APPROACHES TO TEACHING AND LEARNING

Assessment for
Learning
What is Assessment for Learning?
Assessment for Learning (AfL) is a teaching approach that generates feedback which can be used to improve
learners’ performance. Learners become more involved in the learning process and, from this, gain confidence
in what they are expected to learn and to what standard. We, as teachers, gain insights into a learner’s level of
understanding of a particular concept or topic, which helps to inform how we support their progression.
We need to understand the meaning and method of giving purposeful feedback to optimise learning. Feedback
can be informal, such as oral comments to help learners think through problems, or formal, such as the use of
rubrics to help clarify and scaffold learning and assessment objectives.

Why use Assessment for Learning?

By following well-designed approaches to AfL, we can understand better how our learners are learning and use
this to plan what we will do next with a class or individual learners (see following diagram).We can help our
learners to see what they are aiming for and to understand what they need to do to get there. AfL makes learning
visible; it helps learners understand more accurately the nature of the material they are learning and understand
themselves as learners. The quality of interactions and feedback between learners and teachers becomes critical
to the learning process.

Where
the learner
is now

Where
How the learner
to get there is going

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We can use AfL to help our learners focus on specific elements of their learning and to take greater
responsibility for how they might move forward. AfL creates a valuable connection between assessment and
learning activities, as the clarification of objectives will have a direct impact on how we devise teaching and
learning strategies. AfL techniques can support learners in becoming more confident in what they are learning,
reflective in how they are learning, more likely to try out new approaches, and more engaged in what they are
being asked to learn.

What are the challenges of incorporating

Assessment for Learning?
The use of AfL does not mean that we need to test learners more frequently. It would be easy to just increase
the amount of summative assessment and use this formatively as a regular method of helping us decide what
to do next in our teaching. We can judge how much learning has taken place through ways other than testing,
including, above all, communicating with our learners in a variety of ways and getting to know them better
as individuals.

Excerpts from the Approaches to learning and teaching series, courtesy of Cambridge University Press and
Cambridge Assessment International Education: cambridge.org/approachestolearning

Assessment for Learning in this series

As we have seen, Assessment for Learning improves performance through:
• a shared understanding of the direction of learning and the end goals
• generating feedback so that the learner knows where they are on the journey towards those goals
• working with learners to devise and adapt teaching programmes and opportunities for learning, in order to
help each individual learner on their journey.
To achieve desired results, it is essential that the learner is involved throughout the process, thereby inspiring
engagement and confidence.
In this series, we aim to provide you with the tools to successfully implement an Assessment for Learning
approach. We provide clear goals in line with the Cambridge Primary curriculum framework, and we provide a
range of resources and techniques to help you gather the information about your learners which you will need to
plan, adapt and tailor your teaching to meet their specific needs.

Understanding where the learner is going

We would encourage you to look through the How to use this book pages with your learners so that they are
familiar with the organization and features of each unit.
At the start of each Learner’s Book unit you will find a set of learning intentions (We are going to… or
In this session you will… boxes), written in learner-friendly language. These include the key objectives addressed
in the unit, together with vocabulary and 21st Century Skills which are developed. In the Teacher’s Resource,
you will see these again, this time using the learning objectives from the curriculum framework so that you can
be reassured of full coverage and understand more clearly how the unit objectives fit into the curriculum as
a whole. These are accompanied by success criteria so that you have measures against which to monitor your
learners’ progression.
Each lesson spread repeats the learning intentions for that lesson to ensure learners are absolutely clear about
their objectives at all times.

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The Write about it lessons include model texts, which learners analyse to understand what a good example looks
like. Learners are then guided through a scaffolded Process Writing approach towards producing their own piece
of writing in the same genre. The Talk about it lessons follow a similar approach.
At the end of each unit, the Look what I can do! or Summary checklist box revisits the learning intentions of
the unit so that learners can self-assess their progress.

