How do we make judgements?

All judgement takes place in relation to some set of criteria.

We compare what we see, hear, taste, touch or feel, with things we know. And that comparison forms the basis of a judgement.

The things we know are the criteria.

This is knowledge. In the form of experience or internalised information.

For example, if I see someone with a runny nose who is sneezing, I compare this with my pre-existing knowledge of colds, mostly gained through experience.

I then make a judgement.

My judgement is, that person probably has a cold.

If a trained medical doctor saw the same person, they might compare their observations with what they have learned through experience.

Or they might reference internalised diagnostic criteria they’ve learned as part of their medical studies.

They may come to the same judgement, but the process would be subtly different, because of the different criteria they posses.

Continuing on a medical theme, consider the difference between a GP (general practitioner) and a specialist.

The former has a wide range of knowledge and skill, all of which is limited.

The latter has a narrower skillset and knowledge base, but it is goes much deeper.

When the GP makes judgements, they are generally successful, as their knowledge is predicated on the patterns of illness that commonly arise in human populations in their setting.

But if they are uncertain about a diagnosis, they may call for further tests.

The purpose of this is to generate additional information that will allow them to make a more accurate comparison with what they already know (their criteria), so producing a reliable judgement – a diagnosis.

Or they might refer you to a specialist.

Let’s imagine a person has a problem with their skin.

The GP reaches the limit of their knowledge and doesn’t believe they can make an accurate judgement, based on the criteria they have available to them.

The specialist – a dermatologist – on the other hand, has a different set of criteria on which they can call.

This is their specialised knowledge and understanding of the skin, and of skin conditions.

Part of this comes from their internalisation of relevant medical information (book learning, if you like) and part of it comes from experiential learning (the patients they have treated over the years).

The specialist uses their more highly developed knowledge and understanding to diagnose the patient.

And, of course, that diagnosis is an act of judgement.

And that judgement is an act of comparison, with the comparison being made against a set of criteria.

To summarise:

• All judgements reference one or more sets of criteria.
• Accurate judgements rely on us knowing and understanding relevant criteria.
• We can help learners make better judgements in their self-assessments by helping them better understand what their work is being judged against.

Judgements, Criteria and the Classroom

Let’s now take this back to the classroom.

When we make judgements, we use criteria.

We compare what learners have done with our knowledge and understanding of what good looks like.

Some of the most common sets of criteria we use to make judgements are: mark-schemes, success criteria and past performance.

Past performance involves us judging whether what a learner is doing now is better than what they were doing previously.

To put it another way: Are they making progress?

The more learners are aware of what we judge their work against, the easier it is for them to successfully self-assess.

A better knowledge of assessment criteria tends also to lead to better quality work.

Because learners know what they need to do to achieve highly.

What follows is a collection of nine activities you can use to help your learners come to terms with the criteria we use in the classroom, so they can assess their own work with confidence and skill.

Using Mark-Schemes

• Strategy One: Identify. Highlight. Discuss.

Before beginning a piece of work, give learners a copy of the mark-scheme against which their work will be judged and a highlighter pen.

Ask them to read through and to highlight any words or phrases they do not understand.

Encourage them to err on the side of caution.

It is better to highlight more and to have your beliefs confirmed than it is to highlight less and retain misconceptions.

When they’ve done this, you have three options.

First, you can invite learners to discuss what they have highlighted with their peers.

They can then work together to try and unravel any uncertainties and help each other develop a better understanding of the mark-scheme.

Second, you can lead the class in a group discussion in which you invite learners to share words or phrases with which they are unfamiliar.

As a class, you can unpick these and make sense of them.

Third, you can combine the two approaches by having a short period of paired discussion that leads into whole-class discussion.

Whatever option you choose, the goal is the same.

Getting learners thinking critically about the mark-scheme and helping them gain clarity over what it means and how to use it.

• Strategy Two: Section Out Your Mark-Scheme

Hand out a mark-scheme to learners.

Put learners in groups and assign each group a section of the mark-scheme.

Ask groups to read through, make sense of, and then rewrite the mark-scheme so it is accessible for everyone in the class.

Give some guidance on what the rewrite should cover.

For example, it could involve a full revision, minor changes, a summary or an annotated revision in which difficult words or phrases are accompanied by explanatory notes.

When groups have completed their work, they can take it in turns to present to the rest of the class.

Or you can run an envoys activity where one person from each group goes round the other groups in turn, outlining what they’ve done.

Or you can collect the rewrites in and use them to create a learner-friendly mark-scheme that everyone can use to help them with their work (and through which they can continuously self-assess).

• Strategy Three: Mark-Scheme Chop Up

In advance of the lesson, print off a set of mark-schemes.

There should be one per group.

Chop these up into sections.

In the lesson, divide the class into groups.

Explain that each group will be working through the mark-scheme at their own pace.

The intention is to ensure that all learners come to feel at ease with how the mark-scheme works.

Begin by giving each group the first part of the mark-scheme.

They should analyse this and discuss it.

When the group are confident they understand that part of the mark-scheme, they should send one member up to the front to collect the next section.

This process is repeated until each group has analysed and discussed each section of the mark scheme.

If one group finishes earlier than the others, ask them to summarise each section, to create a list of the overall aims of the mark-scheme, or to split up and go and help other groups with their work.

An added benefit of this approach is that it gives you access to powerful information.

