Assessment – Assessment and the Curriculum

Continuing the theme of assessment the next few posts are going to involve a trek around the QCA website to summarise the information and exemplification found there.

The QCA ‘Assessment and the Curriculum‘ page is a good starting point when considering how you will monitor the day to day progress of students as they traverse the brave new world of the new KS3 curriculum. The page contains useful links to:

Periodic Assessment: – Milestone monitoring of progress within a unit of work

Effective periodic assessment:

• is based on existing evidence drawn from classroom activity/lessons
• requires evidence from a wide range of contexts, for example observation of group work, class discussions, oral responses, class work, homework
• can be based on individual or group activities
• will be most effective where outcomes can feed directly into medium- and short-term planning
• requires a structured, consistent approach to the review of evidence
• depends upon good subject knowledge and a clear understanding of progression in key concepts and skills within the subject.

Periodic assessment has several benefits. It:

• does not require special assessment activities but involves taking the opportunities provided by planned teaching and learning
• has the potential both to offer a profile of pupils’ current achievement as well as formative outcomes (Where are these learners now? Where should their learning go next?)
• can be used to assess achievement across the whole curriculum
• reveals aspects of the curriculum that need to be strengthened
• supports evaluation of progress and the setting of appropriate learning targets at both individual and group level.

These bullets are taken straight from the QCA website. I would strongly urge all curriculum managers to pay close attention to what this type of assessment should and could be whilst subject leaders are busy considering their contribution to the new curriculum. Regular end of topic testing is not best practice! Creative and imaginative approaches to curriculum change won’t succeed if approaches to assessment are staid, outdated and have limited impact on learning.

Gathering Evidence for Periodic Assessment: – Outcome focused teaching leads to simplified monitoring

“No single item provides a complete picture, but a review of such a range of work leads to fairer, more complete judgements of learners’ strengths and weaknesses”

This link provides some exemplification of how we can capture the learning that has taken place in a particular pupil without waiting for the one-shot end of unit assessment. Ideas around visual (digital cameras), oral (recording quality of presentations and participation in discussions) and innovative methods of written assessment are outlined and some there are some helpful suggestions to try to evolve current classroom-based assessments away from the current model in terms of assessing pupils progress in working independently (without explicit scaffolding or structuring), making choices (eg. through open ended tasks), contributing to group work, etc

There is also some information about national key stage testing, but, as yet there is only a single paragraph of information. (Sorry!) I’m sure this will develop as the pilots start to bear fruit. More from the QCA assessment pages soon.

Personalisation

The following recommendations were made by a highly successful school working in a deprived area, where personalisation and brain-based learning have transformed the school:

• Education is done with not to, students
• Students have choices of how to learn, when they learn (through flexible timetabling), where they learn and with whom.
• Pupils become independent and lifelong learners
• Pupils are not dependent on others to dictate what should be learned, how it is learned, etc and so require less spoon feeding.
• Learning how to learn is a foundation stone
• Individual pace is facilitated by project and enquiry-based pedagogy

Other initiatives the school have successfully initiated:

• Suspended timetable where needed
• Personal challenge weeks
• Focus on consistent relationships with all pupils
• Pupils receive a one-to-one interview with a ‘learning guide’ once per half term.
• Pupils receive training on group work and peer/ self assessment
• Students are taught coaching and mentoring schools to assist each other.
• The school closes every Wednesday afternoon for staff collaboration, preparation and evaluation
• The school are moving towards a system in which pupils determine the assessment criteria and how they are fed back.
• Pupils are responsible for the running and organisation of parents evenings, etc

There may be something in these lists that would have a positive impact in your own school. If so, there is no better time to raise the question and start planning the change!

Personalised Learning – The Four Deeps

Personalising learning has gone from contentious double-speak first spewed forth by central government in 2004 to something that is at the heart of curriculum development.

” John White, emeritus professor of philosophy of education at the Institute of Education, one of the most consistently original and free-spirited thinkers in British education, has called into question one of the mantras at the heart of government policy: personalised learning. What does it mean?

According to White, it is a sloppily defined term that means so many things at the same time as to mean nothing at all. It made its entrance in Blair’s speech to the Labour party conference last year: “Personalised learning for every child in new specialist schools and city academies” (those in the remaining bog-standards will have to satisfy themselves with their learning experience remaining impersonal). At this point, it was merely a seductive slogan in search of meaning.”

The Guardian, Oct 3rd 2006

Although its definition has taken time to evolve, the concept of personalising learning is now a familiar concept to curriculum managers and indeed many of the other staff in schools.

There are a massive range of papers, resources and studies that cover the agenda – enough to populate a blog in and of themselves, however this document written by David Hargreaves and published by SSAT and iNet, uses a model based around “the four deeps’ – Deep Learning, Deep Experience, Deep Support, Deep Leadership which I have found to be particularly useful in the past. There are a range of supporting pamphlets that I will post in due course.

QCA Curriculum Aims

These images expand on the headline characteristics that we are aiming to nurture and develop in our learners.

Delivering the Even Bigger Picture

This is a very simple but effective diagram showing how the ongoing work of a single department, in terms of curriculum change, is part of a far bigger agenda. I would encourage senior leaders to ensure that middle managers never lose sight of what we are trying to achieve – successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens who are able to operate, succeed and contribute to 21st century society.

