Assessment

What is assessment ?

Assessment is the ongoing process of gathering,

analysing and reflecting on evidence to make
informed and consistent judgements to improve
future student learning.
Activity

 In pairs or small groups, brainstorm the

assessment strategies used in your
school/classroom.
Three main purposes for assessment

Assessment for learning occurs when teachers

use inferences about student progress to inform
their teaching. (formative)

Assessment as learning occurs when students

reflect on and monitor their progress to inform
their future learning goals. (formative)

Assessment of learning occurs when teachers

use evidence of student learning to make
judgements on student achievement against
goals and standards. (summative)
Assessment for learning:
(1)

 establishes a classroom culture that encourages interaction and

the use of assessment tools
 occurs throughout a learning sequence and is planned when
teachers design teaching and learning activities
 involves teachers sharing learning intentions and explicit
assessment criteria with students
 involves teachers and students setting and monitoring student
progress against learning goals
 requires teachers to ascertain students' prior knowledge,
perceptions and misconceptions
Assessment for learning:
(2)

 involves teachers focusing on how students learn and how to

scaffold their learning
 involves teachers adapting teaching practice to meet student needs
 provides sensitive and constructive feedback to students on their
performance
 involves teachers making formative use of summative assessment
Activity

 In pairs or small groups, select two

characteristics of Assessment for learning and
discuss how these may be demonstrated in
your classroom.
Assessment as learning:
(1)

 involves students monitoring their learning and using feedback

from this monitoring to make adjustments and changes to their
skills and understandings
 establishes students’ role and responsibility in relation to their
learning and assessment
 empowers students to consider strategies for learning and taking
action
 involves students in self-assessment and peer-assessment
Assessment as learning:

(2)

 promotes students’ self-esteem and self-confidence through an

understanding of how they learn to learn
 develops students’ capacity to reflect on the learning and to
contribute to their future learning goals
 enhances students’ life-long learning skills
 emphasises the process of learning as it is experienced by the
student
Activity

 In pairs or groups of three, use a venn diagram

to discuss the relationship between
assessment for learning and
assessment as learning.
Assessment of learning:

 enables students to demonstrate what they know and can do

 describes the extent to which a student has achieved the
learning goals, including the Standards
 uses teacher judgements about student achievement at a point
in time
 is supported by examples or evidence of student learning
 ensures consistent teacher judgements through moderation
processes
 is used to plan future learning goals.
Activity

 In pairs or small groups discuss the types of

assessment of learning used in your school.

 How is the information/data from these used?

Activity

 Consider your brainstorm list of assessment

strategies.

 Can you now categorise these into the 3

purposes for assessment? (for, as, of)
Questions for future consideration

 Do our assessment practices make use of all three main

purposes for assessment?
 Do our assessment processes allow for a balance of
assessment for, as and of learning?
 How can assessment for and as learning (formative) assist
students when it comes to assessment of learning (summative)?
 What processes could our school use to align its assessment
processes to the assessment advice provided by the Department?