2 | Assessment in Learning 1 1

UNIT 2

Classroom Assessment with Purpose

2.0. Intended Learning Outcomes

a. Differentiate the three purpose of assessment;

b. describe the different activities in planning the three purposes of assessment;
c. demonstrate awareness in using Assessment FOR, AS, and OF Learning in
assessing learners.

2.1. Introduction

The idea of assessment as a means of checking students’ understanding as

instruction proceeds and as part of evaluation has been around for more than a hundred
years. However, the relationship between assessment and evaluation had changed over
the years. In the late 1990s it was found out by British educational researchers that
formative assessment as a separate activity of evaluation could improve students’
achievement. Moreover, students’ achievement can be improved further when
assessment is designed with purpose in mind. Basically, this module centers on the three
purposes of classroom assessment.

2.2. Topics

2.2.1. Origin of Assessment FOR, OF and AS Learning

A year after Black and Wiliam (1998) published their ideas about formative
assessment through the article ‘Inside the Black Box’, the Assessment Reform Group
(ARG) under the auspices of the British Educational Research Association (BERA),
conducted a meta-analysis of researches that promotes learning (Wiliam, 2014). From the
results of the meta-analysis, the group came up with the following characteristics of
assessment that promotes learning:

1. it is embedded in a view of teaching and learning of which it is an essential part;

2. it involves sharing learning goals with students;
3. it aims to help students to know and to recognize the standards they are aiming
for;
4. it involves students in self-assessment;
5. it provides feedback which leads to students recognizing their next steps and how
to take them;
6. it is underpinned by confidence that every student can improve;
7. it involves both teacher and students reviewing and reflecting on assessment data.

The above characteristics of an assessment that promotes learning are not the
characteristics of formative assessment since formative assessment is an assessment that
is carried out frequently by teachers with feedback to students (Broadfoot, Daugherty,
Gardner, Harlen, James, and Stobart, 1999, cited in Wiliam, 2014).
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Instead, the Assessment Reform Group (ARG) preferred the term “assessment FOR
learning” which they defined as ‘‘the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by
learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go
and how best to get there’’.

As defined above, assessment FOR learning is a process, not an assessment tool or

instrument. The process includes collecting information on student progress toward a
learning goal and using the information to adjust instruction and increase student
learning. Assessment FOR learning is a characteristic of effective instruction. The
assessment FOR learning process is not an add-on or supplement to instruction, but an
integral part of instruction necessary to identify and close the learning gap for each
student.

According to Wiliam (2014), the earliest use of the term “assessment FOR learning”
appears to be as a title of a chapter by Harry Black in 1986, it was also the title of a paper
given at Americal Educational Research Association (AERA) by James in 1992 and three
years later in 1995 was the title of a book by Ruth Sutton. In the United States, the origin
of the term “assessment FOR learning” is often mistakenly attributed to Rick Stiggins as a
result of his popularization of the term, although Stiggins (2005) himself has always
attributed the term to other authors in the United Kingdom.

The first use of the term “assessment OF learning” in contrast to the term
“assessment FOR learning” were coined by Gipps and Stobart (1997), where the two terms
were the titles of the first and second chapters of their book, respectively. Caroline Gipps
(1994) is often credited with introducing the term assessment FOR learning to the wider
educational community, on the basis of making a clear distinction between assessment OF
learning, which is about evaluating what has been learned and assessment FOR learning
which is about using evaluation to feed into the learning and teaching process and thus
improve learning. In this formulation, assessment OF learning is equated with summative
assessment and assessment FOR learning with formative assessment.

Earl (2003) regards assessment FOR learning as more or less synonymous with
formative assessment and sees the teachers as ‘the central characters’ as they evaluate
student performance, provide feedback and organize appropriate learning activities based
on their knowledge of the students. So, ideas about formative assessment are also true for
assessment FOR learning.

However, there are slight differences between the two terms (Stiggins, 2005).

 If formative assessment is about frequent assessment, assessment FOR learning is

about continuous assessment.
 If formative assessment is about providing teachers with evidence, assessment FOR
learning is about informing the students themselves.
 If formative assessment tells users who is not meeting standards, assessment FOR
learning tells them what progress each student is making toward meeting each
standard while the learning is happening - when there is still time to be helpful.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 3

Moreover, Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, and Wiliam (2004) have pointed out the
distinctions between assessment FOR learning and assessment OF learning on the one
hand, and between formative and summative assessment on the other. The former
distinction relates to the purpose for which the assessment is carried out, while the second
relates to the function it actually serves. They clarified the relationship between assessment
FOR learning and formative assessment as follows:

Assessment FOR learning is any assessment for which the first priority in its
design and practice is to serve the purpose of promoting students’ learning.
It thus differs from assessment designed primarily to serve the purposes of
accountability, or of ranking, or of certifying competence. An assessment
activity can help learning if it provides information that teachers and their
students can use as feedback in assessing themselves and one another and
in modifying the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged.
Such assessment becomes “formative assessment” when the evidence is
actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet learning needs.

In 2003, Winter wrote of the ‘changing prepositions’ of assessment – OF, FOR and
AS learning. Since assessment FOR learning was likened to formative assessment, then
the term assessment OF learning serve as the counterpart of summative assessment. Earl’s
(2003) interpretation of assessment AS learning is that, in contrast with the other two
prepositions, assessment AS learning emphasizes the students’ role and in particular
engages them in self-assessment and as active participants in directing their own learning.

AQ 2.1: In your own words, contrast assessment FOR learning and formative assessment.

2.2.2. Quality in Classroom Assessment

According to DepEd Order, No. 8, s. 2015, classroom assessment is an on-going

process of identifying, gathering, organizing, and interpreting quantitative and qualitative
information about what learners know and can do. Classroom assessment involves
complex processes requiring teachers’ professional judgment. The inferences about
students’ learning that teachers make need to be credible, fair, free from bias, and
connected to their intended purposes. In order to make the right decisions about students,
it is necessary that teachers adhere to the four basic principles or quality issues that are
important in classroom assessment: reliability, reference points, validity, and record-
keeping (Stiggins, 1998).

