Introduction
This blog is number three in a three-part series looking at some of the challenges that can work against assessment for learning.
For each one, I’ll outline what the challenge is, how it can get in the way of assessment for learning, and what we can do to solve the problem.
Problem One: The Simplicity of Grades and Numbers
Grades and numbers are simple.
- A, B, C, D, E, F, G
- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
- 45%, 55%, 65%, 75%
They communicate information quickly and clearly, leaving little space for ambiguity.
The numbers and grades used to mark school work are widely understood.
Parents, employers and university admissions tutors are three examples of groups outside of school who know what the different marks mean and make decisions based around them.
Simple and effective systems carry within them the temptation of trying to extend their use.
In the natural and social sciences, for example, simple, effective theories that appear to explain a single aspect of the world can quickly find themselves being extended to cover all manner of things well beyond that with which they were first concerned.
Numbers and grades save time.
They indicate clearly and concisely where a learner is at in comparison to their peers and in comparison to a set of external criteria.
That is hugely useful for us as the teacher, and for the school as a whole.
Through grades and marks we can instantly spot patterns and trends, track progress over time and get a snapshot of what’s happening with our teaching.
But it also makes it tempting to give learners their grades as feedback for the work they have done.
We have to remember though, that a grade or mark does not tell a learner anything about what they have done well, why it was good, what they need to do to improve or why they need to do this.
Here, the simplicity of grades and numbers is shown up.
They do not carry the same informational content as formative feedback.
Hence their utility for learners is much lower.
They neither help them to develop their understanding nor do they show them how to improve their learning.
At best, a learner might be able to infer some points, general or specific, about what caused them to receive a particular mark or grade for the piece of work they have produced.
However, no matter the accuracy of these inferences, they will not – will never – be proved or refuted by the grade or number itself.
More information is always required.
The explanatory power of summative assessment is limited.
In some contexts it is highly useful.
In others, its use is far lower.
What must be considered is the purpose of the assessment.
- Who is it for?
- What is it for?
- What information do we want to convey?
Solutions to the Problem of The Simplicity of Grades and Numbers
There is no getting away from the simplicity of grades or numbers.
Avoid the temptation to extend their use.
Share them with learners where there is a benefit.
Use them extensively yourself to assess progress over time.
But focus on formative feedback with learners – verbal and written – as this contains the informational content that can help them to learn.
Problem Two: Overarching Assessment Philosophy
If in a school, local district or country as a whole, the overarching assessment philosophy is not geared towards assessment for learning, then this will militate against the practice.
The extent to which it does depends on many factors, including the degree of freedom afforded to teachers in the classroom.
What may prove to be of greatest importance, is the way in which this philosophy is taken on by learners.
How it is internalised.
And whether they come to see it as the norm.
If a country, for example, prizes summative assessment and the government of that country uses its administrative structures to prioritise the status of such assessment then this will inevitably affect what students see as valuable.
The message sent out, either implicitly or explicitly, will be that summative assessment, and all which that entails, is deemed as good or, more prosaically, the only thing that will help you to get on in society.
Solutions to Overarching Assessment Philosophy
There is not a great deal you can do about this, so ignore it.
Use AFL approaches, tell your learners why you are using them and be ready to justify what you are doing if someone asks.
After all, you are a professional who is expected to make decisions and you teach in an education system that prizes reason and the use of evidence.
You have made a decision based on reason and evidence. What more could anyone ask?
(And you can still do all the necessary summative assessment as well.)
Problem Three: Your Previous Experience
You went to school.
You probably continued your education after that as well.
It is likely that you experienced a great deal of summative assessment.
Maybe you experienced little formative feedback.
It may be that for long periods grades, marks and levels were the norm.
This means that you yourself might get in the way – either consciously or subconsciously – of your own attempts to embed assessment for learning in your teaching.
Your previous experience could undermine or frustrate what you are now trying to achieve.
Solutions to Your Previous Experience
The best way to deal with your previous experience is to be aware of it.
Do not assume that because you have decided to use AFL there will be an automatic step-change in your thinking.
Be alive to the fact that your previous experience – which might be deeply ingrained – can still influence your decision-making.
Watch out for it and, if you spot it rearing its head, be ready to tamp it back down with the logic that underpins AFL and that proves why it works.
Problem Four: The Amount of Time Available
The amount of time you have available can affect whether or not you are able to make use of assessment for learning.
Initially, getting to grips with assessment for learning will increase your workload.
This is inevitable.
Making changes of any sort takes time. As does learning something new.
There may be points where you do not feel that the extra time spent is generating sufficient benefits.
That’s normal.
I would argue, though, that in the medium-term, effective AFL nearly always makes life easier for the teacher.
And once you have it as part of your practice, you have it as part of your practice (with all the attendant benefits).
Solutions to The Amount of Time Available
Accept that, at first, getting to grips with AFL will take a little bit of time.
It will not be a huge amount – it is, after all, fairly simple – but it will be more than nothing.
Bear in mind that once you are over the first hump, you will actually save a considerable amount of time.
This is because you will be marking and teaching more effectively.
In addition, you and your learners will have a better understanding of where they are at and how they can improve.
This means that, in the same amount of time, you and they will be able to achieve more than was previously the case.
Problem Five: The Difficulty of Changing Your Own Practice
When we find something that works, we tend to stick with it.
All of us become habituated – it’s natural.
School life, with its rigid structure and repetitive nature, is a fertile ground for the forming of habits (and we use this to our advantage when dealing with learners).
As such, it is easy to become entrenched in certain ways of doing things.
This can make change difficult for two reasons.
First, change represents something new and, therefore, unknown.
This does not compare favourably to the safe familiarity of that which we are doing already, wherein we know what to expect and have accumulated experience to act as our proof.
Second, what we do becomes a part of who we are.
Changing elements of our practice can feel like changing parts of ourselves.
This means it can be disconcerting. It may make us feel ill-at-ease.
Solutions to The Difficulty of Changing Your Own Practice
Any change takes a bit of effort.
Be persistent.
Take small steps.
Congratulate yourself on the things you do well.
Learn from the things that do not go so well.
Keep positive.
Remember that the benefits of using AFL are significant and that, in a month or two’s time, you will look back and wonder how you ever got by without it.