By observing how quickly groups are moving through the sections of the mark-scheme, you can quickly assess the extent to which different learners are finding the task easy or difficult.

And this is information on which you can then act.

Using Success Criteria

• Strategy One: General Success Criteria

Certain themes run through the work learners are asked to do during any year of their school life (and, indeed, across the years).

For example, a twelve year-old learner might be expected to do the following in all their subjects:

• Give reasons for the claims they make
• Use examples and evidence
• Follow instructions when completing tasks
• Check their answers
• Use subject-specific language in their writing

Identify general success criteria that apply to the age-group you are teaching.

Display these in your room and discuss them with your learners.

Share pieces of work that exemplify each of the success criteria.

(And, if you like, share non-examples. That is, pieces of work that demonstrate the opposite.)

Place these on display with a summary of why they are good.

Encourage your learners to self-assess using the general success criteria, while they are doing work in class.

Another option is to pause your lessons at opportune moments, refer to the general success criteria, and then ask your learners to each pick one of these and to conduct a quick self-assessment based on the task they’re currently doing.

• Strategy Two: Co-Constructing Success Criteria

Work with your class to develop success criteria together.

These could be general success criteria for use across the year, or specific success criteria tied to a task.

There are two main advantages of this approach.

First, by having learners think about what criteria might be appropriate, you encourage them to look carefully at the nature of assessment and what, in this case, it should entail.

Second, by creating criteria in collaboration with learners, you promote both a sense of ownership and a familiarity with how their work will be judged.

This makes it easier for them to successfully self-assess. Whether that is midway through a task, or after it has been completed.

You can extent the approach as follows:

Once you have agreed on a set of success criteria with your class, divide these up and assign each one to a different group of learners.

Ask groups to come up with an example showing their success criterion in action.

(If you’re feeling brave, get them to come up with a non-example as well, in which the success criterion has been missed completely.)

These examples can then be shared and put on display.

The purpose of this development is to further scaffold the success criteria for learners by modelling what good work looks like.

• Strategy Three: Advertising Success

Put learners into groups of three or four.

Ask them to create a television advert ‘selling’ the success criteria.

This should be 20-30 seconds long and should focus on explaining what the success criteria are and why they are important.

It should also give examples of how a learner could achieve them in their work.

This activity sees learners actively engaging with your success criteria.

They must analyse them, manipulate them, and use them to create something original (the TV ad).

All of which helps them develop a good understanding of the criteria and what it means to meet them.

Plus, the activity is a lot of fun!

Using Targets

• Strategy One: Small Step Your Target

This activity is best used with younger learners.

It encourages them to visualise themselves meeting their target.

It is appropriate whether the target has been set by the teacher, by a peer, or by the learner themselves.

It works as follows:

Explain to your class that one of the best ways to meet a target is to think about the small steps you can take to get there.

Point out that you can use small steps to cover a distance that is impossible to cover in a single leap.

You might like to use the analogy of athletics.

World-record-breaking runners do not get fast overnight.

They go through a series of small steps (also called training!) to reach their target .

Without these small steps, they would never be able to travel from where they started (running fast) to where they ended up (breaking world records).

Ask your class to think about the small steps they will need to take to meet their targets.

Encourage them to identify three of these, and to visualise them in a poster or cartoon strip.

This image then becomes a tool they can use to self-assess while they are working.

It becomes a visual prompt that helps them quickly assess whether or not what they are doing is helping them meet their target.

They can keep it out on their desks, and use it as a reference, and a reminder, during one task, or across a series of tasks.

• Strategy Two: Compare Your Target

When learners have been given a target, either by themselves, a peer or by you, ask them to compare this with three other people in the class.

Explain that the purpose is to discuss the similarities and the differences between the targets.

In doing this, learners are compelled to think carefully about what their targets mean.

The act of comparison helps them develop a better understanding of their target, as well as the targets of their peers.

And this is what we want.

You might like to provide learners with some questions that can help guide their comparisons.

This will help scaffold the discussions they have with their peers.

For example:

• What would you say is the main difference between your target and your peer’s target?
• What similarities can you identify between the two targets?
• How might the results of meeting your targets be different?
• What different things will you both have to do to meet your targets?
• What makes your target different from your peer’s? What makes it the same?

You can display questions like these on the board, for learners to refer to while they have their discussions.

• Strategy Three: Demonstrate Improvement

It is important to explain or demonstrate how an improvement can be made or how a target can be met.

This means learners don’t have to guess and can target their efforts more effectively.

Here’s an examples of how you can do this:

Learners have been given a target, either by themselves, a peer, or by you.

Ask them to reflect on this for a couple of minutes and to consider how they might go about meeting it.

Next, invite learners to stand up and walk around the room.

They should find a peer who can do their target for them.

This means they’ll need to speak to a range of peers until they find someone who knows what to do.

You should ensure you are available as well, and invite learners to come to you if they can’t find a suitable peer.

(This helps ensure your more-able learners have someone who can already do their target. I.e. you!)

This activity is premised on the fact that in any one class of learners, it is likely that there will be a range of targets.

It is therefore probable that all learners will be able to find someone who has the skills and understanding to demonstrate or exemplify the successful meeting of their target.

The teacher is included as a person to talk to so that, if someone struggles to find a peer who can help them with their target, there is a fall-back option – a failsafe, if you will.

You’ll need to decide whether this can run effectively in your classroom.

My advice would be to give it go.

See what happens.

It might surprise you.