Assessment Week 1 B PDF

EDU304 & EPS300 Week 1 Lecture B: Assessment Policy & Context Dr. Suzanne Parkinson B.Ed. B.Sc. M.Sc. in Developmental & Educational Psychology, Ed.D. Ed. Psych. Overview What is Assessment? Purposes of Assessment Methods of Classroom Assessment National Legislation on Assessme...

EDU304 & EPS300 Week 1 Lecture B: Assessment Policy & Context Dr. Suzanne Parkinson B.Ed. B.Sc. M.Sc. in Developmental & Educational Psychology, Ed.D. Ed. Psych. Overview What is Assessment? Purposes of Assessment Methods of Classroom Assessment National Legislation on Assessment School Policy on Assessment 2 What is the Purpose of Assessment? For your first tutorial, complete the scale on ‘What does Assessment mean to you?’ Our Conceptions of Assessment What is Assessment? Assessment is the process of gathering, recording, interpreting, using, and reporting information about a child’s progress and achievement in developing knowledge, skills and attitudes (NCCA, 2007, p.7). 5 New Primary Curriculum Framework According to the framework, assessment: ► Is an integral part of learning and teaching ► Provides information for various stakeholders, most importantly children ► Exists along a continuum Meaningful assessment is collaborative and integral to high-quality learning and teaching. Involving children, teachers, parents, and others, it provides information which enhances teaching and informs and supports progression in children’s learning across the curriculum (NCCA, 2022, p. 6) What is the Purpose of Assessment? Assessment is about building a picture over time of a child’s progress and/or achievement in learning across the Primary School Curriculum. Assessment provides information about how the child learns (the learning process) Assessment provides information about what the child learns (the products of learning) The teacher uses this information to identify and celebrate the child’s current learning, and to provide him/her with appropriate support for future learning (short-term and long-term goals) (NCCA, 2007, p. 7) 6 Inside the Black Box-Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment (Black & Wiliam, 1998, p. 2) ”…present policy seems to treat the classroom as a black box. Certain inputs from the outside are fed in or make demands-pupils, teachers, other resources, management rules and requirements, parental anxieties, tests with pressures to score highly, and so on. Some outputs follow, hopefully pupils who are more knowledgeable and competent, better test results, teachers who are more or less satisfied, and more or less exhausted. But what is happening inside? How can anyone be sure that a particular set of new inputs will produce better outputs if we don’t at least study what happens inside?” Inside the Black Box-Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment (Black & Wiliam, 1998) Teaching and learning is interactive Teachers need to know about their pupils’ progress and difficulties with learning so that they can adapt their work to meet their needs Therefore, assessment needs to take place by teachers, and by their students in assessing themselves This information can be used as feedback to modify teaching and learning activities Purposes of Assessment Formative Assessment for and as Learning: takes place during teaching Summative Assessment of Learning: takes places after teaching has occurred Diagnostic Can be used to identify specific learning needs 11 Purposes of Assessment: Formative Formative: Assessment for Learning (AfL) Done on an ongoing basis and informs teaching Assessment takes places during instructional time, and the information gained is used to help students learn (Murchan & Sheil, 2017, p.5) Where are children now in their learning? Where are the children going in their learning? How will the children get to the next point in their learning? (NCCA, 2007, p.9) 11 Formative Assessment (AfL) Facilitates the teacher to: Establish where the students are in their learning Identify the learning destination Carefully plan a route Begin the learning journey Make regular checks on progress on the way Make adjustments to teaching as conditions dictate (Murchan & Sheil, 2017) 12 Formative Assessment (AfL) Gathering Part of the classroom routine Involves the learner actively Recording Purpose of assessment determines how much is recorded Interpreting Teacher’s knowledge of the child guides interpretation Using Used on a daily basis to inform teaching Teacher uses feedback to guide children Reporting Teachers and children often share on a daily basis 13 Purposes of Assessment: Summative Summative Assessment of Learning: focuses on medium and long-term assessment Finds out what students have learned, after teaching has taken place Student may receive a grade or a score This information typically doesn’t guide the student in their learning (NCCA, 2007) 16 Summative Assessment (AoL) Gathering Takes places at the end of a learning period Recording Test results are typically recorded by the teacher Used to write reports Interpreting Teacher interprets scores according to norms Using Determine the degree to which curriculum objectives have been reached Reporting Including in child’s report and parent/teacher meetings 15 Summative Assessment (AoL) Examples When we had worked with long multiplication for some weeks I set the class a number of problems requiring them to use the operation. It showed me that, while the majority of the class had a sound understanding of the use of long multiplication, their computation needed more work. (Teacher, Fifth class) (NCCA, 2007, p. 70) Consider: Any potential drawbacks to this method of assessment? 