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Descriptors:
Evidence; Feedback (Response); Student Evaluation; Formative Evaluation; Definitions; Educational Assessment; Outcomes of Education; Evaluation Methods; Classroom Techniques; Educational History

Abstract:
The idea that assessment is intrinsic to effective instruction is traced from early experiments in the individualization of learning through the work of Benjamin Bloom to reviews of the impact of feedback on learners in classrooms. While many of these reviews detailed the adverse impact of assessment on learning, they also indicated that under certain conditions assessment had considerable potential to enhance learning. It is shown that understanding the impact that assessment has on learning requires a broader focus than the feedback intervention itself, particularly the learner's responses to the feedback, and the learning milieu in which the feedback operates. Different definitions of the terms "formative assessment" and "assessment for learning" are discussed, and subsumed within a broad definition that focuses on the extent to which instructional decisions are supported by evidence. The paper concludes by exploring some of the consequences of this definition for classroom practice. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Formative Evaluation; Educational Change; Teacher Student Relationship; Academic Achievement; Academic Standards; Accountability; Test Results; Effect Size; Self Evaluation (Individuals); Summative Evaluation; Mathematics Achievement; Science Achievement; Mathematics Education; Science Education; Comparative Education

Abstract:
This September 2010 article is a reprint of the original October 1998 article. Few reform initiatives focus on what goes on in the "black box" of the classroom, on what really happens in the interaction between teachers and students. This article is about the inside of the black box. The authors focus on one aspect of teaching: formative assessment. The main plank of their argument is that standards can be raised only by changes that are put into direct effect by teachers and pupils in classrooms. There is a body of firm evidence that formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work and that its development can raise standards of achievement. They consider different ways in which formative assessment can be improved, and then offer four steps to implementing improvement strategies. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational Assessment; Validity; Inferences; Construct Validity; Measurement Techniques; Special Needs Students; College Entrance Examinations; Test Items; Values; Student Evaluation; Definitions; Foreign Countries; Gender Differences; Educational Philosophy; History Instruction; Minority Groups; Federal Legislation; Predictive Validity; Academic Achievement; Evidence; Educational Testing; Correlation; Educational Policy; Policy Analysis; Access to Education; Equal Education; Accountability; Educational Environment; Politics of Education; Educational Principles; Test Bias; Testing Problems; Culture Fair Tests; Psychometrics; Test Theory; Test Construction; Test Content; Test Interpretation; Test Format; Performance Based Assessment; Testing Accommodations

Abstract:
The idea that validity should be considered a property of inferences, rather than of assessments, has developed slowly over the past century. In early writings about the validity of educational assessments, validity was defined as a property of an assessment. The most common definition was that an assessment was valid to the extent that it assessed what it purported to assess and this definition is still in widespread use. The idea that construct interpretations are at the heart of validity argument and that therefore construct definition is essential to effective assessment has also now become widely accepted, at least within the measurement community. In this article, the author traces one strand in the development of the theory of validity--the increasing importance attached to the role of constructs in validating educational assessments--and shows how, ensuring that the primary focus is on the construct of interest, rather than the assessment itself, can bring some greater clarity to a number of debates, especially in the area of equity in assessment. The author discusses, in some detail, three particular arenas of assessment: (1) testing for admission to higher education; (2) the rise, and fall, of measures involving constructed-response items; and (3) the assessment of students with special educational needs. Within each of these areas, the author explores the interplay of issues of technical adequacy with equity and shows how attention that has in the past been directed at the adequacy of the assessments might be more fruitfully directed toward the construct of interest. (Contains 1 table.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Testing; Standardized Tests; Accountability; Inferences; Scores; Comparative Analysis; High Stakes Tests; Test Validity; Effect Size; Academic Achievement

Abstract:
This article explores the use of standardized tests to hold schools accountable. The history of testing for accountability is reviewed, and it is shown that currently between-school differences account for less than 10% of the variance in student scores, in part because the progress of individuals is small compared to the spread of achievement within an age cohort, and, possibly, due to lack of alignment between instruction and assessment. A review of the literature on the effects of the introduction of such tests in high-stakes accountability regimes suggests that the effects can be positive and the size of the effects is substantial. Therefore, although the validity of such tests may be problematic in terms of the intended inferences, their introduction may nevertheless be justified by their impact. The article concludes with a number of suggestions on improving tests for high-stakes accountability. (Contains 4 figures and 3 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Formative Evaluation; Educational Theories; Student Evaluation; Evaluation Methods; Educational Assessment; Definitions

