Using assessment information to improve learning

Everything that is done for assessment purposes should be educationally justifiable. When planning for assessment, we should consider:

• the focus or goals;
  
• the assessment tools and procedures that will provide the most useful information in relation to the goals;
  
• who needs the information and how it will be used to support learning.
  

If I didn't really know my students, I couldn't do a good job. I gather information all the time as I'm working. Sometimes I want to pass something on, so I'll write it down and save it. But, if it's just something that only I need to know, then I don't write it down, I just use it to teach. Jane Dundas, Coatesville School

One school's story

The staff at Taita Central School were concerned that students were underachieving in written language. They decided, therefore, to obtain some hard data on exactly what their students were achieving. With support from literacy consultant Murray Gadd and the school's literacy leader, Tess Joseph, they developed very specific indicators of achievement. For example, they determined that, by the end of level 1, students should be able to:

• demonstrate some sense of sequence in their writing;
  
• use most Essential List One high-frequency words correctly;
  
• use a range of at least three content/interest words in their writing;
  
• use simple print resources to ascertain spelling of unknown words, for example, wall charts;
  
• write a simple sentence that is grammatically acceptable and that has a generally clear intent;
  
• use capital letters and full stops consistently;
  
• use question marks and speech marks from time to time with adult support;
  
• isolate, identify, and record most strong consonant sounds independently;
  
• isolate, identify, and record some vowel sounds independently and some with support;
  
• revise or edit their work with some support;
  
• proof-read their work with some support.

Once the staff had established expectations of achievement for most students in each year level, they then undertook a school-wide writing exercise. This exercise involved:

• all students writing a recount of a school performance, following a common set of teacher directions, such as discuss, brainstorm, write a draft, edit, and proof-read, all with limited teacher intervention;
  
• teachers assessing the students' work at syndicate level against the school-agreed indicators;
  
• the literacy consultant and the literacy leader undertaking a follow-up moderation exercise in order to promote consistency of assessment across the school.

The results showed that only 34 out of 140 students (24%) were meeting or exceeding the expected levels of achievement. The school staff then worked closely with the literacy consultant and the literacy leader to develop a clear plan of action. This plan included:

• analysing every work sample in order to identify current writing strengths and set "next step" teaching and learning goals;
  
• undertaking a series of whole-staff workshops on understanding and using appropriate strategies so that there was school-wide recognition of "best classroom practices" in written language;
  
• providing each teacher with individual professional assistance in using the strategies.

Eight months later, the school undertook a further school-wide writing exercise, following a similar process. The results indicated that there had been a significant improvement in written language achievement in all areas of the school: overall, the proportion of students who were meeting or exceeding the expected levels of achievement was now 59 percent. Once again, all work samples were then analysed to identify current writing strengths and to set "next step" teaching and learning goals. This analysis provided all teachers and students with very specific goals to work against over the next few months.

Feedback

Specific, constructive feedback about learning, as it is occurring, is one of the most powerful influences on student achievement. Positive feedback that celebrates their successes can help to keep students motivated and increase their confidence. Constructive feedback can highlight the things that are important to focus on and provide scaffolding towards the next learning steps.

Evaluative feedback and descriptive feedback

Tunstall and Gipps (1996) identify two main types of feedback:

• evaluative feedback
  
• descriptive feedback
  

Evaluative feedback is used mostly either to motivate students or to discourage them from doing work that is not acceptable to the teacher. It does not specifically describe the work itself. Evaluative feedback may take the form of:

• a reward – "The teacher gave me a star".
  
• punishment – "I had to write it out again".
  
• approval – "The teacher said it was well done".
  
• disapproval – "The teacher said this work was not good enough!"

Descriptive feedback gives students information about their achievement in relation to criteria, and it looks towards improvement. Descriptive feedback:

• tells a student what they have or have not achieved – "You've found three words that mean happy".
  
• tells a student that they are right or wrong, and why – "You've written speckled like a freckly face; that's a great simile to describe the tops of leaves".
  
• specifies or implies a better way of doing something – by demonstrating or saying "Why don't you try that again?"
  
• encourages a student to suggest ways that they can improve – " What would make this better?"

Reflection

Either have another teacher observe you or choose a period of time and monitor your own feedback patterns.

Tally	Example of comment/response
	General praise
	Specific to task (what students have or have not achieved)
	Next steps (suggesting ways to improve or a better way of doing something)

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