16 Classroom Assessment Methods Not everything a child learns can be assessed or needs to be assessed. The teacher can use the Primary School Curriculum to prioritise what the child should be enabled to do and understand in terms of knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, and dispositions. The teacher must decide what is to be assessed, how it will be assessed and how the assessment information will be used. (NCCA, 2007) 7 Continuum of Assessment 8 (NCCA, 2007) Classroom Assessment Methods Necessity of a variety of assessment methods Spontaneous and planned assessments Formal and informal assessments Curriculum Continuum of assessments Standardized Based test Triangulation of assessment material Assessment Observation (NCCA, 2007) 10 Legislative requirements for assessment Education Act (1998) Data Protection Act (2003, 2018) Equal Status Act (2000) Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (2004) 20 Legislative requirements for assessment Education Act (1998) Requires principals and teachers to ‘regularly evaluate students and periodically report the results of the evaluation to students and their parents’ Requires schools to ‘ensure that the educational needs of all students, including those with a disability or other special educational needs are identified and provided for’ Places a statutory obligation on every school to draw up a school plan to include an assessment policy Regulates recording of assessment data; teacher day-to-day records Pupil File, Report Card 20 Legislative requirements for assessment Data Protection Act (2003, 2018) Parents of students under the age of eighteen, and students over eighteen, are entitled to access all personal data relating to the students 'It is important, therefore, that schools store this information safely to facilitate access to it by former pupils at any stage until their 21st birthday' (NCCA, 2007, p. 80) Be familiar with GDPR regulations pertaining to primary schools 22 Legislative requirements for assessment Equal Status Act (2000) Prohibits discrimination Type of information gathered in assessment can not in any way discriminate against students e.g. EAL, SEN 23 Legislative requirements for assessment Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (2004) 'An act to make further provision…for the education of people with special educational needs. To provide that the education of people with such needs shall, wherever possible, take place in an inclusive environment with those who do not have such needs' (GOI, 2005, p. 5) Following assessment, the school is required to create an ‘education plan’ for the child (IEP) 24 School Policy on Assessment Questions to be answered within a school policy on assessment: 1. Why should children’s learning be assessed? 2. What should be assessed? 3. When should assessment happen? 4. How should children’s learning be assessed? 5. Where should assessment information be recorded? 6. With whom should assessment information be shared? 7. How should assessment information be shared with others? (NCCA, 2007, adapted from www.sdps.ie/policies/Assessment.doc.) 24 School Policy on Assessment Questions to be answered in a school policy on assessment: 1. Why should children’s learning be assessed? Part of good teaching and learning Provides teacher with valuable information Identify next steps in child’s learning and adapt teaching strategies (NCCA, 2007) 26 School Policy on Assessment Questions to be answered in a school policy on assessment: 2. What should be assessed? Assessment policy should address each curricular area/subject Important to use appropriate methods for each area of the curriculum (NCCA, 2007) 27 School Policy on Assessment Questions to be answered in a school policy on assessment: 3. When should assessment happen? Assessment should be an ongoing process Assessment policy should also refer to diagnostic assessment, to ensure that needs of all children are met Assessment in the early years: screening literacy, numeracy, and developmental skills Standardized assessment required in 2nd, 4th, and 6th class 27 School Policy on Assessment Questions to be answered in a school policy on assessment: 4. How should children’s learning be assessed? Variety of assessment methods gathered over a period of time Appropriate methods for curricular areas (NCCA, 2007) 29 School Policy on Assessment Questions to be answered in a school policy on assessment: 5. Where should assessment information be recorded? Teacher’s day-to-day records Pupil File Report Card (GOI, 1998) 30 School Policy on Assessment Questions to be answered in a school policy on assessment: 6. With whom should assessment information be shared? Data Protection Act (2003) establishes parents’ right to regular information and to access all personal data related to the student (NCCA, 2007) 31 School Policy on Assessment Questions to be answered in a school policy on assessment: 7. How should assessment information be shared with others? Information must be accessible Shared with parents twice during the school year; one of these should be a written report Information must be kept up until student’s 21st birthday (NCCA, 2007) 32 Considerations What is the purpose of assessment? What are teachers expected to know and be able to do in relation to student assessment? How should assessment inform your educational practice? 33 Next Steps Enroll on Moodle Enrollment key: EDU304EPS3002024 Review Course Documentation Self-study NCCA Guidelines for Assessment (2007) Self-assess your learning with the ‘Purposes of Assessment’ quiz Review three short videos on Assessment 34 Bibliography Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment. Retrieved at: https://weaeducation.typepad.co.uk/files/blackbox-1.pdf Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. London: School of Education, King's College. Conway, P.F. & Murphy, R. (2013). A rising tide meets a perfect storm: new accountabilities in teaching and teacher education in Ireland. Irish Educational Studies, 32(1), 11-36. Department of Education and Science (1999). Primary School Curriculum. Dublin: The Stationery Office. Douglas Smith, C., Worsfold, K., Davies, L., Fisher, R. & McPhail, R. (2013). Assessment literacy and student learning: the case for explicitly developing students ‘assessment literacy’. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(1), 44-60. Bibliography Government of Ireland (1998). The Education Act. Dublin: The Stationery Office. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (2007). Assessment in the Primary School: Guidelines for Schools. Dublin: Author. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (2023). Primary Curriculum Framework. Dublin: Author NEPS (2007). A Continuum of Support: Guidelines for Teachers. Dublin: Author. NEPS (2007). A Continuum of Support: Resource Pack for Teachers. Dublin: Author. NEPS (2010). Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties: A Continuum of Support, Guidelines for Teachers. Dublin: Author.