goals alongside other curriculum goals. Learning stories could also be completed based on key competencies. Some schools use rubrics to highlight children's level of proficiency in each key competency. Hipkins does not discount the use of rubrics but cautions teachers to ensure that they are used in a formative way: including children in the decisions and discussions about where they are now and what there next learning steps are.
When I taught New Entrant children I included learning stories in children's homesample books which highlighted which key competencies were involved and I was able to comment on what key competency we had focused on and how the child's development was going in this area. Eg how they had been able to relate to others during the activity that was storied. We include comments in our reports which relate to the key competencies also. I am very interested to hear how other schools are assessing key competencies and reporting this to parents.
I found an article on TKI by Rosemary Hipkins titled Assessing Key Competencies: Why Would We? How Could We? Hipkins suggests some strategies which could be used to assess key competencies including:
* Learning logs or journals.
* Learning stories
* Portfolios
These are all assessment strategies which teachers currently use which could be adapted to include key competencies. For example learning journals could include specific learning goals within the key competencies and children could then reflect on these learning goals alongside other curriculum goals. Learning stories could also be completed based on key competencies. Some schools use rubrics to highlight children's level of proficiency in each key competency. Hipkins does not discount the use of rubrics but cautions teachers to ensure that they are used in a formative way: including children in the decisions and discussions about where they are now and what there next learning steps are.
When I taught New Entrant children I included learning stories in children's homesample books which highlighted which key competencies were involved and I was able to comment on what key competency we had focused on and how the child's development was going in this area. Eg how they had been able to relate to others during the activity that was storied. We include comments in our reports which relate to the key competencies also. I am very interested to hear how other schools are assessing key competencies and reporting this to parents.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Quality Feedback
In previous posts I have discussed aspects from Shirley Clarke's book Unlocking Formative Assessment. One of the core components according to Clarke of formative assessment is quality feedback. Clarke has also written the book Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom. The information I am discussing in this blog post comes from these books.
Feedback seems central to the success or otherwise of formative assessment. It also seems that this is the aspect of formative assessment that teaches are less confident and knowledgeable about. After reading Clarke's books I feel that there are some important aspects to feedback that teachers need to understand. It is important that teachers understand that feedback should be about the learning intention, it should be about the quality of the children's work and not a comparison with other children. It should provide specific ways in which children can improve their work and the only comparisons made should relate to earlier work by that child. Teachers also need to know what the next learning steps are in order to provide quality feedback and they need to create a learning culture in their classroom where feedback is viewed positively. Feedback can come in many forms. It may be oral or written. It is also appropriate at times to ask a question as a form of feedback.
Research has shown that quality, relevant feedback and feedforward has a positive impact on children's learning. Until reading Clarke's books I had not realised how vital it was to improving learning opportunities for children in my classroom. Clarke offers some really practical examples of good feedback in her book Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom. I would recommend all teachers, not just primary teachers have a look at this book. It has some really good, clear advise on ways we can improve feedback for children.
In New Zealand we are very fortunate. We are able to use the curriculum exemplars, numeracy project progressions and the language learning progressions to helps us to understand children's current abilities and next learning steps. I don't believe that all New Zealand teachers use these resources as effectively as they could. The exemplars have now existed for quite some time and it is only recently that I have begun to use them to help me provide children with next learning steps. I have found these invaluable. I am going to make improving feedback my goal next year as part of my appraisal. It is something that I feel I can improve so that learning opportunities in my classroom are enriched.
Feedback seems central to the success or otherwise of formative assessment. It also seems that this is the aspect of formative assessment that teaches are less confident and knowledgeable about. After reading Clarke's books I feel that there are some important aspects to feedback that teachers need to understand. It is important that teachers understand that feedback should be about the learning intention, it should be about the quality of the children's work and not a comparison with other children. It should provide specific ways in which children can improve their work and the only comparisons made should relate to earlier work by that child. Teachers also need to know what the next learning steps are in order to provide quality feedback and they need to create a learning culture in their classroom where feedback is viewed positively. Feedback can come in many forms. It may be oral or written. It is also appropriate at times to ask a question as a form of feedback.
Research has shown that quality, relevant feedback and feedforward has a positive impact on children's learning. Until reading Clarke's books I had not realised how vital it was to improving learning opportunities for children in my classroom. Clarke offers some really practical examples of good feedback in her book Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom. I would recommend all teachers, not just primary teachers have a look at this book. It has some really good, clear advise on ways we can improve feedback for children.
In New Zealand we are very fortunate. We are able to use the curriculum exemplars, numeracy project progressions and the language learning progressions to helps us to understand children's current abilities and next learning steps. I don't believe that all New Zealand teachers use these resources as effectively as they could. The exemplars have now existed for quite some time and it is only recently that I have begun to use them to help me provide children with next learning steps. I have found these invaluable. I am going to make improving feedback my goal next year as part of my appraisal. It is something that I feel I can improve so that learning opportunities in my classroom are enriched.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
To Give Rewards or Not?
