Bottom up or top down? AFL and ECM and their implications for school improvement

AAIA Annual Conference 2006A contribution from Ruth Sutton

Interesting ideas, pity about the title

What am I trying to do? Compare and contrast the long-

standing principles of Assessment for Learning to the new kid on the block, Every Child Matters

Consider the implications of this and other developments for the way schools do business, and how we can best support them

AFL and ECM: different originsAssessment for Learning: the confluence of a

number of streams of thought and practice over the past twenty years and more:

a shift towards more specific expected outcomes and assessment criteria, mainly driven by public accountability but of significance for learners and teachers too

recognition that only learners can improve learning

recognition of the link between motivation and achievement

survival through the tempests of National Curriculum requirements and testing, and what we learned from the experience

an increasing and powerful body of global research on how assessment links to learning

AFL : long-term and bottom-up Strategies developing in real classrooms

over a long period Patchy, intuitive, much influenced by the

cultures of different schools Sometimes distracted by external

imperatives, and sometimes encouraged by them

Very few teachers who adopt AFL strategies go back to what they did before: there’s something in it for the teachers as well as the students

ECM: reactive and top-down

Intrinsic appeal of ‘joined-upness’ Emotional impact of major failures in

our care of very vulnerable children Government always alert to ‘zeitgeist’

and capturing the moral high ground Long-standing anxiety among both

main English parties about ‘controlling’ educators and LEAs

The Disunited Kingdom on Education Policy Very striking recent divergence on assessment

policy in different parts of the UK Welsh Assembly very keen to distance itself

from assessment approaches in England and follow a research-driven path

Scotland well ahead of England and Wales on assessment approach over the past decade and drawing further away all the time

Why has the English Cabinet’s allegiance to testing and league tables remained so strong?

Time to examine the influence of Lord Adonis who has now outlasted several Education ministers, and whose days – hopefully – are as numbered as his mate Tony’s

Was Blair’s thinking influenced by his buddy in the USA?

2002 US federal legislation “No Child Left Behind”

4 ‘pillars’• Stronger accountability for results• More local freedom• Proven education methods• More choice for parents

Strong and continued opposition from professional educators and researchers

ECM as motherhood and apple pie

Who could argue with this?The ECM goal:“Every child, whatever their

background or their circumstances, will have the support they need to:

Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive

contribution Achieve economic well-

being”

Only connect…..

ECM themes

Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and

achieve Make a positive

contribution Achieve

economic well-being

Assessment Reform Group: 10 principles (2002)

AFL should… Be part of effective planning Focus on how students learn Be central to classroom practice Be a key professional skill Be sensitive and constructive as any assessment

has an emotional impact Take account of the importance of learner

motivation Promote commitment to learning goals and a

shared understanding of the criteria Recognise the full range of achievement for all

learnersLearners should receive constructive guidance about

how to improveAFL develops learners’ capacity for self-assessment so

that they can become reflective and self-managing

Powerful common underpinning themes

The work of Carol Dweck, published after the Black and Wiliam 1998 study was complete and therefore not included. Dylan Wiliam regards this work as central to the AFL canon

Self Theories:The work of Carol Dweck

This researcher starts with the psychology of learning and motivation

The details of her book: Self Theories: Their Role in Motivation,

Personality and Development Psychology Press, 1999 ISBN 1-84169-024-4(paper)

Fundamental question

Do you believe that intelligence is something you are born with and which cannot be increased through work and effort?

Or do you believe that you can add to the intelligence you have inherited, by effort and learning new things?

Responses to this question are closely related to young people’s motivation, confidence, resilience and emotional well being

How beliefs about ‘intelligence’ affect learning and motivation

People who believe that their ‘cleverness’ is fixed tend to assume that failure is the end of learning and give up quickly, while others see it as an opportunity to learn more and persevere

If you don’t expect to make progress, you find success only in comparisons with others, not striving for your own ‘personal best’

Can interventions help?