Have You Had YOUR Training?

Over on the ‘About’ post, there was a question that raised some interesting issues around training. As you may, or may not(!) be aware, training on curriculum change is being provided through a range of support partners. NCSL (National College of School Leadership) and SSAT have been charged with providing support for leadership and curriculum managers in schools. At subject leader level CfBT
(an education trust) have been running courses since January, on through until March for foundation subjects. I am awaiting permission to post the remaining dates on this site but in the meantime if you are a subject leader of a non-core subject and are desperate to know, please email me on the address on the ‘About’ tab and I will provide details on a one-to-one basis. Finally the Secondary National Strategies are responsible for the delivery of training to core subjects via LA consultants and subject leader network meetings happening this and next term.

I am really keen to hear how well these events and training providers have been advertised to schools. Did you know CfBT were offering events in your subject area? Have the dates reached subject leaders in schools? Has anyone been on the training and have anything they can share, feedback or evaluate for us?

If you are a core subject leader have you had your SNS training yet? There will be consistent messages across the Maths, English, ICT and Science subject leaders’ meetings and it will be important to collaborate not just as core subjects but also as a wider team of curriculum subjects. Having had the training is there anything you would wish to share – especially to foundation subject subject leaders who will not have had the same training? What gaps, if any, do you feel were left in the training materials? What further training would you wish to have?

For core subjects the strategies will shortly (end Feb/ Start March) be producing frameworks to flesh out the PoS statements and illustrate progression in skills and content across levels and school years. Hopefully these will be of great benefit when it comes to writing schemes of work, etc. to ensure that the full

As ever, if you can provide any answers or would wish to share any information relevant to this post, please hit the comment link below.

Building up the Big Picture

The big picture is all well and good but what if you want to try and convey what it means to an audience of teachers or parents who are not familiar with it. Its not going to be instantly clear what on Earth is going on! Fear not, here is a powerpoint file that allows you to build up the ‘big picture’ (current as of June 2007) whilst talking about each component individually. Hopefully this will go some way towards clarifying what is a fairly difficult concept map at a first, second and even third glance (and after that it becomes crushingly simple!! :D)

The Big Picture (Slow Build) Powerpoint File

Another similar, perhaps more powerful resource is this video clip which has Mick Waters – the proud daddy of this fledgling new curriculum – describing what the big picture is, what it means and how it works. Well worth a look!

The Big Picture (Quick Build) Movie Link

Absolute Beginners…

“New curriculum? Whats that then?”

If you’re looking to get on the change agenda on the bottom rung the link below is probably for you. Straight forward, plainly focused – what are the aims of the new KS3 curriculum? If you’re working with a group of teachers for the first time, approaching the changes cold or have hit a wall and are looking to remind yourself why you ever undertook this mammoth task, click here!

Dimensions

Dimensions – the beloved topic of many an astrophysicist’s waking hours are coming to a KS3 curriculum near you soon. Outside of M-theory and the high-brow small-talk of Stephen Hawking’s local pub, (curriculum) dimensions refer to the enhanced learning opportunities that we are seeking to weave into the revised KS3 curriculum. It is within a school’s approach to accommodating these dimensions that a pupil will most get an experience that is truly cross-curricular, indeed extra curricular!

The headlines for Curriculum Dimensions are:

* Identity and Cultural Diversity

* Healthy Lifestyles

* Community Participation

* Enterprise

* Global Dimension and Sustainable Development

With departments busy trying to develop progression routes in terms of PLTs and subject-specific content, it is important for senior leaders to retain a focus on the wider aims of the curriculum overhaul. By adopting thematic approaches, breaking down timetabled rigidity and seeking to link, overlap and cross pollinate between subjects and the wider world, the new curriculum will be something that is enlivened, enriched and relevant to all-comers. Nowhere is the new curriculum logo more enlightening than when considering these dimensions.

As ever, QCA has some excellent guidance, including links to relevant sites, videos, case studies, etc on their website here:

PLaTes, PiLaTes and PeTaLs

The personal learning and thinking skills (pronounced plaits, pelts and even petals depending on who you are speaking to) are the foundation stone on which the new curriculum is being built and the consistent theme that blends KS3 and KS4 learning. The philosophical shift from subject specific, content driven teaching to skills-focused, cross-curricular learning is likely to be an ongoing adaptation that will require careful nurturing and sensitive leadership. Once again, it is important to keep hold of the overall ‘vision’ of the new curriculum whilst dealing with the range and depth of inevitable curricular minutiae that will be thrown up. The PLTs comprise 6 key areas that will be developed throughout and beyond a pupil’s school life:

• Independent Enquirers
• Creative Thinkers
• Reflective Learners
• Effective Participators
• Self Managers
• Team Workers

A breakdown of what pupils might be expected to do within each of these skill areas can be found here:

An accurate assessment of pupil progress and development within these 6 areas, as well as progression in terms of subject learning and the provision of compelling learning experiences via cross and extra curricular delivery and enrichment opportunities, to say nothing of good teaching, is no small ask but a necessary goal for successful curriculum change.