2.2.2.1.Reliability

In classroom assessment, reliability addresses the questions: How sure am I? How

confident am I that this assessment process provides enough consistent and stable
information to allow me to make statements about a student’s learning with certainty?

When teachers make statements about students’ learning, they are making
inferences about what students know and can do from the evidence that is available to
them through assessment. If the assessment process is reliable, the inferences about a
student’s learning should be similar even if they are made by different teachers, when
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 4

learning is measured using various methods, or when students demonstrate their learning
at different times. If teachers are unsure about whether the inferences would be consistent
under all these conditions, there is a question about reliability (Parkes and Giron, n.d.).

There are many ways to promote reliability:

 Teachers can use a variety of assessment tasks to provide a range of information.

The more information gathered, the clearer is the picture of a student’s learning
profile.
 Students can show their learning in many different ways. If teachers are to have a
good understanding of an individual student’s learning, they need to allow that
student to demonstrate his or her competence in a manner that suits his or her
individual strengths. For example, one student may choose to do an oral
presentation to demonstrate understanding of a concept, while another may choose
to complete a written text.
 Teachers can use a variety of systematic processes - for example, scoring keys,
rubrics, and rating scales - to make statements about student work in relation to the
learning outcomes.
 Teachers can work with other teachers to review student work. By working
together, they establish agreement among themselves about what is expected and
what can be learned from a particular assessment. Bringing a collective insight
about what is expected to the exercise results in more reliable determinations of
what students understand.

2.2.2.2. Reference Point

The interpretation of any kind of measurement depends on reference points. For

example, when carpenters measure distance, they use meters and centimeters;
meteorologists refer to temperature in relation to the freezing point of water (0°C);
restaurant reviewers rate the food in restaurants based on quality, originality and
presentation.

In classroom assessment, there are three reference points teachers use when
considering a student’s performance:

 How is the student performing in relation to some pre-determined criteria, learning

outcome, or expectation (criteria- or outcomes-referenced)?
 How is the student performing in relation to the performance of other students in
the defined group (norm-referenced)?
 How is the student performing in relation to his or her performance at a prior time
(self-referenced)?

Each reference point results in a different kind of interpretation about students’

learning. It is only by clearly distinguishing the reference points that teachers can provide
students, parents, and the general public with meaningful information about what is
deemed important, and what the stages are in the journey from emergent to proficient.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 5

2.2.2.3. Validity

Validity in classroom assessment is about the accuracy of the interpretation and the
use of assessment information: How well does the assessment measure what I’m trying to
measure? Does the interpretation of the results lead to appropriate conclusions and
consequences?

When thinking about validity, we focus on the inferences that are drawn from an
assessment and the consequences of these inferences for those who have been assessed.
When an assessment is misinterpreted or used for purposes that were not intended, the
result may be poor decisions and problematic consequences.

Validity of classroom assessment depends on:

 analyzing the intended learning and all its embedded elements.

 having a good match among the assessment approaches, the intended learning, and
the decisions that teachers and students make about the learning.
 ensuring that the assessment adequately covers the targeted learning outcomes,
including content, thinking processes, skills, and attitudes.
 providing students with opportunities to show their knowledge of concepts in
many different ways (i.e., using a range of assessment approaches) and with
multiple measures, to establish a composite picture of student learning.

2.2.2.4. Record keeping

High-quality record-keeping is critical for ensuring quality in classroom

assessment. The records that teachers and students keep are the evidence that support the
decisions that are made about students’ learning. The records should include detailed and
descriptive information about the nature of the expected learning as well as evidence of
students’ learning, and should be collected from a range of assessments.

2.2.3. Assessment FOR Learning

The first purpose of assessment is assessment FOR learning which is similar to

formative assessment (Earl, 2003). In an international conference on assessment FOR
learning in Dunedin in 2009, building on work done at two earlier conferences in the UK
in 2001 and the USA in 2005, adopted the following definition (Klenowski, 2009):

Assessment FOR Learning is part of everyday practice by students, teachers

and peers that seeks, reflects upon and responds to information from
dialogue, demonstration and observation in ways that enhance on-going
learning.

Assessment FOR learning is the formal process (assignments, tests, quizzes,

performances, projects, surveys, etc.) and informal process (questioning, dialogue,
observing, anecdotal note taking, etc.) teachers and students use to gather evidence for the
purpose of improving teaching and learning. Assessment FOR learning occurs
throughout the teaching-learning process, often more than once, rather than at the end.
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In assessment FOR learning, teachers find out as much as they can about what their
students know and can do, and what confusions, preconceptions, or gaps they might have.
The wide variety of information that teachers collect about students’ learning processes
provides the basis for determining what they need to do next to move student learning
forward.

It provides the basis for providing descriptive feedback for students and deciding
on groupings, instructional strategies, and resources. Students understand exactly what
they are to learn, what is expected of them and are given feedback and advice on how to
improve their work.

Teachers also use assessment FOR learning to enhance students’ motivation and
commitment to learning. When teachers commit to learning as the focus of assessment,
they change the classroom culture to one of student success.

2.2.3.1. The Critical Attributes of Assessment FOR Learning

In 2007, the Formative Assessment for Students and Teachers State Collaborative
(FAST SCASS) of the Council of Chief State Officers with national and international
researchers in formative assessment identified five attributes or characteristics of the
assessment FOR learning which teachers must employ (McManus, 2008):

1. Learning progressions should clearly articulate the sub-goals of the ultimate

learning goal.
2. Learning goals and criteria for success should be clearly identified and
communicated to students.
3. Students should be provided with evidence-based feedback that is linked to the
intended instructional outcomes and criteria for success.
4. Both self- and peer-assessment are important for providing students an
opportunity to think metacognitively about their learning (learning how
to learn).
5. A classroom culture in which teachers and students are partners in learning
should be established.

AQ 2.2: A more specific term for learning goals is instructional objectives, learning
targets, or learning intentions. After sharing with students what they are going
to learn (lesson plan objectives), it makes sense to give them reasons for
learning it. That is, teachers answer the question, 'Why are we learning this?'
Write ‘two’ broad answers to the said question.