Yes We help students to understand how their brains

work, and that the brain develops through challenge and struggle

We use practice and repetition to instil new habits of learning

We show students regularly how their work is improving, to demonstrate that perseverance brings results

We clarify expectations, restore a sense of control and coach students to exercise greater responsibility for their own learning improvement

We start these strategies early, and keep them going, to reduce the potential damage of ‘failing cool’

Intrinsic motivation: the key features for

teachers and schools as well as students

Self efficacy

Feedbackfor Self Awareness

Locus of control-

As close to self as possible

Motivation

Achievement

The ironyThe government’s interpretation of AFL, now

captured as part of ‘Personalised Learning’, has a different slant

Government’s interpretation of Assessment for Learning is really Assessment for Teaching, with the focus on gathering and using assessment data to plan teaching

Fine as far as it goes, BUT it does not include the student-centred elements that most strongly connect AFL with ECM

ECM into practice: the most immediate consequences

Merging of LA Education Departments into ‘Children’s Services’

Title of the new OFSTED process

Is this enough to warrant the fanfares? Does the Emperor actually have any clothes?

The structures of education

ECM challenges, yet again, the role envisaged by Government for local agencies

The LEA is already dead, transformed into an LA

What is gained and lost through the merging of Education Departments into Children’s Services departments?

ECM and OFSTED

How has the ECM agenda affected schools’ approach to the SEF and the inspection itself?

Think, pair, share

How can our expertise help schools?

We share our data analysis skills so widely and so well that the schools don’t need us for that purpose any more

We think big, all the time, and apply AFL principles to assessment at all levels of School Self Review– students, teachers, school leaders and the schools themselves

We advocate for ‘Student Voice’ We encourage planning for learning not planning for

coverage We respect adult learning principles in all PD

opportunities we offer: choice, recognition of prior experience, respect for different learning styles

We must communicate so well with parents in England, and especially in London, that they begin to demand what the rest of the UK is already developing – AFL as the cornerstone of learning and teaching in every school, uncluttered by the testing imperatives still dominant in this country

The plethora of initiatives We need to cherry-pick Identify any bits of current ‘initiatives’ that

support real learning for students and teachers, link them to what’s already there, and leave the rest in the freezer

If you ever need the stuff in the freezer, use your microwave to warm it up quick

More likely, when it’s past its use-by date and nobody’s missed it, throw it away

AFL principles have stood the test of timeAFL should…

•Be part of effective planning•Focus on how students learn•Be central to classroom practice•Be a key professional skill•Be sensitive and constructive as any assessment has an emotional impact•Take account of the importance of learner motivation•Promote commitment to learning goals and a shared understanding of the criteria•Recognise the full range of achievement for all learners•Learners should receive constructive guidance about how to improve•AFL develops learners’ capacity for self-assessment so that they can become reflective and self-managing

AFL is here to stay A continuing focus on the

principles of Assessment for Learning is our goal, even if we call it by a different name

It’s about changing the habits of teaching and the way classrooms and schools do business

Like any other change of habit, it requires practice, repetition and perseverance

Brain theory and habits:The 3 part brain

The neo-cortex: useful for assignments

The reptilian brain: useful for Saturday nights

The limbic brain: useful for changing habits

From ‘knowing’ to ‘doing’ The practices of teaching

and schooling are deeply ingrained or ‘hard-wired’

Habits are formed and changed in the limbic brain not the neo-cortex

They can only be changed through the limbic brain, by

‘Practice, feedback, practice’

Changing habits – according to ‘Addiction Theory’ (Proshaska)

Pre-contemplation Contemplation First step Discomfort and

floundering Practice Confidence New habit Coach someone else

The Weightwatchers’ Model of change

The Weight-watchers model for improving teaching involves:

Big, important, agreed goalsSmall steps and continual feedbackPerseveranceCollegial support and accountabilityRecognition of success

Some suggestions for AAIA Keep a constant check on the balance between

playing on the policy pitch and screaming from the sidelines, or even the stands

Use every strategic opportunity to influence the next generation of policy advisers, assuming that Adonis will go when Blair does

Keep an eye on the issue of Rights and Responsibilities and the links between policy and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, one of Alan Johnson’s pet issues

A hard row to hoe When your employment is

linked to the financing and delivery of specific initiatives, it’s hard to find any wiggle room

It takes courage, confidence and careful tactical thinking to maintain any autonomy at all and keep our eyes on the longer term prize

And now for something completely different……..

To the tune of ‘Frere Jacques’, in four parts

Clear objectives help our students

With their work, with their work

Then they need great feedback, ideas for improvement

For success, for success

Thanks again for the invitation

New book on the Winnipeg experience due out next month from Portage and Main Press

Ruth_Sutton@compuserve.comSeptember 13th 2006