Rather than viewing assessment as something that always takes place at the end of episodes of work, it is helpful to see it as part of the whole cycle of learning. Assessment is an umbrella term for all the ways in which we evaluate children’s progress. Our assessment of the pupils, whether it is built up through cumulative observation or is the result of a more formal set of tests of specific attainments, should feed back into the next cycle of planning and teaching. There are a number of possible formats for recording the results of assessment evidence. In assessing the children’s progress, we are of course also evaluating the effectiveness of our teaching strategies and results will indicate if and how we need to modify these. This dynamic approach informs the assessment sections of the extended entries on each of the four language processes: Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing.
There are some useful terms to keep in mind when selecting ways of assessing children’s progress in English and indeed in the other primary curriculum subjects. One important distinction is between formative and summative kinds of assessment. Teachers make formative assessments as part of the everyday work of the class. This kind of assessment concentrates on a child’s developing abilities and often diagnoses where help is needed. Comments on what the teacher has observed inform the pupil’s profile. A great strength of this kind of assessment is that it is integrated with teaching and learning and feeds easily back into planning. For example, after a focus on fairy tales as a genre we might ask the children to write their own modern fairy tale. Their writing would be helpful and satisfying as part of their work and would also help the teacher see how far each individual had understood and applied features of the genre.
Summative assessment comes at the close of a phase of work and in the United Kingdom, at the end of the Key Stages at seven years and eleven years. Records of summative assessments form the basis of reports for future teachers and for parents and provide snapshots of what a child has achieved at a particular age or stage. The descriptions of levels of achievement in the UK National Curriculum guide teachers in making summative assessments and standardised tests, for example the National Curriculum SATs in reading and writing, add information to the profile.
Where teachers wish to compare children’s results with the average attainment, in reading for example, of a large number of pupils of the same chronological age, they use a standardised test. Norm tests provide a reading age which may be higher or lower than a child’s chronological age. If we want to know how far a child has progressed in acquiring particular skills we use a criterion referenced test. The National Curriculum Levels of Achievement are criterion referenced since they compare a particular child’s performance against the descriptions of each level of attainment.
Diagnostic tests are carried out to identify a child’s particular difficulties in, for example, reading and writing. Where a child is judged to be eligible for a statement of special educational need diagnostic tests are carried out by an educational psychologist. These formally administered tests guide teachers in preparing and implementing an appropriate remedial programme. The miscue analysis entry explains how teachers can carry out a useful diagnostic reading test less formally.
As well as carrying out and recording formal assessments of progress in spoken and written language teachers also take note of what they learn from informal observation. Such informal assessment might involve observing the use of language by children during role play or of how they go about their writing in the literacy corner. Some aspects of progress in reading are assessed through observation – of, for example, the child’s skill in ‘skimming’, ‘scanning’ and the use of retrieval devices important in every lesson and required by the National Curriculum. Planning and teaching might also be informed by observing the range of reading children undertake. We need to consider whether a child’s reading is sufficiently wide. And we can learn how far children are able to concentrate by observing them in quiet reading times. In Assessing Children’s Learning Drummond provides a helpful review of developments in approaches to assessment over the last ten years (Drummond, 2003). Teachers’ skilled and sensitive observations, combined with information from more formal assessments, help them set targets, give constructive feedback and plan ‘next steps’ for individual children (Blenkin and Kelly, 1992; Clarke, 2001, 2003; Hall and Burke, 2004).
Teachers develop ways of recording their observations and there are a number of books that help here. There is an account of different kinds of record keeping in Assessment for Learning and Teaching in Primary Schools and suggested formats for recording time sample observations in A Practical Guide to Child Observation and Assessment (Briggs, 2003; Hobart and Frankel, 2004). The Primary Language Record Handbook, developed by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, encourages a rich sampling of what children have achieved and has influenced record keeping all over the world (Barrs et al., 1988).
So far this entry has been concerned with teacher assessment and record keeping but the contribution parents, peers and the children themselves can make to monitoring progress is also important. Parents are invited to comment on, for example, children’s reading at home and evidence from these discussions with the teacher finds a place in modern record keeping systems. Peers can help each other and develop, with the teacher’s help, criteria for judging each other’s work constructively. Peer assessment can give all the pupils a vocabulary for describing and talking about what a successful piece of work is like (Black et al., 2003). But above all children are now encouraged to talk about their enthusiasms, preferences and progress and, as the entry on Portfolios explains, are also involved in the selection of work that is to be kept. Reviewing progress with the teacher helps children understand both their learning achievements and their learning needs. They are then more likely to have an informed view of their agreed learning goals and targets.
Barrs, Myra et al. (1988) The Primary Language Record Handbook London: Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.
Black, Paul, Harrison, Chris, Lee, Clare, Marshall, Bethan and Williams, Dylan (2003) Assessment for Learning. Milton Keynes: Open University Press (based on the ‘Assessment for learning’ project funded by the Nuffield Research Foundation at King’s College, London).
Blenkin, Geva and Kelly, Vic (eds) (1992) Assessment in Early Childhood London: Paul Chapman.
Briggs, Mary (2003) Assessment for Learning and Teaching in Primary Schools (Achieving QTS) London: Learning Matters.
Clark, Sally (2001) Unlocking Formative Assessment: Practical Strategies for Enhancing Pupils’ Learning in the Primary Classroom. London: Hodder Arnold.
Clark, Shirley (2003) Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom London: Hodder Arnold (see chapter on Literacy).
Drummond, Mary Jane (2003) Assessing Children’s Learning London: David Fulton.
Hall, Kathy and Burke, Winnifred (2004) Making Formative Assessment Work: Effective Practice in the Primary Classroom Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Hobart, Christine and Frankel, Jill (2004) A Practical Guide to Child Observation and Assessment Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.
This is the complete article, containing 1,208 words
(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page).