AT 4.1: Read the article “Seven Keys to Effective Feedback” by Grant Wiggins which can be
accessed through http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-
leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/Seven-Keys-to-Effective-Feedback.aspx
a) Summarize the sevens keys to effective feedback.
b) What is the main disadvantage of feedback?
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 7

Margaret Heritage (2007) of the National Center for Research on Evaluation,

Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) folded the attributes into a model of the
assessment FOR learning process as depicted in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 Assessment FOR Learning Cycle

The most important aspect in the cycle is identifying the “gap” between what
learners know currently and the desired goal for them to reach. This is identified during
feedback. The concept of feedback lies at the heart of assessment FOR learning. It is about
‘working in the gap’ between what your learners already know, understand and can do
and what they will know, be able to understand and do in the future.

The role of the teacher is not to close the gap for their learners but to support
learners to close the gap for themselves through their own efforts and using techniques
that work for them - learning how to learn. It is what educationists have called ‘mediation’
or ‘scaffolding’ and requires that teachers push some of the responsibility for their learning
over to learners themselves.

2.2.3.2. Conditions of Assessment FOR Learning

In an often-cited article describing how assessment FOR learning improves

achievement, Sadler (1989) concludes that it depends on developing students’ capacity to
monitor the quality of their own work during instruction:

The indispensable conditions for improvement are that the student comes to
hold a concept of quality roughly similar to that held by the teacher, is able
to monitor continuously the quality of what is being produced during the
act of production itself, and has a repertoire of alternative moves or
strategies from which to draw at any given point.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 8

The conditions of assessment FOR learning can be expressed as questions which

learners ask as they self-assess or monitor their own learning during instruction.

1. Where am I trying to go?

2. Where I am now?
3. How do I close the gap?

Drawing from Sadler‘s (1989) work, Wiliam and Thompson (2007) also noted three
key processes in teaching and learning:

1. Establishing where learners are in their learning.

2. Establishing where learners are going.
3. Establishing how to get there.

The conditions and key processes of assessment FOR learning complement each
other and can be achieved by several strategies on the part of the teachers.

1. Where am I trying to go? (Establishing where learners are in their learning.)

Students need clearly articulated, concise learning targets to be able to answer this
question. Learning is easier when learners understand what goal they are trying to
achieve, the purpose of achieving the goal, and the specific attributes of success. Teachers
should continually help students clarify the intended learning as the lessons unfold – not
just at the beginning of a unit of study.

 Strategy 1 - Give students a list of the learning targets they are responsible for
mastering, written in student-friendly language.
 Strategy 2 - Show students anonymous strong and weak examples of the kind of
product or performance they are expected to create and have them use a scoring
guide to determine which one is better and why.

2. Where I am now? (Establishing where they are.)

Students can practice comparing their work to models of high quality work and
trying to identify the differences. They can use teacher feedback from formative
assessments to gather evidence of what they know and can do relative to the defined
learning target. They can use teacher questions designed to prompt students to reflect on
what they have learned individually relative to the intended learning. All these strategies
help students ascertain – and, even important, learn how to ascertain – where they are and
where they need to be, an awareness that is central to their ultimate success.

 Strategy 3 - Administer a non-graded quiz part-way through the learning, to help

both teacher and students understand who needs to work on what.
 Strategy 4 - Highlight phrases on a scoring guide reflecting specific strengths and
areas for improvement and staple it to student work.
 Strategy 5 - Have students identify their own strengths and areas for improvement
using a scoring guide.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 9

 Strategy 6 - Have students keep a list of learning targets for the course and
periodically check off the ones they have mastered.

3. Establishing how to get there. (How do I close the gap?)

Feedback helps students know what to do to move from their current position to
the final learning goal. To meet learning goals, students must participate fully in creating
the goals, analyzing assessment data, and developing a plan of action to achieve the next
goal. Students should learn question-and-answer strategies that they can use to close the
gap: What do I need to change in my work to improve its quality? What specific help do I
need to make these changes? From whom can I get help? What resources do I need?

 Strategy 7 - Give students feedback and have them use it to set goals.
 Strategy 8 - Have students graph or describe their progress on specific learning
targets.
 Strategy 9 - Ask students to comment on their progress: What changes have they
noticed? What is easy that used to be hard? What insights into themselves as
learners have they discovered?

Sadler (1989) further noted that a steady flow of descriptive feedback to students
encourages continual self-assessment around what constitute quality. Keepings students
connected to a vision of quality as the unit of study progresses helps them close the gap
by formulating their next steps in learning.

On the other hand, Leahy, Lyon, Thompson and Wiliam (2005) identified five key
strategies to the effective implementation of assessment FOR learning, with an example of
a specific strategy under each one. They stressed that each classroom is different, and
different strategies work in different situations – but the five strategies apply to all
classrooms.

1. Clarifying, sharing, and understanding learning intentions and criteria for success.

 A sample strategy: Before asking students to write a lab report, a high-school

science teacher hands out four sample lab reports ranging from first-rate to low-
quality and asks students to rank them from best to worst, identifying what
qualities each level had or did not have.

2. Engineering effective classroom discussions, activities, and learning tasks that elicit
evidence of learning.

 A sample strategy: During a lesson on equivalent fractions, a fifth-grade teacher

asks students to write down a fraction between 1/6 and 1/7 on their individual
dry-erase boards and, on the count of three, hold up their answers. This kind of all-
student response system gets every student to participate and lets the teacher know
immediately if the class can move on or the concept needs to be re-explained or
clarified. It also allows the teacher to use students’ errors or misconceptions to
inform instruction and help students understand better.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 10

3. Providing feedback that moves learning forward.

 One sample strategy: When students complete a set of exercises, the teacher checks
over students’ papers and, rather than marking each item right or wrong, tells each
student (for example), “Five of these are incorrect; find them and fix them.” This
gets students to respond cognitively to the feedback rather than emotionally to the
grade.

