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 Creative and imaginative approaches to curriculum change won’t succeed if approaches to assessment are staid, outdated and have limited impact on learning.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.

Support for History

Just a quick entry. Hidden away on the QCA website I came across this link that may be of interest to heads of history departments:

http://www.qca.org.uk/history/innovating/key3/index.htm

The material is NOT from the new curriculum site but does contain elements outlining some cross curricular approaches, assessment, progression, etc. If you dig around the QCA site (delete the stuff after ..’.org.uk/’ above and add your own subject seems to work for most subjects!) there may be useful materials for your own subject. If there are any subject specific materials you need and can’t find, please get in touch via the email tab above or alternatively add a comment to this post. (Instructions, if you need them, appear further down the blog!)

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.

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

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.

QCA – The Big Picture

Around the three key questions that QCA have posed (See below) when considering the philosophical changes required for KS3 curriculum change, a “big picture” for curriculum change has been developed. The diagram goes some way towards unpicking the range of themes and implications behind the deceptively simple questions which should assist schools in their prioritisation, delegation and organisation of the new curriculum. The relevant QCA page with associated links is here.

3 KEY QUESTIONS FOR CURRICULUM CHANGE

1. What are we trying to achieve?

2. How do we organise learning?

3. How well are we achieving our aims?