I have recently completed reading the NZ edition of Unlocking Formative Assessment by Shirley Clarke, Helen Timperley & John Hattie. I found chapter 8, Raising Children's Self Esteem' both fascinating and challenging. In this chapter the authors give very valid reasons why giving rewards such as stickers and certificates can have a negative effect on children's learning rather than their desired positive effect. Giving extrinsic rewards is seen by the authors as being detrimental to student learning, as they encourage children to strive for the reward rather than the achievement. In other words they are not necessarily learning focused. This goes completely against everything we are taught about behaviour management where rewarding positive behaviour with such things as sticker charts is encouraged.
I will be completely honest, I have sticker charts in my room and they focus on behaviour not learning intentions. I give certificates at assembly which are usually as a result of learning but sometimes not. I do intend to try to improve my formative assessment practices since reading this book and am happy to focus feedback, including rewards, on learning intentions. But I don't want to stop giving rewards altoghether. I am wondering what other schools do. Is my school late to pick up on not giving extrinsic rewards or is this part of the book not being adopted by schools? I can see that it is important to focus feedback on the learning intention so I feel that if rewards are given as feedback on the learning intention then that should be OK?
I will be completely honest, I have sticker charts in my room and they focus on behaviour not learning intentions. I give certificates at assembly which are usually as a result of learning but sometimes not. I do intend to try to improve my formative assessment practices since reading this book and am happy to focus feedback, including rewards, on learning intentions. But I don't want to stop giving rewards altoghether. I am wondering what other schools do. Is my school late to pick up on not giving extrinsic rewards or is this part of the book not being adopted by schools? I can see that it is important to focus feedback on the learning intention so I feel that if rewards are given as feedback on the learning intention then that should be OK?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Formative Assessment
I am currently doing a lot of reading about formative assessment for an assignment I am writing. I have found this a really interesting topic. Formative assessmnet when done well can have a huge impact on student learning. One of my school's values is to promote life long learning. By using formative assessment we can really help children to become life long learners as they develop the ability to assess their own learning.
I thought that I was using fromative assessment because I use learning intentions and success criteria. But what I have discovered is that I am missing a vital step: Children assessing their own learning!
In the book Unlocking Formative Assessment by Shirley Clarke there is a good overview of what formative assessment should consist of. She talks about clarifying learning intentions and sharing these with children as well as helping them to self assess their learning against the learning intentions. What I have been doing is using learning intentions in my planning, telling children what they are, and displaying them on the classroom wall. I have in a way just been playing lip service to formative assessment rather than living it. In my classroom the learning intentions have not really been at the centre of everything that I do, and children have not really self evaluated their own learning. Any self assessment has been more about the content than the skills rather than the learning itself. My next learning step is to ensure that I plan activities really carefully to ensure that children are working towards the intended learning intention and developing the ability to assess their current ability and next steps.
In my experience this is not unusual. There are many teachers who 'do' formative assessment in this way. I believe we could benefit from professional development in formative assessment.
I thought that I was using fromative assessment because I use learning intentions and success criteria. But what I have discovered is that I am missing a vital step: Children assessing their own learning!
In the book Unlocking Formative Assessment by Shirley Clarke there is a good overview of what formative assessment should consist of. She talks about clarifying learning intentions and sharing these with children as well as helping them to self assess their learning against the learning intentions. What I have been doing is using learning intentions in my planning, telling children what they are, and displaying them on the classroom wall. I have in a way just been playing lip service to formative assessment rather than living it. In my classroom the learning intentions have not really been at the centre of everything that I do, and children have not really self evaluated their own learning. Any self assessment has been more about the content than the skills rather than the learning itself. My next learning step is to ensure that I plan activities really carefully to ensure that children are working towards the intended learning intention and developing the ability to assess their current ability and next steps.
In my experience this is not unusual. There are many teachers who 'do' formative assessment in this way. I believe we could benefit from professional development in formative assessment.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
National Standards. Good or Bad?
I have recently completed an assignment outlining the negative impacts of national testing. There is overwhelming evidence that national testing and the publication of league tables ranking schools has a negative impact on the quality of education provided by schools. This got me thinking about the National Standards which are soon to be implemented into New Zealand schools.
I don't think the National Standards are a problem in themselves. It is great to have a clear idea of what we are aiming to achieve at different age levels in Mathematics and English. The problem as I see it is in how we assess children against the standards and what is done with the results. If New Zealand goes down the compulsory national testing route I believe this will be detrimental to our children's education.