4. Activating learners as instructional resources for one another.

 A sample strategy: When students complete a piece of work, the teacher tells them
to look back at the rubric or success criteria provided at the beginning of the lesson
and indicate their level of understanding with a colored circle: Green means “I
understand,” Yellow means “I’m not sure,” and Red means “I don’t understand.”
The teacher then provides follow-up instruction to help move all students to Green.

5. Activating learners as the owners of their own learning.

 One strategy: Before students turn in an assignment, they trade papers with a peer
and each student goes over the paper in front of him or her using a “pre-flight
checklist.” With a lab report, the criteria might include: diagrams drawn in pencil
and labeled; the results clearly separated from conclusions. Only when the work
meets the success criteria can it be turned in to the teacher.

The three conditions of Sadler (1989) are exercised by the teacher, learner and peer.
The crossing-over of the three conditions with the five key strategies of assessment FOR
learning forms a matrix as shown in Figure 4.2.

Where the learner is Where the learner is right now. How to get there.
going.

1. Clarifying and sharing 2. Engineering effective classroom 3. Providing feedback that

Teacher learning intentions and discussions, activities, and tasks that moves learning forward.
criteria for success. elicit evidence of learning.

Understanding and
Peer 4. Activating learners as instructional resources for one another.
sharing learning intention
and criteria for success.

Understanding learning
Learner 5. Activating learners as the owners of their own learning.
intentions and criteria for
success.

Figure 4.2 Five Key Strategies of Assessment FOR Assessment

AT 4.2: Read with understanding the explanation of the five key strategies that can be access from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-
leadership/nov05/vol63/num03/Classroom-Assessment@-Minute-by-Minute,-Day-by-
Day.aspx. Make a summary.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 11

AT 4.3: Break down assessment FOR learning into three key stages.

Moreover, research has identified a number of classroom strategies that are

particularly effective in promoting assessment FOR learning:

(1) The strategic use of questioning - questioning is used not only as a pedagogical
tool but also as a deliberate way for the teacher to find out what students
know, understand and are able to do;
(2) Effective teacher feedback - focuses on established success criteria and tells the
students what they have achieved and where they need to improve.
Importantly, the feedback provides specific suggestions about how that
improvement might be achieved;
(3) Peer feedback - occurs when a student uses established success criteria to tell
another student what they have achieved and where improvement is
necessary. Again, the feedback provides specific suggestions to help achieve
improvement;
(4) Student self-assessment - encourages students to take responsibility for their
own learning. It incorporates self-monitoring, self-assessment and self-
evaluation; and
(5) The formative use of summative assessment.

AQ 4.3: What is your idea about the last strategy “the formative use of summative assessment”?
Would the idea change if it is phrased “the summative use of formative assessment”.
Explain.

AQ 4.4: What are the key processes in teaching and learning?

2.2.3.3. Teachers’ Role in Assessment FOR Learning

The following are the roles of teachers in assessment FOR learning:

 aligning instruction with the targeted learning outcomes.

 identifying particular learning needs of students or groups.
 selecting and adapting materials and resources.
 creating differentiated teaching strategies and learning opportunities for
helping individual students move forward in their learning.
 providing immediate feedback and direction to students.

2.2.3.4. Planning Assessment FOR Learning

When the intent is to enhance student learning, teachers use assessment FOR
learning to uncover what students believe to be true and to learn more about the
connections students are making, their prior knowledge, preconceptions, gaps, and
learning styles. Teachers use this information to structure and differentiate instruction and
learning opportunities in order to reinforce and build on productive learning, and to
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 12

challenge beliefs or ideas that are creating problems or inhibiting the next stage of
learning. And they use this information to provide their students with descriptive
feedback that will further their learning.

When planning assessment, the teacher will be guided by the following questions:

 Why am I assessing?
 What am I assessing?
 What assessment method should I use?
 How can I ensure quality in this assessment process?
 How can I use the information from this assessment?

AT 4.4: Make a summary of Planning Assessment FOR Learning using the guide questions
above.

AQ 4.5: What are the mean concerns of assessment FOR learning?

2.2.3.5. Reliability

Because assessment FOR learning focuses on the nature of students’ thinking and
learning at any given point in time, and is used to determine the next phase of teaching
and learning, reliability depends on the accuracy and consistency of teachers’ descriptions
of the learning. Teachers will want to be sure that they are actually getting a clear picture
of how the students are thinking and what it is that they understand or find confusing. A
single assessment is rarely sufficient to produce detailed insights into students’ learning.
Instead, teachers use a range of assessments in different modes (e.g., oral, visual, active,
written), and do them at different times to develop a rolling picture of the student’s
progress and development. Teachers are always looking for evidence and descriptions of
each student’s way of understanding the concepts.

One of the best ways for teachers to gain reliable insights into how students are
thinking is to work with other teachers. When teachers share their views about students’
work and the nature and quality of the learning in relation to curriculum outcomes, they
gain consistency and coherence in their descriptive accounts, and they can feel more
confident about the final decisions and next steps in teaching.

2.2.3.6. Reference Points

Curriculum learning outcomes or, for some students, learning outcomes of an

individualized learning plan, are the reference points for assessment FOR learning. They
serve as guides in providing feedback and in planning instruction. Learning expectations
that are clear and detailed, with exemplars and criteria that differentiate the quality and
the changes along the learning continuum, enable teachers to accurately consider each
student’s work in relation to these expectations.

2.2.3.7. Validity
Validity in assessment FOR learning is all about how well assessment can shed light
on students’ understanding of the ideas that are contained in the learning outcomes and
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 13

in the effectiveness of the choices and the guidance that the teacher provides for the next
stage of learning. Teachers can judge the validity of their assessment processes by
monitoring how well their assessment shows the progress of students’ learning along the
continuum of the curriculum.

