Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Glamorgan, 14-17 September 2005

ASSESSMENTFOR LEARNING: LESSONS FROM END-OF-KEY-STAGE WELSH TESTING

Jane Nicholas and Robat Powell

1.Formative Assessment

The prerequisite for effective assessment is clarity about the purpose of that assessment. The assessment materials and techniques can then be designed specifically to meet its aims.

The framework for national testing within the National Curriculum was set out by the TGAT report of 1988 which proposed that these assessments should be diagnostic, formative and summative. Subsequently, the summative nature of the testing became predominant as test results were used increasingly in Englandas performance indicators of individual schools in an education market for parents.

During the nineteen nineties dissatisfaction with the nature and the use of national tests led to the exploration of other potential models for national assessment with a greater emphasis on the formative aspect. The concept of assessment for learning was articulated particularly by Black and Wiliam. Their report Inside the Black Box: assessment for learning in the classroom (2002) was the outcome of a project in six schoolswhich offered four conclusions as a basis for a new and more formative assessment strategy: more time for pupils to think and answer questions in class, providing comments, not marks, for homework, pupils assessing each other, and involving pupils in the design of tests and mark schemes. While this approach may be very appropriate for assessing within a class situation, it does not wholly resolve the problem of ensuring a formative effect for a national assessment system which needs to employ standard test materials and procedures across all schools.

In Wales, however, in the case of Welsh as a subject, there already exists a national assessment system which education administrators and teachers believe has raised standards of performance through broadening and deepening the language skills which pupils possess and are able to use.

2.The Teaching and Assessment of Welsh as a First Language

With the advent of the National Curriculum (NC) in the UK in 1989, the teaching of Welsh became a statutory requirement. The NC includes programmes of study for Welsh as a first and second language. At present approximately 20% of primary age children and about 17% of secondary age pupils study Welsh as a first language and are taught the wider curriculum to varying degrees through the medium of Welsh.

Statutory external assessments at ages 7, 11 and 14 were an integral part of NC provision for Welsh as a first language until their phasing out between 2001-2005 to be replaced by statutory teacher assessment. However, optional assessment materials to help teachers in their TA will still be produced and distributed to schools until 2007.

The NFER in Wales (SCYA) has been responsible for the development of the NC assessment materials for Welsh at KS3 (14 year olds) under the direction of ACCAC (Assessment, Curriculum and Qualifications Authority for Wales) since the beginning.

The statutory assessment of Welsh at all three key stages includes three components weighted as follows:

Oracy – 40%

Reading – 30%

Writing – 30%

Oracy, speaking and listening, is therefore given more weight than reading or writing. This is for two reasons: firstly, oracy is seen as the cornerstone of all language learning, and secondly,since the majority of pupils in the first language sector are in fact from English-speaking homes, the development of their fluency and confidence in speakinga minority language like Welsh is crucial.

The assessment takes the following form:

Oracy: pupils assessed in a group of three by their class teacher.

Reading:a) oral response - assessment of pupils in groups of three by class teacher

b) written response - 60 minute test

Writing: 90 minute test

Pupils are assessed in oracy and oral response to reading by means of a single group discussion lasting some 20-25 minutes.

3.Assessment of Oracy and Oral Response to Reading

Each year, for key stage 3 assessment, in addition to the reading and writing test papers, SCYA produce a full-colour book consisting of reading material in the form of factual pieces, stories, poems, short plays and a number of pages containing stimulus topics for oral discussion.

Pupils are also issued with question books which offer a structure for their discussion. The reading material and the question booklet are together known as the classroom Task.

Reading

The assessment material for Reading is arranged on two tiers:

Tier 1 Level 3-4

Tier 2 Level 5-7

Pupils on both tiers are assessed through a group discussion, but the reading material and the questions are more challenging on the higher tier. Teachers can support the discussion in a flexible way through contributing additional questions or comments. Following the assessment, schools keep the books and will use them as teaching materials in the classroom.

Here are examples of questions used as part of the assessment of reading through oral response.

Tier 1 Level 3-4

Having read the texts, discuss the following:

(Two factual articles on joining the police and the fire service)

  1. Say what you have learnt about:
  • Working for the police
  • What is similar and/or different about working for the police and the fire service

(The story)

2a Talk about what happens:

  • in the beginning
  • in the middle
  • at the end

2b What have you learned about X and Y? What sort of people are they? Remember to give reasons.

