Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning. Written by Jan Chappuis

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Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning

Written by

 Jan Chappuis

Presented by

Badriya Al Mamari

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—The Assessment Training Institute have been developing classroom applications of assessment for learning over the past decade and have created a framework of seven strategies to organize assessment for learning practices focused on the needs of the learner.

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The book, Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning, organizes research-based recommendations about formative assessment practices into an instructional framework that can improve student achievement. Through its study it focuses on the following:

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•How to help students develop a clear vision of the content standards they are responsible for learning.

•How to offer effective feedback related to your content standards.

•How to teach students to self-assess, peer-assess, and set goals for further learning

•How to offer focused practice and revision opportunities.

•How to engage students in tracking, reflecting on, and sharing their progress.

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Overview of the Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning

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How to Use the Study Guide from Pearson Assessment Training Institute??

*Contents of Each Chapter's Study Guide:

The study guide is organized with the following five features:

-Key Ideas-summarizing the chapters main points (the chapters learning targets).

-Pre-reading Questions-accessing your prior knowledge and leading into the chapter's main concepts.

-During- or After-reading questions-processing key ideas.

-Closure Questions-reflecting on your learning from the chapter.

-Activities-applying key ideas to your classroom.

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Ways of using the study guide

-Independent Work: Read, Respond, Try

-Collaborative Work: Discuss, Share, Do

—Chapter 1: "Formative Assessment and Assessment for Learning"

Introduces all seven strategies

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Key ideas:

—Defining formative assessment.

—Understanding key research on formative assessment's power.

—Understanding what the seven strategies are and how they connect to research findings.

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Pre-reading Questions

1. How would you define the term formative assessment?

2. What forms does assessment information take in your classroom? (grade, symbol, comment, raw score, number, other?)

3. What do you want students to do with assessment information?

4. When students act on assessment information, what do they do?

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Reading through chapter1

—What is formative assessment?

•"Formative assessment, therefore, is essentially feedback (Ramaprasad1983) both to the teacher and to the pupil about present understanding and skill development in order to determine the way forward" (Harlen & James, 1997, p. 369

•"[Formative assessment) refers to assessment that is specifically intended to provide feedback on performance to improve and accelerate learning"(Sadler, 1998, p. 77).

•"An assessment is formative to the extent that information from the assessment is fed back within the system and actually used to improve the performance of the system in some way" (Wiliam & Leahy, 2007, p.31).

•"Formative assessment is defined as assessment carried out during the instructional process for the purpose of improving teaching or learning. What makes formative assessment formative is that it is immediately used to make adjustment so as to form new learning" (Shepard, 2008, p.281).

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Formative Assessment

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Formal and informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence for the purpose of improving learning in the classroom we asses formally through assignments, tests, quizzes, performances, projects, and surveys; or informally through questioning and dialogue, observing, and note taking. In any of these instances, we may or may not be engaged in formative assessment: the determining factor is not the type of assessment we use, but rather how we and our students use the information.

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Summative Assessment

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When the information from an assessment is used solely to make a judgment about level of competence or achievement, it is a summative assessment . At the classroom level, an assessment is summative when it is given to determine how much students have learned at a particular point in time, for the purpose of communicating achievement status to others.

The communication usually takes the form of symbol, a letter grade or number, or a comparison to a standard such as "Meets the Standard" or "Proficient," that is reported to students and eventually to parents.

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At the program level, an assessment is summative when results are used to make judgments such as determining how many students are and are not meeting standards in a certain subject for purposes of accountability. The data may be reported to educators within the system, the school board, and the community.

Summative assessments aren't bad or wrong. They're just not formative; they have a different purpose to report out level of achievement

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—Formative & Summative assessment Integration!

Sometimes an assessment intended to be used formatively can be used summatively, such as when the evidence indicates that students have attained mastery. And sometimes an assessment intended to be used summatively can be used formatively, such as when a test reveals significant problems with learning that we address through reteaching.

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—Formative or Summative ??

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What Gives Formative Assessment Its Power?

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-Use of classroom discussions, classroom tasks, and homework to determine the current state of student learning/understanding, with action taken to improve learning/correct misunderstandings.

-Provision of descriptive feedback, with guidance on how to improve, during the year.

-Development of student self- and peer-assessment skills.

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Formative assessment is a powerful tool in the hands of both teachers and students and the closer to everyday instruction, the stronger it is. Classroom assessment, sensitive to what teachers and students are doing daily, is most capable of providing the basis for understandable and accurate feedback about the learning, while there is still time to act on it. And it has the greatest capacity to develop students’ ability to monitor and adjust their own learning.

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Assessment in Teachers' Hands

-Who is and is not understanding the lesson?

-What are this student' strengths and needs?