2.2.3.8. Record-Keeping

Record-keeping is an important part of ensuring quality in assessment FOR

learning. Teachers keep detailed notes, not for making comparative judgments among the
students, but to provide each student with individualized descriptive feedback that will
help further that student’s learning. Good record-keeping will show whether the student
work is on track and, when it is not, raise questions about the instruction and ways it could
be adjusted. The focus of record-keeping in assessment FOR learning is on documenting
individual student learning and annotating it in relation to the continuum of learning. The
focus is also on identifying groups of students with similar learning patterns so that
instruction can be efficiently differentiated. Teachers’ records need to be based on the
curriculum learning outcomes, and need to give detailed accounts of student
accomplishments in relation to these outcomes, with evidence to support these accounts.

AQ 4.6: In what way can assessment FOR learning builds students’ learning to learn skills
(metacognition)?

2.2.4. Assessment OF Learning

When the information from an assessment is used solely to make a judgment about
level of competence or achievement, it is a summative assessment. Summative assessment (or
summative evaluation) is an assessment that provides evidence of student achievement for
the purpose of making a judgment about student’s competence or program’s (curriculum,
textbook, etc.) effectiveness (Earl, 2003).

At the classroom level, an assessment is summative when it is given to determine

how much students have learned at a particular point in time, for the purpose of
communicating achievement status to others - parents, principal, DepEd officials, etc. The
communication usually takes the form of a symbol, a letter grade or number, or a
comparison to a standard such as “Meets the Standard” or “Proficient,” that is reported to
students and eventually to parents.

Sometimes an assessment intended to be used formatively can be used

summatively, such as when the evidence indicates that students have attained mastery.
Sometimes an assessment intended to be used summatively can be used formatively, such
as when a test reveals significant problems with learning that we address through re-
teaching.

The third purpose of assessment is assessment OF learning which is related to

summative assessment.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 14

 Assessment OF learning is summative in nature and is used to confirm what

students know and can do, to demonstrate whether they have achieved the
curriculum outcomes, and, occasionally, to show how they are placed in relation to
others.
 Assessment OF learning refers to strategies designed to confirm what students
know, demonstrate whether or not they have met curriculum outcomes or the goals
of their individualized programs, or to certify proficiency and make decisions
about students’ future programs or placements.
 Assessment OF learning is the assessment that becomes public and results in
statements or symbols about how well students are learning.
 Teachers concentrate on ensuring that they have used assessment to provide
accurate and sound statements of students’ proficiency, so that the recipients of the
information can use the information to make reasonable and defensible decisions.
 It is designed to provide evidence of achievement to parents, other educators, the
students themselves, and sometimes to outside groups (e.g., employers, other
educational institutions).
 It often contributes to pivotal decisions that will affect students’ futures. It is
important, then, that the underlying logic and measurement of assessment OF
learning be credible and defensible.
 Assessment OF learning methods include not only tests and examinations, but also
a rich variety of products and demonstrations of learning - portfolios, exhibitions,
performances, presentations, simulations, multimedia projects, and a variety of
other written, oral, and visual methods.

2.2.4.1. Teachers’ Role in Assessment OF Learning

Because the consequences of assessment OF learning are often far-reaching and

affect students seriously, teachers have the responsibility of reporting student learning
accurately and fairly, based on evidence obtained from a variety of contexts and
applications. Effective assessment OF learning requires that teachers provide:

 a rationale for undertaking a particular assessment OF learning at a particular point

in time
 clear descriptions of the intended learning
 processes that make it possible for students to demonstrate their competence and
skill
 a range of alternative mechanisms for assessing the same outcomes
 public and defensible reference points for making judgements
 transparent approaches to interpretation
 descriptions of the assessment process
 strategies for recourse in the event of disagreement about the decisions with the
help of their teachers, students can look forward to assessment of learning tasks as
occasions to show their competence, as well as the depth and breadth of their
learning.

2.2.4.2. Planning Assessment OF Learning

 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 15

The purpose of assessment OF learning is to measure, certify, and report the level
of students’ learning, so that reasonable decisions can be made about them. There are
many potential users of the information:

 teachers (who can use the information to communicate with parents about their
children’s proficiency and progress).
 parents and students (who can use the results for making educational and
vocational decisions).
 potential employers and post-secondary institutions (who can use the information
to make decisions about hiring or acceptance).
 principals, district or divisional administrators, and teachers (who can use the
information to review and revise programming).

With the help of teachers, students can look forward to assessment OF learning
tasks as occasions to show their competence, as well as the depth and breadth of their
learning.

AT 4.5: Make a summary about Planning Assessment OF Learning like what you did in AT 4.4.

2.2.4.3. Reliability

Reliability in assessment OF learning depends on how accurate, consistent, fair, and

free from bias and distortion the assessment is. Teachers might ask themselves:
 Do I have enough information about the learning of this particular student to make
a definitive statement?
 Was the information collected in a way that gives all students an equal chance to
show their learning?
 Would another teacher arrive at the same conclusion?
 Would I make the same decision if I considered this information at another time or
in another way?

2.2.4.4. Reference Points

Typically, the reference points for assessment OF learning are the learning
outcomes as identified in the curriculum that make up the course of study. Assessment
tasks include measures of these learning outcomes, and a student’s performance is
interpreted and reported in relation to these learning outcomes. In some situations where
selection decisions need to be made for limited positions (e.g., university entrance,
scholarships, employment opportunities), assessment OF learning results are used to rank
students. In such norm-referenced situations, what is being measured needs to be clear,
and the way it is being measured needs to be transparent to anyone who might use the
assessment results.

2.2.4.5. Validity

Because assessment OF learning results in statements about students’ proficiency

in wide areas of study, assessment OF learning tasks must reflect the key knowledge,
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 16

concepts, skills, and dispositions set out in the curriculum, and the statements and
inferences that emerge must be upheld by the evidence collected.

2.2.4.6. Record-Keeping

Whichever approaches teachers choose for assessment OF learning, it is their

records that provide details about the quality of the measurement. Detailed records of the
various components of the assessment OF learning are essential, with a description of
what each component measures, with what accuracy and against what criteria and
reference points, and should include supporting evidence related to the outcomes as
justification.