Understanding where the learner is now

Before learning
Each stage starts with a Diagnostic check (available to download from Cambridge GO as part of this Teacher’s
Resource). This test deals with the knowledge and skills which are a prerequisite for success as learners start to
work through the stage. It aims to inform teachers and learners whether the foundations are solid and whether
remedial work is required before knowledge and skills are built upon as a part of the spiral curriculum. It can
also indicate whether the group are confident in certain areas, meaning less time need be spent on these. Of
course, teachers will also learn which individuals will need special support in order to fulfil their potential.
Each unit starts with a Getting started box to tease out prior learning and language, with the support of the
unit opener image. It’s useful for you to know what learners already know so that you can tailor your teaching;
it’s helpful for learners to prime themselves for new learning by activating schemata (mental frameworks which
help us understand new information) and engaging with the topic; and this process also offers an opportunity
for confidence-building peer teaching. Please also see the Diagnostic questions section in the Improving learning
through questioning document (available to download from Cambridge GO as part of this Teacher’s Resource).

During learning
The Teacher’s Resource includes Concept checking questions (a type of hinge-point question; see the Improving
learning through questioning document for more information), for use during grammar presentations. These will
help you understand how well learners have grasped concepts before moving on.
At the end of each unit, projects provide an opportunity for low-floor high-ceiling challenges (activities that are
accessible for all learners while also providing opportunities to stretch all learners), where all learners can achieve
collaboratively to the best of their ability. These pages are designed to bring the learning of the unit together.

After learning
You may wish to keep learner portfolios using products of the projects and the written tasks. You may well wish
to record some examples of performance from projects and spoken tasks.
Each unit has a corresponding unit test (available to download from Cambridge GO as part of this Teacher’s
Resource). These will help you assess understanding of the language learning intentions, and adapt your
teaching accordingly. This may involve designing lessons to address common problem areas, or providing
individual support as required.

Longer term
At various points throughout the Learner’s Book, you will find Check your progress sections, which revisit the
key learning intentions of the previous units to assess retention.
At the mid-point in the course and the end of the year, there are Progress Tests (Mid-year and End-of-year
tests). These are designed to encourage a backwash effect (the positive impact on learning caused by testing) on
your learners. The results of these tests might also be useful as one part of your reporting process. The Mid-year
test will provide valuable feedback to help you address problem areas in both language and skills. The results
from the End-of-year test will be useful for the next year’s teaching, wherever that learner may be.
The Teacher’s Resource includes a Progress Report which you can photocopy for each member of your class to
help you monitor and report upwards on progress.

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Involving the learner in the process

For the tasks in the Write about it lessons, simple assessment criteria based on the lesson objectives are available
in the Teacher’s Resource and we would encourage you to share these with learners.
The Teacher’s Resource also includes more detailed generic assessment criteria and sample answers with teacher
comments for both the Write about it lessons and the Progress tests. These are designed to help you assess your
learners’ work, in order that you can provide valuable, developmental feedback. We would advise against giving
marks in order to optimize learner-specific, qualitative feedback. Once you are confident with using these sample
answers, and depending on your group, you may want to use these with the class, to help them better understand
how to self and peer assess.
The projects also offer opportunities for self and peer assessment. Again, assessment criteria can be found in the
Teacher’s Resource. Self and peer assessment allow your learners to engage deeply with the criteria which make
their work of a good standard. It ensures that they are actively involved in the learning process, and leads to
learner independence and motivation.
The Teacher’s Resource also includes plenary self and peer assessment opportunities at the end of each lesson.

How to get there: improving performance

We have looked at a number of points on the learning journey where progress is checked. How you wish
to respond to the outcomes at these intervals is your choice, as the teacher. Only you know each individual
well enough to be able to respond in the most appropriate way to ensure that each and every learner gets the
guidance required to continue on their learning journey.
Nevertheless we have developed some tools to save you time, provide you with some ideas and help you provide
for your learners.
• The Process writing approach, with model texts, means that every learner gets the support they need as they
work through the challenging process of writing. The same is true of the tasks on the Talk about it pages.
• The projects are open-ended activities where learners are encouraged to perform to the best of their
ability. You could take on a coaching role to encourage individuals to focus on those areas which they
are struggling with.
• The Workbooks include activities in three tiers of difficulty. You may wish to direct learners to the tier
which is most appropriate for them, or you may wish to encourage learners to go as far as they can.
• The Teacher’s Resource also includes advice on differentiation and differentiated worksheets
• The Teacher’s Resource includes tips within the lesson notes to help learners fulfill their potential.
• Each unit in the Teacher’s Resource focusses on an aspect of teacher development. This may include
AfL or differentiation.