Formative assessment

Assessment for Learning

What is this?

Since November 2012 the teachers of the Elementary School have been investigating, discussing and having a go at a teaching methodology that is known around the world as “assessment for learning”. The name can be confusing as it has nothing at all to do with formal assessments of children’s progress but rather is a method where the student and teacher together are clear on what the learning task is all about and can assess how successful or not the learning is. 

It begins with the teacher sharing with the children what the “learning intention” for that particular lesson will be. Teachers make use of the acronym W.A. L.T. (We are learning to….) to describe these intentions. For example W.A.L.T. add two digit numbers, W.A.L.T. throw an overhead pass, W.A.L.T. identify direct speech etc etc. Then the teacher and the students discuss what the success criteria for this particular learning intention may be, in other words, what will we need to do or demonstrate in order for this learning to be successful. Often a model is used to clarify what this success looks like, for example a high quality piece of writing, a piece of art work or the demonstration of a physical skill. In my experience, children like to know exactly what they are aiming for and what their learning should look, sound or be like. Once all of this is clear, the child with support from their teacher goes ahead and tackles the learning task, checking for themselves as they go to see whether they are meeting the criteria or not. The teacher supports this process by providing direct feedback about the specific criteria. The learning becomes “active” and most importantly the child is very much involved in what he/she is trying to achieve. In educational terms, we call this empowered learning.

Background research

There is now extensive educational research and literature behind this type of teaching methodology but the most significant comes from the work of Dylan William and Paul Black, two educationalists from the UK. Back in 1998 they published the results of their research, entitled “Inside the Black Box” where the identified five key factors that improve learning through assessment. These are:

• Recognition of the profound influence the motivation and self-esteem of learners has on learning.
• Active involvement of learners in identifying learning intentions and criteria for knowing when these are achieved.
• Adjustment of teaching to take account of the results of assessment.
• Provision of effective, timely feedback to learners.
• Support for learners to be able to assess themselves, reflect on their learning and to understand how to improve.

A Learning Example

A good way to think about this is to imagine ourselves in a situation where we are learning something new. Learning a new language is a good example. As adults, I believe, we would like to know what the intention of the lesson is, we would need a good model to follow and we would like to know what we have to say, read or write to be successful. Then we need feedback both from ourselves and from whoever is teaching us. Interestingly this is why computerized games work so well—the learner gets instant feedback as they move through the activity, they do not have to wait until they receive a grade at the end of lessons.

Most importantly, as we are going through this process of learning a new language we can adjust our efforts according to this vital feedback.

 What our children will be talking about next?

Over the next few weeks, you can expect your elementary-aged children to know something about the learning intentions they are being exposed to in class. A good question to ask would be “So, what did you learn today?” or “What is your WALT?”. For some of our teachers, using this methodology is nothing new, for others it is a new style of sharing the learning with their students. Our aim is for everyone to be using the same method, so that it becomes habit-forming for our children.

We all want our students to have high expectations of themselves as learners; feel confident about their capacity to learn; set high goals for their learning and work for themselves to construct enjoyable, challenging, learning pathways to their futures.

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