When teachers keep records that are detailed and descriptive, they are in an
excellent position to provide meaningful reports to parents and others. Merely a symbolic
representation of a student’s accomplishments (e.g., a letter grade or percentage) is
inadequate. Reports to parents and others should identify the intended learning that the
report covers, the assessment methods used to gather the supporting information, and the
criteria used to make the judgment.

2.2.4.7. Reporting

There are many possible approaches to reporting student proficiency. Reporting

assessment OF learning needs to be appropriate for the audiences for whom it is intended,
and should provide all of the information necessary for them to make reasoned decisions.
Regardless of the form of the reporting, however, it should be honest, fair, and provide
sufficient detail and contextual information so that it can be clearly understood.
Traditional reporting, which relies only on a student’s average score, provides little
information about that student’s skill development or knowledge. One alternate
mechanism, which recognizes many forms of success and provides a profile of a student’s
level of performance on an emergent-proficient continuum, is the parent-student-teacher
conference. This forum provides parents with a great deal of information, and reinforces
students’ responsibility for their learning.

AQ 4.7: What are the main concerns of assessment OF learning?

AQ 4.7: What are the main concerns of assessment OF learning.

AT 4.6: Modify the figure shown below by incorporating assessment FOR and OF learning
into the figure.

2.2.5. Assessment AS learning

 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 17

Assessment AS learning is a process of developing and supporting metacognition

for students. Through this process students are able to learn about themselves as learners
and become aware of how they learn – become metacognitive (knowledge of one’s own
thought processes) (Earl, 2003).

Assessment AS learning focuses on the role of the student as the critical connector
between assessment and learning. When students are active, engaged, and critical
assessors, they make sense of information, relate it to prior knowledge, and use it for new
learning. This is the regulatory process in metacognition. It occurs when students monitor
their own learning and use the feedback from this monitoring to make adjustments,
adaptations, and even major changes in what they understand. Students reflect on their
work on a regular basis, usually through self and peer assessment and decide (often with
the help of the teacher, particularly in the early stages) what their next learning will be.
Assessment AS learning helps students to take more responsibility for their own learning
and monitoring future directions. The ultimate goal in assessment AS learning is for
students to acquire the skills and the habits of mind to be metacognitively aware with
increasing independence (Stiggins, 2001).

2.2.5.1. Assessment AS Learning: Feedback

Complex skills such as monitoring and self-regulation become routine only when
there is constant feedback and practice using the skills.

Effective feedback challenges ideas, introduces additional information, offers

alternative interpretations, and creates conditions for self-reflection and review of ideas.
If all feedback does is provide direction for what students need to do - that is, the feedback
does not refer to students’ own roles in moving forward to the next learning -they will
perpetually ask questions like Is this right? Is this what I want?

Rather, feedback in assessment AS learning encourages students to focus their

attention on the task, rather than on getting the answer right. It provides them with ideas
for adjusting, rethinking, and articulating their understanding, which will lead to another
round of feedback and another extension of learning.

2.2.5.2. Teachers’ Role in Assessment AS Learning

A high level of student participation in the assessment process does not diminish
teachers’ responsibilities. Rather, assessment AS learning extends the role of teachers to
include designing instruction and assessment that allows all students to think about, and
monitor, their own learning.

Assessment AS learning is based on the conviction that students are capable of

becoming adaptable, flexible, and independent in their learning and decision-making.
When teachers involve students and promote their independence, they are giving them
the tools to undertake their own learning wisely and well.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 18

To become independent learners, students must develop sophisticated

combinations of skills, attitudes, and dispositions. Self-monitoring and evaluation are
complex and difficult skills that do not develop quickly or spontaneously. Like any other
complex set of skills, becoming metacognitively aware requires modeling and teaching on
the part of the teacher, and practice on the part of the student.

The teacher’s role in promoting the development of independent learners through

assessment AS learning is to:

 model and teach the skills of self-assessment.

 guide students in setting goals, and monitoring their progress toward them.
 provide exemplars and models of good practice and quality work that reflect
curriculum outcomes.
 work with students to develop clear criteria of good practice.
 guide students in developing internal feedback or self-monitoring mechanisms to
validate and question their own thinking, and to become comfortable with the
ambiguity and uncertainty that is inevitable in learning anything new.
 provide regular and challenging opportunities to practice, so that students can
become confident, competent self-assessors.
 monitor students’ metacognitive processes as well as their learning, and provide
descriptive feedback.
 create an environment where it is safe for students to take chances and where
support is readily available.

Students need to experience continuous and genuine success. This does not mean
that students should not experience failure but, rather, that they need to become
comfortable with identifying different perspectives and challenge these perspectives; they
need to learn to look for misconceptions and inaccuracies and work with them toward a
more complete and coherent understanding.

Students (both those who have been successful – in a system that rewards safe
answers - and those who are accustomed to failure) are often unwilling to confront
challenges and take the risks associated with making their thinking visible. Teachers have
the responsibility of creating environments in which students can become confident,
competent self-assessors by providing emotional security and genuine opportunities for
involvement, independence, and responsibility.

2.2.5.3. Planning Assessment AS Learning

In order to know what steps to take to support students’ independence in learning,

teachers use assessment AS learning to obtain rich and detailed information about how
students are progressing in developing the habits of mind and skills to monitor, challenge,
and adjust their own learning.

For their part, students learn to monitor and challenge their own understanding,
predict the outcomes of their current level of understanding, make reasoned decisions
about their progress and difficulties, decide what else they need to know, organize and
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 19

reorganize ideas, check for consistency between different pieces of information, draw
analogies that help them advance their understanding, and set personal goals.

In assessment AS learning, teachers are interested in how students understand

concepts, and in how they use metacognitive analysis to make adjustments to their
understanding. Teachers monitor students’ goal-setting process and their thinking about
their learning, and the strategies students use to support or challenge, adjust, and advance
their learning.

Teachers can use a range of methods in assessment AS learning as long as the

methods are constructed to elicit detailed information both about students’ learning and
about their metacognitive processes. Teachers teach students how to use the methods so
that they can monitor their own learning, think about where they feel secure in their
learning and where they feel confused or uncertain, and decide about a learning plan.

