Making time for student assessment: Better evidence, better decisions, better learning
Assessment is the bridge between learning; it is only through assessment that we can determine what our students have learned, and what we need to do next. However, developing effective learning takes time, and since teachers are already working at capacity, the only way to harness the power of assessment to improve learning is first to create time for teachers to think. To this end, this workshop has a dual focus: to share with participants the different ways that assessment can support learning and to help schools identify ways of saving time: to create time for innovation, and simply to help teachers get their lives back.
The workshop will begin by discussing the various ways that assessment can inform teaching and learning: by helping educators distinguish between learning intentions and success criteria, by exploring different ways of getting evidence about student achievement and by understanding how to make feedback effective. Participants will also learn about ways that students can support their peers, and how they can take greater ownership of their learning.
The workshop will also show how more formal assessments can be used to evaluate students’ ability to integrate knowledge, skills, and understanding of authentic goals, and how the results of these assessments can be used to help teachers evaluate the impact of their practices.
The closing session of the workshop will present an overview of the “Making room for impact” methodology that allows schools to identify aspects of the school’s work where the amount of effort expended by teachers and schools can be reduced without harming student achievement.