3. Say which of the two texts you like best. Remember to give reasons.

Tier 2 Level 5-7

Having read the texts, discuss the following:

(Factual article with statistics on lifestyles of boys and girls)

  1. Discuss what is similar and/or different about the lifestyles of boys and girls.

(The story)

  1. Discuss the story by giving your opinion on:
  • how the events in the story develop
  • what kind of characters are X and Y.

3a.Discuss how effective and suitable is the use of language and style in both texts. You should discuss:

  • the genre e.g. article, diary, interview
  • the kind of language e.g. colloquial, formal, dialect
  • descriptions e.g. similes, metaphors, idioms/expressions.

3b. Which text do you find the more interesting? Explain why.

Oracy

The stimulus pages designed to assess oracy skills are intended to engender real discussion and provide pupils with the opportunity to express a coherent opinion and offer personal reflection or observation e.g.

Discuss the following statement in your group:

Living in the countryside is better than living in the town

Give your opinion and give reasons each time.

Mention your own personal experience to support your opinions.

You may wish to consider the headlines and pictures below:

  • Young people leave the countryside to look for work.
  • More leisure centres to be built in towns in Wales.
  • Rising crime in our towns and cities.
  • 80 yr old man lay dead in his city flat for over a month – neighbours didn’t notice.

Other topics have included:

  • Crime and Punishment
  • Equal Opportunities,
  • Internet and Mobile phone use by young people.

The oral assessment is not about giving a speech or giving a prepared presentation; it involves listening and engaging in a real dialogue within a peer group and, when appropriate, with the teacher. Pupils are encouraged to engage with one another and also to express a considered opinion which is backed up by solid reasoning.

Marking

In Welsh, unlike other NC subjects, pupils are assessednot through marks but NC levels, using the ‘best fit’ method. Markers and teachers assess pupils’ work according to level descriptions and make a professional judgement as to whether most of the criteria for a level have been met.

This is itself an important formative aspect. The mark schemes include the terminology of the level descriptors contained in the NC Welsh Order which forms the basis for the key stage 3 syllabus. Teachers can therefore relate the performance of each pupil in the statutory assessment directly to their performance in class.

Teachers are provided with guidance notes, a mark scheme and examples of responses at various levels. Here is an example of the level description performance at Level 5 in oral response to reading:

Retrieve and summarise information from different parts of the factual and fictional texts. Express an opinion about the texts by referring to the plot, characters and other key features such as language and salient facts. Draw conclusions which show an understanding of implicit meaning in the texts e.g.

This would be followed by a transcript of the comments made by one pupil in a group, taken from material collected on tape during pre-testing in schools.

Outcomes of the Assessment

The distribution of attainment of 14 year olds has changed little in recent years. The following table shows the distribution of pupil levels for Welsh in 2003:

The expected norm in all subjects for 14 year olds is Level 5. It is interesting that a higher percentage of pupils reach this norm each year in Welsh than in English. In 2004 the percentages were as follows:

Welsh 73.4%

English 65.4%

(Source: Office for National Statistics, Wales, 2004)

Teachers report that the statutory assessments at 14, and class activities in preparation for them, have helped to develop important oral skills in pupils, such as listening accurately, responding appropriately to opinions, describing personal experience, presenting information, expressing opinions, and responding to and analysing texts. Pupil confidence and fluency have also benefited from this emphasis on oral work.

4.Formative Features of Welsh Assessment

The arrangements for the oral components of the statutory assessment of Welsh, whether through the external Task or the teacher assessment of the future, comprise several elements of assessment for learning which would be transferable to other subjects in other contexts.

  • the assessment is owned and administered by the teacher
  • the marking is undertaken by the teacher
  • feedback to the pupils on their performance can be immediate, as can discussion of how they can improve aspects of their work
  • strengths or weaknesses in the pupils’ performance can inform the preparation of future units of work for the class
  • the assessment examines individual skills within a holistic and meaningful discussion
  • the assessment is flexible; the teacher can contribute ideas and ensure the input of all pupils in the group as it progresses
  • assessment criteria are the same as for assessing pupil performance in classwork.

Even when Teacher Assessment becomes the norm in schools in Wales, the above principles will still hold good. One of the challenges for that assessment will be to ensure that oracy remains an integral part of it.

5.References

BLACK, P., HARRISON, C., LEE, C., MARSHALL, B., WILIAM, D. (2002). Working inside the black box: Assessment for learning in the classroom. NFER/Nelson.

TGAT. (Task Group on Assessment and Testing). (1988). Task group on assessment and testing: A Report. London: DES/WO.

Jane Nicholas / Robat Powell

National Foundation for Educational Research/

Sefydliad Cenedlaethol er Ymchwil i Addysg

Medi 2005