Although many assessment methods have the potential to encourage reflection and
review, what matters in assessment AS learning is that the methods allow students to
consider their own learning in relation to models, exemplars, criteria, rubrics, frameworks,
and checklists that provide images of successful learning.

Quality in assessment AS learning depends on how well the assessment engages

students in considering and challenging their thinking, and in making judgments about
their views and understanding. Teachers establish high quality by ensuring that students
have the right tools and are accumulating the evidence needed to make reasonable
decisions about what it is that they understand or find confusing, and what else they need
to do to deepen their understanding.

AT 4.7: Make a summary about Planning Assessment AS Learning like what you did in AT 4.4
and AT 4.5.

2.2.5.4. Reliability

Reliability in assessment AS learning is related to consistency and confidence in

students’ self-reflection, self-monitoring, and self-adjustment. As students practice
monitoring their own learning and analyzing it in relation to what is expected, they
eventually develop the skills to make consistent and reliable interpretations of their
learning. In the short term, however, teachers have the responsibility of engaging students
in the metacognitive processes. They do this by scaffolding students’ understanding;
providing criteria, exemplars, and resources to help them analyze their own work;
teaching them the necessary skills to think about their own learning in relation to their
prior understanding and the curricular learning outcomes; and gathering evidence about
how well they are learning.

2.2.5.5. Reference Points

The reference points in assessment as learning are a blend of curricular expectations
and the individual student’s understanding at an earlier point in time. Students compare
their own learning over time with descriptions and examples of expected learning.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 20

2.2.5.6. Validity

Students are able to assess themselves only when they have a clear picture of
proficient learning and the various steps that need to be taken to attain the desired
expertise. Students need clear criteria and many varied examples of what good work looks
like, as well as opportunities to compare their work to examples of good work. They need
to reflect on their own and others’ work in the context of teacher feedback and advice
about what to do next.

2.2.5.7. Record-Keeping

Students are the key players in record-keeping, as they are in all the other
components of assessment AS learning. They need to develop skills and attitudes that
allow them to keep systematic records of their learning, and these records need to include
reflections and insights as they occur. Their individual records become the evidence of
their progress in learning and in becoming independent learners.

2.2.5.8. Reporting

Reporting in assessment AS learning is the responsibility of students, who must

learn to articulate and defend the nature and quality of their learning. When students
reflect on their own learning and must communicate it to others, they are intensifying their
understanding about a topic, their own learning strengths, and the areas in which they
need to develop further. Student-led parent-teacher conferences have become a popular
reporting forum that fits with assessment AS learning. However, the success of these
conferences depends on how well they are structured and how well the students prepare.
The students need to have been deeply involved in assessment as learning throughout the
instructional process, and be able to provide their parents with evidence of their learning.
The evidence needs to include an analysis of their learning progress and that they need to
do to move it forward.

AT 4.8: Modify the figure shown below by incorporating assessment FOR, OF and AS
learning into the figure.

AQ 4.8: What are the main concerns of assessment AS learning?

AQ 4.9: Cite two similarities between assessment FOR learning and assessment AS learning.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 21

AQ 4.10: What is the difference between Formative Assessment and Assessment FOR Learning?

2.2.6. Balance in Assessment Purposes

Traditionally, the focus of classroom assessment had been on assessment OF

learning - measuring learning after the fact, using the information to make judgments
about students’ performances, and reporting these judgments to others as indicated in
Figure 4.3 (MECY, 2006).

Figure 4.3. Traditional Assessment Pyramid

Teachers traditionally have also been using assessment FOR learning when they
built in diagnostic processes, formative assessment, and feedback at various stages in the
teaching and learning process, though it was often informal and implicit. Systematic
assessment AS learning - where students become critical analysts of their own learning -
was rare. Although some teachers have incorporated self-assessment into their programs,
few have systematically or explicitly used assessment to develop students’ capacity to
evaluate and adapt their own learning. It is not always easy, however, getting the balance
right of the three assessment purposes. If we want to enhance learning for all students,
the role of assessment FOR learning and assessment AS learning should take on a much
higher profile than assessment OF learning as depicted in Figure 4.4.

Figure 4.4. Reconfigured Assessment Pyramid

It is purpose that dictates how assessment is constructed and used. If the purpose
is enhancing learning, the assessment needs to give students an opportunity to make their
learning apparent without anxiety or censure. If the purpose is checking learning for
reporting, teachers need to be especially concerned about the quality of the assessment,
and how it might be used by others. It is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to serve
three different assessment purposes at the same time. It is important for teachers to
understand the three assessment purposes, recognize the need to balance among them,
know which one they are using and why, and use them all wisely.
AQ 4.11: Assessment FOR learning and assessment AS learning (formative assessment) will
avoid “examination malpractice” which an endemic problem. What is your idea
about “examination malpractice”?
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 22

AQ 4.12: What is being communicated by Figures 4.4 and 4.5 regarding assessment?

Figure 4.3. Traditional Assessment Pyramid Figure 4.3. Traditional Assessment Pyramid

2.2.7. Assessment Toolkit

The variety of methods available for collecting, interpreting, and reporting

information about what students know and can do is endless. Although some methods
have come to be associated with assessment during instruction and learning, and others
with assessment at the end of a unit or term, there are a variety of methods that can be
used for all three purposes of assessment (Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth,
2006).

What is important is that teachers first clarify the purpose of assessment and then
select the method that best serves the purpose in the particular context. The list is not
exhaustive, but gives examples of the kinds of methods that teachers can use for
assessment purposes. Although the methods have been organized by function - gathering
information, interpreting information, keeping records, and communicating - there are
indeed interrelationships among them, and it is important to note that some methods
belong in multiple categories.

A. Gathering Information

Method Description
Questioning asking focused questions in class to elicit understanding

Observation systematic observations of students as they process ideas.

Homework assignments to elicit understanding.

Learning investigative discussions with students about their understanding

conversations or and confusions.
interviews

Demonstrations, opportunities for students to show their learning in oral and media
presentations performances, exhibitions.

