The importance of leader ownership in assessment
Dr. Tassos Anastasiades
Global Educator for Educational Leadership, Staff Development, Quality Assurance
Formative assessment plays a crucial role in effective learning, as noted by Malcolm Greenhalgh whose passion is ..
"Do what I can to ensure that all children who attend school have their needs met. We are all very different for so many reasons but the current curriculum that is offered by schools does not achieve this. The government's directional shift to a narrow curriculum which benefits a significant minority of the children that attend is the root cause of so many of our children seeing themselves as failures in one subject or another. They are demotivated and turned off learning. My main mission is therefore to encourage schools to broaden their curriculum, to see every pupil as an individual with personal needs and to ensure they meet them. Every child has a right to an education that they can relate to, enjoy and succeed within. In return, they will be motivated, inspirational and be valuable members of society"
I have worked with Malcolm and share his passion.
Malcolm emphasises the importance of moving away from top-down assessments in high-stakes exams.
This form of assessment allows for constant evaluation of learning progress and development, with an emphasis on empowering learners through self-assessment and identifying barriers to learning.
I agree that it is essential to recognise that learners, when equipped with the appropriate tools, are best positioned to assess their own progress and determine their next steps towards improvement.
To accurately tailor learning activities to individual needs, a continuous process of formative assessment shared between learners and teachers is advocated, supported by extensive research in the field.
Prominent works by educational researchers like Clive Watkins, Geoff Masters, Hargreaves, and O'Connor provide insight into the importance of shifting towards learner-centered education and collaborative professionalism.
Malcolm highlights that unfortunately, in England, there has been a regression to a teacher-centered model of assessment and curriculum delivery since 2010, leading to a widening gap between England's education system and top-performing global systems
This shift has not yielded the desired results and has resulted in a growing disengagement among learners with the education system
Educational experts emphasise the need for a long-term strategy focusing on building an education system fit for the demands of the future.
To enhance formative assessment practices and ensure every learner makes significant progress, several steps can be taken.
He recommends that schools should consider appointing an assessment lead to spearhead the integration of effective formative assessment practices.
Professional development in assessment is crucial to equip teachers with the necessary skills to engage in accurate and meaningful assessment practices, emphasising the importance of learner ownership in assessment processes
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Establishing clear and understandable learning criteria, incorporating 'learner-speak' mini-success criteria, is essential to guide learners in their development and motivate them to take ownership of their learning journey.
Facilitating self-assessment and peer assessment against these criteria enables learners to make informed decisions about their learning progress and areas for improvement.
Reliable moderation procedures, including student self-assessment, peer assessment, and teacher dialogues, are vital in ensuring the accuracy and consistency of assessments against the established criteria .
Lesson-based assessments that focus on 'learning talk' and reflection moments empower learners to evaluate their progress and make informed decisions to enhance their learning experience.
Listen to this debate on inclusive education
And also to the interview from David Burke Education Talks
This debate has been going on for an eternity.
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Dr Tassos Anastasiades
Freelance Educational Consultant (International Schools) - Tailoring Pedagogy, Assessment and Curriculum to Empower Teachers and Students.
5 个月Dr Tassos, I completely agree with this phiosophy of using formative assessments to improve student learning. I wonder if its right for some schools not to have an assessment lead, even after many years of existence. Even if they have one, there is no direction from the lead and teachers/ departments are doing something in the name of formative assessment. Also I wonder why these schools cannot understand the real purpose of formative assessment and keep grading, weighting these and computing the grades into the so called term or semester result. Its really sad! Students are so stressed even for a formative and all they get as feedback is a grade or a markscheme that allows them to know the right answer! My policy is very much like you say here - use a formative to assess where a student is in their learning, show them how to get better, teach them to use certain skills, give the feedback on what could be better, set mini- targets/ goals, and help them achieve these. Some school leaders do not agree to this philosophy!