Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom

AssessmentBy Paul Black and Dylan William

Presentation by Esther, Suzanne and Áine

The ArgumentPresent policy treats the classroom as a black box:

Classroom

Pupils/teachers

Management

Rules &requirements

Parental anxieties

Tests with pressures

More knowledgeable and competent pupils

Better test resultsSatisfied (and exhausted)

teachers

Formative assessment is at the heart of effective teaching

“Teachers need to know about their pupil’s progress and difficulties with learning so that they can adapt to meet their needs- needs which are often unpredictable and which vary from one pupil to another”.

Three main points:1. There is evidence that improving formative assessment raises

standards2. There is room for improvement3. There is evidence about how to improve formative assessment

Examples Does improving formative assessment raise standards?

Studies which strengthened the practice of FA produced significant learning gains

Typical effect size between 0.4 and 0.7

Low achievers gained more: study focused purely on low-achieving students and students with learning disabilities showed that frequent assessment feedback helped them enhance their learning

Is there room for improvement? A poverty of practice:

Effective learning (e.g. tests encourage superficial learning, not understanding)

Negative impact (e.g. low-achieving students are told that they lack “ability”-> not able to learn)

Managerial role of assessment (e.g. filling in of results reports is given greater priority than the analysis of the pupils’ work)

An empty commitment from the government

How can we improve formative assessment? The self-esteem of pupils

Self-assessment by pupils

The evolution of effective teaching

Summary and Quotes “Teaching and learning have to be interactive”

“Innovations which include strengthening the practice of formative assessment produce significant, and often substantial, learning gains”

“improved formative assessment helps the (so called) low attainers more than the rest and so reduces the spread of attainment whilst also raising it overall.”

“Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid comparison with other pupils.”...“Marking reinforces under-achievement”

“Opportunities for pupils to express their understanding should be designed into any piece of teaching”

“The dialogue between pupils and teachers should be thoughtful, reflective, focused to evoke and explore understanding, and conduct so that all pupils have an opportunity to think and to express their ideas”

Summary and Quotes This study showed “firm evidence that indicates clearly a direction for

change which could improve standards or learning.”

PPS session 28 October: Working inside the black box: assessment for learning in the classroom Follows on from this article to provide advice on how to improve formative

assessment and address the issues identified, through: Questioning

Feedback through grading

Formative use of summative tests

Peer assessment and self assessment