Winter 2005

The Assessment agenda

Where to from here?

Like work in the field to date, future development of formative assessment practice will call on research from all over the world. TONI GLASSON brings us up to date.

THE ASSESSMENT REFORM GROUP (UK), established in 1989 by the British Educational Research Association, aims to ensure that assessment policy and practice take account of relevant research evidence.

To this end, they commissioned Professors Black and Wiliam, then both of King’s College, London, to examine the available research literature on formative assessment in order to establish (among other things) whether there was evidence that formative assessment contributed to an improvement in student achievement.

Their findings, published in Inside the Black Box (1998) and elaborated on subsequently (1999, 2002, 2003), are now well-known, as are the Assessment Reform Group’s set of research-based principles of assessment for learning, developed in order to guide classroom practice. The credentials of formative assessment as an effective way to raise student achievement and to provide a link between curriculum, classroom practice and summative assessment are thus firmly established, and have been endorsed most recently by the findings of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study of formative assessment practices in 19 OECD countries (2005).

In its Assessment for Learning Project, Curriculum Corporation drew on this research to create a professional development resource to assist teachers in the implementation of formative assessment practice. The response from teachers has been overwhelmingly positive.

So, what is the next step?

The challenge now is for systems and sectors to make use of the evidence confirming the effectiveness of formative assessment practices: to initiate policies that endorse and promote formative assessment; to plan and deliver professional development opportunities for teachers; to conduct further research related to formative assessment; and to establish processes for evaluating the process of implementation, its effects on classroom assessment and its efficacy in creating an assessment and evaluation culture in Australian schools. And indeed, the States and Territories are turning their attention to these issues.

The OECD study (Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms) identifies a set of policy principles that provide a useful starting point:

• Keep the focus on teaching and learning.
• Align summative and formative assessment approaches.
• Invest in training and appropriate support for formative assessment.
• Encourage innovation.
• Build stronger bridges between research, policy and practice.

There is no intention here to underestimate the nature of the commitment necessary for effective implementation of formative assessment practices, particularly on a systemic basis. Black and Wiliam (1998) draw attention to the fact that a long-term commitment is essential, thereby implying that the anticipation of a ‘quick fix’ is likely to lead to disappointment: ‘Lasting and fundamental improvements in teaching and learning can only happen relatively slowly and through a sustained programme of professional development and support.’

The OECD study also identified certain inhibiting factors in relation to the success of formative assessment. These included the tensions between classroom formative assessment and summative tests used for accountability purposes; the absence of an ‘assessment culture’; practicalities such as lack of time, large classes and challenging students; and the difficulty of sustaining innovation and change. But at the same time, teachers involved in the case studies demonstrated the ability to devise creative solutions to deal with these factors. Such inhibiting factors need not be seen as insurmountable.

Representatives of systems and sectors met at information days conducted by Curriculum Corporation during March 2005 in order to discuss these and other implementation issues. The formative use of summative assessment, issues associated with recording formative assessment judgements, and key issues related to reporting to parents and its impact on formative assessment were all raised by the participants. While it is certain that individual teachers in individual classrooms will act on the research evidence and make changes to their teaching practice, it is also clear that the provision of systemic support will be necessary in order to sustain more widespread change.

As its next step in assisting with the implementation process, Curriculum Corporation plans to produce a series of video DVDs, showing examples of teacher practice in relation to the key assessment for learning strategies, and containing interviews with teachers about their experiences of implementation with their classes. This resource will be able to be used in conjunction with the existing website (www.curriculum.edu.au/assessment).

Assessment and accountability are an important focus of the work of schools and teachers. However, as Grant Wiggins states:

If our aim is to improve student performance, not just measure it, we must ensure that students know the performances expected of them, the standards against which they will be judged, and have the opportunities to learn from the assessment in future assessments.

This is the focus of formative assessment.

References

Black, P & Wiliam, D (2003). Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice, OUP, UK.

Wiggins, W (n.d.). ‘Feedback: How Learning Occurs’, a speech given at the American Association of Higher Education and available at www.relearning.org/resources/PDF/feedback.pdf

Toni Glasson was the manager of the Assessment for Learning Project on behalf of Curriculum Corporation.

The author owns the copyright in this article. For information related to the reuse of this work in any form please contact the publisher denise.quinn@curriculum.edu.au