-What misconceptions do I need to address?

-What feedback should give students?

-What adjustments should I make to instruction?

-How should I group students?

-What differentiation do I need to prepare?

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Assessment in Students' Hands

"Assessment for Learning -formative assessment practices designed to meet students' information needs to maximize both motivation and achievement, by involving students from the start in their own learning (Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis, 2004).

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1. Where are you trying to go? (identify and communicate the learning and performance goals)

2. Where are you now? (assess, or help the student to self-assess, current levels of understanding)

3. How can you get there. (help the student with strategies and skills to reach the goal).

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—Chapter : Summary

5. After reading pages 3–7 , revisit your definition of formative assessment. 

Would you make any changes to it now?

6. Which formative assessment practices led to 

significant achievement gains, according to reports of research studies? (pp. 7–9)

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Chapter 2: "Where Am I Going? Clear Targets"

Key ideas:

—Developing learning goals in students

—Clarifying learning targets

—Communicating targets t students

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—Strategy 1: Provide students with a clear and understandable vision of the learning target.

Motivation and achievement both increase when instruction is guided by clearly defined targets. Activities that help students answer the question, "What's the learning?" set the stage frail further formative assessment actions.

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—Strategy 2: Use examples and models of strong and weak work.

Carefully chosen example of the range of quality can create and refine students' understanding of the learning goal by helping students answer the questions, "What defines quality work?" and "What are some problems to avoid?"

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Chapter 3: "Where Am I now? Effective Feed­back"

Key ideas

—Understanding the characteristics of effective feedback.

—Selecting feedback options suited to students' grade level and kind of learning to be addressed.

—Preparing students to give each other feedback.

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—Strategy 3: Offer regular descriptive feedback

Effective feedback shows student where they are on their path to attaining the intended learning. It answers for students the questions, "What are my strength? "What do I need to work on?"; and "Where did I go wrong and what can I do about it?"

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Chapter 4: "Where Am I Now? Self-assessment and Goal Setting"

Key ideas

—Understanding the impact of self-assessment on student achievement.

—Teaching students to self assess with a focus on learning targets.

—Teaching students to create specific and challenging goals.

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•Strategy 4: Teach student to self-assess and set goals.

The information provided in effective feedback models the kind of evaluative thinking we want student to be able to do themselves. Strategy 4 teaches students to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to set goals for further learning. It helps them answer the questions, "What am I good at?"; "What do I need to work on?"; and" what should I do next?"

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Chapter 5: "How Can I Close the Gap? Focused Teaching and Revision"

Key ideas

—Identifying typical misconceptions, reasoning errors, and learning gaps for focused instruction.

—Creating short practice assignments to scaffold the learning and make it more manageable.

—Giving students opportunities to practice and act on feedback before the summative event.

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—Strategy 5: Design lessons to focus on one learning target or aspect of quality at a time.

When assessment information identifies a need, we can adjust instruction to target that need. In this 5th strategy, we scaffold learning by narrowing the focus of a lesson to help students master a specific learning goal or to address specific misconception or problems

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Strategy 6: Teach student focused revision.

This is a companion to Strategy 5 when a concept, skill, or competence proves difficult for students, we can let them practice it in smaller segments, and give them feedback in just the aspects they are practicing. This strategy allows students to revise their initial work with a focus on a manageable number of learning targets or aspects of quality.

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Chapter 6: "How Can I Close the Gap? Tracking, Reflecting on, and Shar­ing Learning.

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Key ideas:

—Keeping students in touch with their growth.

—Providing time and structure for students to reflect on their learning.

—Offering opportunities for students to share their progress.

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—Strategy 7: Engage students self reflection and let them keep track of their learning.

Long-term retention and motivation increase when students track, reflect on, and communicate about their learning. In this strategy, students look back on their journey, reflecting on their learning and sharing their achievement with others.

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Seven Strategies of Assessment for learning

•Where am I going?

-Provide students with a clear and understandable vision of the learning  target.

-Use examples and model of strong and weak work.

•Where am I now?

-Offer regular descriptive feedback.

-Teach students to self-asess and set goals

•How can I close the gap.

-Design lessons to focus on learning target or aspect of quality at a time.

-Teach students focused revision.

-Engage students in self-reflection, and share them.

-let them keep track of a learning.

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-Closure Questions-reflecting on your learning from the chapter.

-Activities-applying key ideas to your classroom.

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—Conclusion

The seven strategies are not a recipe to be followed step by step, although they do build on one another. Rather, they are a collection of actions that will strengthen students' sense of self-efficacy (belief that effort will lead to improvement), their motivation to try, and ultimately, their achievement. They represent a use of assessment information that differs from the traditional practice of associating assessment with test, and test with grade.

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