Changes in assessment are difficult because so much of what is done is based on tradition and many teachers and parents have strong opinions about what they believe to be best.
If teachers in our classrooms are using assessment for learning and engaging students in the assessment process students themselves will advocate for assessment for learning with their parents. Our students will be the one’s who break tradition and move assessment for learning to a way of being.
Assessment for learning
* establishes where the learners are in their learning
* establishes where they are going
* works out how to get there
Guskey http://pdonline.ascd.org/pd_online/teachbehave2/el200302_guskey.html
The participants in assessment for learning are: teachers, peers, learners
“An assessment functions formatively to the extent that evidence about student achievement elicited by the assessment is interpreted and used to make decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions that would have been taken in the absence of that evidence.” (Wiliam, 2009)
A good teacher
* establishes where the students are in their learning
* identifies the learning destination
* carefully plans a route
* begins the learning journey
* makes regular checks on progress on the way
* makes adjustments to the course as conditions dictate
The past ten years have produced a great amount of research that supports changes to traditional assessment practices to improve student learning.
We need to focus on student learning and understand that learning is not a race or a competition. It is a journey and all students given the right instruction and amount of time will learn.
Students need to be recognized for their learning and given the information that they need to continue to progress with their learning. They need to know where they are at, and what they need to do to complete the learner outcomes.
Teacher Learning
The most powerful teacher knowledge is not explicit
* That’s why telling teachers what to do doesn’t work
* What we know is more than we can say
* And that is why most professional development has been relatively ineffective
Improving practice involves changing habits, not adding knowledge
* That’s why it’s hard - and the hardest bit is not getting new ideas into people’s heads
We need to create time and space for teachers to reflect on their practice in a structured way, and to learn from mistakes. Bransford, Brown & Cocking (1999)
“Always make new mistakes” Esther Dyson
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett
Making a commitment - What one thing could you commit to change in your assessment practices this year?
For more on this check out Dylan Wiliam's website
http://web.me.com/dylanwiliam/Dylan_Wiliams_website/Welcome.html