Quizzes, tests, opportunities for students to show their learning through written
examinations response.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 23

Rich assessment complex tasks that encourage students to show connections that
tasks they are making among concepts they are learning.

Computer-
systematic and adaptive software applications connected to
based
curriculum outcomes.
assessments

Simulations, simulated or role-playing tasks that encourage students to show

docudramas connections that they are making among concepts they are
learning.

Learning logs descriptions students maintain of the process they go through in

their learning.

Projects, opportunities for students to show connections in their learning

investigations through investigation and production of reports or artifacts.

Developmental profiles describing student learning to determine extent of

continua learning, next steps, and report progress and achievement.

Checklists descriptions of criteria to consider in understanding students’

learning

Rubrics descriptions of criteria with gradations of performance described

and defined

Reflective reflections and conjecture students maintain about how their

journals learning is going and what they need to do next .

Self-assessment process in which students reflect on their own performance and

use defined criteria for determining the status of their learning.

B. Interpreting Results

Method Description
Peer process in which students reflect on the performance of their peers
assessment and use defined criteria for determining the status of their peers’
learning.

C. Record Keeping

Method Description

Anecdotal focused descriptive records of observations of student learning over

records time.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 24

Student information about the quality of students’ work in relation to

profile curriculum outcomes or a student’s individual learning plan.

Video or photographs visual or auditory images that provide artifacts of

audio tapes, student learning.
photo-graphs

Portfolios systematic collection of their work that demonstrate

accomplishments, growth, and reflection about their learning.

D. Communicating

Method Description

Demonstrations, formal student presentations to show their learning to parents,

presentations judging panels, or others.

Parent-student- opportunities for teachers, parents, and students to examine and

teacher discuss the student’s learning and plan next steps.
conferences

Records of detailed records of students’ accomplishment in relation to the

achievement curriculum outcomes.

Report cards periodic symbolic representations and brief summaries of student

learning for parents.

Learning and routine summaries for parents, highlighting curriculum outcomes,

assessment student activities, and examples of their learning.
newsletters

2.3. References

Andrade, H. and Du, Y. (2007). Student responses to criteria-referenced self-Assessment.

Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 32 (2), 159-181. Retrieved May 4,
2015 from
https://theeffectiveeducator.wikispaces.com/file/view/Andrade+%26+Du--
+Self+Assessment
Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and Classroom Learning. Assessment in
Education 5(1) pp. 7-71.
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., and Wiliam, D. (2004). Working inside the
black box: assessment for learning in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(1), 8-21.
Retrieved June 6, 2015 from http://datause.cse.ucla.edu/DOCS/pb_wor_2004.pdf
Boud, D. and Falchikov, N. (2007). Rethinking assessment in higher education. London:
Kogan Page.
 2 | Assessment in Learning 1 25

Department of Education (DepEd). Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment for the

K to 12 Basic Education Program. DepEd Order No. 8 series 2015. April 1, 2015.
Earl, L. (2003). Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximise
Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press. Retrieved July 23, 2015 from
http://www.colorado.edu/osaa/sites/default/files/attached-
files/AssessmentForOfAsLearning2003_LEarl.pdf
Gipps, C. and Stobart, G. (1997). Assessment: A teacher’s guide to the issues. London:
Hodder & Stoughton.
Heritage, M. (2009). The process of formative assessment. Presentation at the meeting of Iowa
Assessment for Learning Institute, Des Moines, IA.
Klenowski, V. (2009). Assessment for learning revisited: an Asia-Pacific perspective.
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 16(3), 263-268. Retrieved May
3, 2015 from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/28741/1/28741.pdf
Kluger, A. and DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A
historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory.
Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254-284.
https://www.tamu.edu/faculty/payne/PA/Kluger%20&%20DeNisi%201996.pd
f
Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., and Wiliam, D. (November 2005). Classroom
Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day. Assessment to Promote Learning.
Volume 63;Number 3. Pages 19-24. Retrieved April 12, 2015 from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-
leadership/nov05/vol63/num03/Classroom-Assessment@-Minute-by-Minute,-
Day-by-Day.aspx
McManus, S. (2008). Attributes of Effective Formative Assessment. A work product
coordinated by Sarah McManus, NC Department of Public Instruction, for the
Formative Assessment for Students and Teachers (FAST) Collaborative.
file:///C:/Users/USER/Downloads/attributes_of_effective_2008%20(1).pdf
Parkes, J. and Giron, T. (n.d.). Reliability Arguments in Classrooms. Paper presented at
the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Measurement in Education, San
Francisco, CA. Retrieved May 2, 2015 from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED491672.pdf
Sadler, D. (1989). Formative assessment: Revisiting the territory. Assessment in Education.
Abingdon: Mar 1998. Vol. 5, Iss. 1; pg. 77, 8 pgs. Retrieved June 23, 2015 from
http://dropoutrates.teachade.com/resources/support/5035b24fecda6.pdf
Stiggins, R. (1998). Assessment Crisis: The Absence Of Assessment FOR Learning. Phi
Delta Kappan. Online Article. Retrieved June4, 2015 from
http://electronicportfolios.org/afl/Stiggins-AssessmentCrisis.pdf
Stiggins, R. (2001). Leadership for Excellence in Assessment: A Powerful New School
District Planning Guide. Portland, OR: Assessment Training Institute.
Stiggins, R. J. (2005). From formative assessment to assessment FOR learning: a path to
success in standards-based schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(4), 324-328.
Wiliam, D. (2014). Formative assessment and contingency in the regulation of learning
processes. Paper presented in a Symposium entitled Toward a Theory of Classroom
Assessment as the Regulation of Learning at the annual meeting of the American
Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA.
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Wiliam, D. and Thompson, M. (2007). Integrating assessment with instruction: What will
it take to make it work? In C. A. Dwyer (Ed.), The future of assessment: Shaping
teaching and learning (pp. 53–82). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Winter, J. (2003). The changing prepositions of assessment practice: assessment of, for and
as learning. British Educational Research Journal, 29(5), pp.767-772

2.4. Acknowledgement

All diagrams, figures, tables, and other information contained in this module were
taken from the references enumerated above.