Ofsted supports development of assessment for learning strategies Ofsted supports development of assessment for learning strategies
Following initiatives on the assessment for learning National Strategy, Ofsted’s report on findings at a sample of 27 primary and 16 secondary schools reinforces the benefits of fully formative assessment practices but reveals general adoption and implementation issues from its sample. While the report affirms that the “impact of assessment for learning was good or outstanding in 16 of the 43 schools visited”, it also remarks that it was “inadequate in seven, including four of the 16 secondary schools” and that it “was better developed and more effective in the primary than the secondary schools”.
Assessment for learning is defined by the Assessment Reform Group as “the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there”. This places an emphasis on the design and use of straightforward internal (in)formative and diagnostic assessment strategies – rather than of summative, and evaluative ones. The results of these assessments feed back into syllabus design and teaching practices on the part of the teacher, and adjustments to the organization and perceptions of learning paths by the pupil. This will often require a significant cultural shift in customary practices in many learning and teaching environments.
However, the Ofsted report reveals the significant benefits of assessment for learning where it can be adequately implemented. Key findings of the study include that the “impact of assessment for learning on standards, achievement, teaching and the curriculum … was outstanding” and that “sustained, consistent and well understood assessment principles and practices had a demonstrable impact on pupils’ achievement”.
Ofsted’s full report on its sample evaluation of assessment for learning strategies, Assessment for learning: the impact of National Strategy support, can be found on the Ofsted web site.
Following initiatives on the assessment for learning National Strategy, Ofsted’s report on findings at a sample of 27 primary and 16 secondary schools reinforces the benefits of fully formative assessment practices but reveals general adoption and implementation issues from its sample. While the report affirms that the “impact of assessment for learning was good or outstanding in 16 of the 43 schools visited”, it also remarks that it was “inadequate in seven, including four of the 16 secondary schools” and that it “was better developed and more effective in the primary than the secondary schools”.
Assessment for learning is defined by the Assessment Reform Group as “the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there”. This places an emphasis on the design and use of straightforward internal (in)formative and diagnostic assessment strategies – rather than of summative, and evaluative ones. The results of these assessments feed back into syllabus design and teaching practices on the part of the teacher, and adjustments to the organization and perceptions of learning paths by the pupil. This will often require a significant cultural shift in customary practices in many learning and teaching environments.
However, the Ofsted report reveals the significant benefits of assessment for learning where it can be adequately implemented. Key findings of the study include that the “impact of assessment for learning on standards, achievement, teaching and the curriculum … was outstanding” and that “sustained, consistent and well understood assessment principles and practices had a demonstrable impact on pupils’ achievement”.
Ofsted’s full report on its sample evaluation of assessment for learning strategies, Assessment for learning: the impact of National Strategy support, can be found on the Ofsted web site.