In countries who have implemented national testing research has found that the curriculum is narrowed and teachers feel obligated to teach a small set of skills which will be tested rather than teaching more complex, valuable and powerful thinking and creative skills which the new Zealand curriculum values. National testing has been found to drive down the quality of teaching and learning. I really hope that we will not be forced to do this!
I am interested on what others think about the possibility of national testing in New Zealand schools and whether you think this is a good or bad idea.
I don't think the National Standards are a problem in themselves. It is great to have a clear idea of what we are aiming to achieve at different age levels in Mathematics and English. The problem as I see it is in how we assess children against the standards and what is done with the results. If New Zealand goes down the compulsory national testing route I believe this will be detrimental to our children's education.
In countries who have implemented national testing research has found that the curriculum is narrowed and teachers feel obligated to teach a small set of skills which will be tested rather than teaching more complex, valuable and powerful thinking and creative skills which the new Zealand curriculum values. National testing has been found to drive down the quality of teaching and learning. I really hope that we will not be forced to do this!
I am interested on what others think about the possibility of national testing in New Zealand schools and whether you think this is a good or bad idea.
Developing children's assessment capabilities.
Thanks for your feedback Greg. I think that the key in your statements is the word we. It sounds like your school is all on the same page. I think if we are to develop children's assessment capabilities it needs to be school wide. It would be very difficult for a teacher if they tried to do this on their own. It needs to be something which all staff value so that each year skills can be built on. We all need to show that it is important and valued so that children don't get mixed messages. I believe that a whole school approach would far more successful than one teacher going it alone.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
How Do We Develop Childrens Own Assessment Capabilities?
As teachers we often talk about educating children for the 21st century. One way that we can help children to be ready for an unpredictable future is to help them to develop the ability to asses their own learning needs. If children can understand what they know now and what their next learning step is then they will be able to continue to learn throughout their lives. If formative assessment is something done with children and not to them they will be ready to tackle and understand the changes that will take place in their lifetimes. SIMPLE? I DON'T THINK SO!
I understand that it is important to develop children's ability to access, interpret and use information from assessment to further their learning. But what I am unsure about is how we go about teaching them this. How do we develop independence in a generation that seems to be increasingly dependant on others? How do we get children from the point where they know they don't know something, to a point where they understand what they need to do to learn to do new things and understand new concepts. It is easy to say we need to teach them to assess their own learning, but what does this look like in practice. What do we need to do to encourage this learning to happen?
Any thoughts?
I understand that it is important to develop children's ability to access, interpret and use information from assessment to further their learning. But what I am unsure about is how we go about teaching them this. How do we develop independence in a generation that seems to be increasingly dependant on others? How do we get children from the point where they know they don't know something, to a point where they understand what they need to do to learn to do new things and understand new concepts. It is easy to say we need to teach them to assess their own learning, but what does this look like in practice. What do we need to do to encourage this learning to happen?
Any thoughts?
Friday, August 7, 2009
Why do we use assessment in primary schools?
I am a primary school teacher and syndicate leader. I have had many conversations with my colleagues about the amount of assessment we do. Sometimes we feel that we spend more time assessing children's abilities than we do teaching them new things. I thought that I would begin my blog by reflecting on the reasons we assess in primary schools in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Curriculum states that the primary purpose of assessment should be to improve learning and teaching. Schools do this in many different ways.
The New Zealand Curriculum states that the primary purpose of assessment should be to improve learning and teaching. Schools do this in many different ways.
- One way that this can be achieved is by school wide data collection. By looking at the achievement levels of children across the school, schools can focus professional development, funding and recources on areas of need identified in the data.
- Assessment can also be used with individual children, groups and whole classess to assess the current abilities and next learning steps of the children. By assessing children teachers can plan for their next learning steps.
- Assessment can also be summative. It can be used to find out if the children have understood a concept.
- Assemssment information is also used when reporting to parents, BOT's and outside agencies.
- Standardised testing can help parents understand how their children are progressing in relation to expectations for their age.
I am sure there are other very important reasons why we use assessment. I would be interested in your thoughts on this.
The next step I believe is for children to develop their own assessment capabilities. We often hear teachers talking about creating life long learners. One way to ensure that children will become life long learners is to encourage them to imrove their ability to assess their current needs so that they can work towards improving them. This was highlighted strongly in the document Directions for Assessment in New Zealand which can be located on the TKI website. (This article was written to privide advise to the Ministry of Education.) I will be thinking more about developing childrens assessment capabilities in my next blog.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Welcome
Welcome to my Blog about assessment in education. I am currently working towards a Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Leadership at the University of Waikato. As part of one of my papers I have been asked to keep a blog about assessment for the duration of the course. Over the next ten weeks I will be reflecting on my learning about educational assessment. I intend to share my thoughts, ideas and wonderings about assessment. Please feel free to contribute your ideas, I would love to hear your thoughts!
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