Abstract:
Whilst many definitions of formative assessment have been offered, there is no clear rationale to define and delimit it within broader theories of pedagogy. This paper aims to offer such a rationale, within a framework which can also unify the diverse set of practices which have been described as formative. The analysis is used to relate formative assessment both to other pedagogic initiatives, notably cognitive acceleration and dynamic assessment, and to some of the existing literature on models of self-regulated learning and on classroom discourse. This framework should indicate potentially fruitful lines for further enquiry, whilst at the same time opening up new ways of helping teachers to implement formative practices more effectively. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Test Bias; Test Construction; Comparative Testing; Evaluation; Reliability

Abstract:
While international comparisons such as those provided by PISA may be meaningful in terms of overall judgements about the performance of educational systems, caution is needed in terms of more fine-grained judgements. In particular it is argued that the results of PISA to draw conclusions about the quality of instruction in different systems is affected by the fact that assessments used in PISA are, like all standardised assessments, relatively insensitive to the effects of high-quality instruction, for three reasons. First, the rate of progress of individuals is small when compared with the range of achievement within an age cohort. Second, the standard methods of test construction tend to remove items that show high sensitivity to instruction. Third, the use within PISA of differential item functioning to identify and exclude items that are not comparable across languages results in further reduction of the sensitivity of the assessments to instruction. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Evidence; Classification; Educational Philosophy; Theories; Epistemology; Educational Research; Theory Practice Relationship; Teacher Role; Problems; Relevance (Education); Criticism; Educational Environment; Educational Researchers; Research Utilization; Educational Principles

Abstract:
In this article, three theoretical perspectives are used to extend Bulterman-Bos's (2008) argument regarding a clinical approach to education research. First, three intellectual virtues identified by Aristotle--"episteme," "techne," and "phronesis"--are related to the requirements of the "pure" education researcher, the skilled practitioner, and the clinical researcher, respectively. Second, Churchman's typology of inquiry systems--based on whether the primary source of evidence is logic, observation, representation, dialectic, or values--is offered as a way of conceptualizing different kinds of inquiry in education. Third, recognizing that much practitioner knowledge is tacit, Nonaka and Takeuchi's model of knowledge conversion is suggested as a tool with which knowledge gained through different methods of inquiry might be brought into productive dialogue. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Grade 8; Physical Sciences; Grading; Student Evaluation; Science Instruction; Middle School Teachers; Secondary School Science; Middle School Students; Student Motivation; Science Achievement; Student Attitudes; Special Education

Abstract:
In addition to any discoveries that teachers might make about student learning while that learning is in progress, they must still assign grades. Consequently, educators need to develop and implement a system that supports both the formative and summative functions of assessment--formative, in that teachers can use evidence of student achievement to adjust instruction to better meet student learning needs; and summative, in that teachers can amass the information to provide a final grade for a marking period. The first requirement of an assessment system that supports learning is a standards-based record-keeping system. The second is a dynamic grading process in which teachers alter students' grades in light of new evidence of learning. A pilot study conducted in an 8th grade physical science class suggests that implementing such a grading system can improve both student motivation and achievement. (Contains 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Cognitive Processes; Perception; Brain; Teachers; Expertise; Teacher Competencies; Evaluation

Abstract:
There is an increasing body of evidence that only a minuscule proportion of the sensory data processed by the unconscious mind (capable of processing approximately 11 million bits per second) is referred to the conscious mind (capable of processing approximately 50 bits per second). It is also clear that conscious awareness of stimuli from the environment lags behind actual perception by approximately half a second, but that a backward referral of subjective experience results in a individual's perception of the stimulus and its conscious awareness as simultaneous. These findings challenge the primacy and supremacy of conscious processing of information on which a substantial proportion of educational practice and policy is based, and suggest a re-evaluation of the nature of teacher competence and expertise. (Contains 2 tables, 2 figures and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Teacher Effectiveness; Faculty Development; Learning Strategies; Teacher Student Relationship; Teacher Participation; Peer Evaluation; Self Evaluation (Individuals); Academic Achievement; Educational Improvement

Abstract:
The teacher is the most important influence on student achievement. Students who get the best teachers learn at twice the rate of students taught by average teachers. Greater improvement in teacher quality can be obtained, at a lower cost, by investing in teacher learning. The research on teacher learning shows that teacher learning communities provide the most effective process for teacher change, while research shows that a focus on assessment "for" learning is the most powerful, and yet most neglected, aspect of teacher practice. By fusing these together, educators have the real possibility of providing effective teacher learning at scale and a reasonable cost. This article discusses five key general strategies that collectively define the territory of assessment for learning: (1) Clarifying and sharing learning intentions and success criteria; (2) Engineering effective classroom discussions and tasks; (3) Providing feedback that moves learners forward; (4) Activating students as owners of their learning; and (5) Activating students as instructional resources for one another. (Contains 3 resources.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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