Before the end of term at my new school we did an after school session in the department to review and improve our assessment sheets. While this was useful and a good start, there didn’t seem to be much consensus in what a good assessment sheet was. I did some thinking and came up with a sheet for a databases module, on doing this I came up with a list of design choices that I made to design my sheet.
These design choices/principles are nothing more than the criteria for assessing your assessment sheets (to turn the method on itself)
Here they are:
1. Course Independence
2. Multiple Criteria (3 or 4)
3. Mapped onto the National Curriculum
4. Shared with children and stakeholders
- a. Not use National Curriculum speak
- b. Be positive not subjective (non expert)
5. Be as simple as possible
6. Similarity with Real life assessment
1. Course Independence
The assessment sheet is (largely) independent of the particular course module (Unit of Work). I say largely because this principle will be at odds with the need to be positive not subjective (principle 4b).
This Principal of Course Independence allows us to use essentially the same assessment sheet for different years (eg. 7,8 & 9) and to keep the same sheet despite re-writing the unit of work. Taken even further this principal allows the teacher greater independence to vary the curriculum because the assessment criteria are clearly defined in advance and all teachers are working to the same criteria. Course Independent assessment sheets would make it easier to take a cross curricular approach and have, for example, ICT skills assessed in a science lesson.
Lastly this principal allows us to assess the course material (Unit of Work). Is the material effective in providing opportunity for the students to reach higher grades?
2. Multiple Criteria (3 or 4)
Assessment must take place across multiple criteria. This recognizes that children are different and have different talents. Some get to the answer but don’t communicate it well. Some produce good quality work but don’t show how they refined it or explained why they made certain choices. Some have a good understanding of the real world and can relate it to what they do in class. Obviously the multiple criteria then need to be weighted in some way to produce the final mark. This simple proposition offers the most profound change in the way teachers do assessment at the moment, at least judging by the assessment sheets on Teach-ICT.com where the assessment sheets are linear and try to create a single dimension in which to assess the children.
The contrary argument is that teachers are too busy and they don’t have time to assess multiple criteria. In such a case, what happens is that the teacher simply assesses the multiple criteria in their head an in non moderated, non transparent and expert manner, to give their judgment on the grade of a child. The actuality is that it takes time to do that in your head (even as an expert) whereas assessing more simple positive criteria albeit in 3 or 4 dimensions can actually be quicker.
The (3 or 4) comes from invoking the principle of simplicity (principle 5). Two dimensions is too small, you have to invest time in explaining the method to the children and getting them comfortable with it, don’t waste it by limiting yourself to two. Three or four are ideal. Five or more is too much, try to combine a couple.
3. National Curriculum Mapping
Criteria should be mapped onto the National Curriculum.
UK ICT National Curriculum Headings
- Finding things out
- Developing ideas and making things happen
- Exchanging and Sharing information (Communication)
- Reviewing, Modifying and Evaluating.
This seems to me to be a good high level segmentation of the different ICT skills, and seeing as the National Curriculum is a statutory document (ie. We have to follow it) we might as well use it and use it properly.
If you do track performance in the same dimensions as the NC it makes it clear what the student needs to do to improve and end of term reports should almost write themselves.
4. Shared with children and stakeholders
The assessment sheet must be shared with the kids (plus parents & stakeholders) so they know what they have to achieve and be more independent in their learning this means that:
a. The assessment sheet must not use National Curriculum speak, it must be translated into kids speak. Lets face it after a year of studying the NC I still find it difficult to understand, don’t expect the kids to understand it.
b. Assessment levels should be positive rather than subjective. We are trying to make the system a non-expert system so the child can assess themselves or their peers or be assessed by a parent. Use checklist type criteria, eg. The work contains 3 formula. This point is often at odds with the principal of independence. The teacher may need to rewrite specific points of the assessment sheet to fit the unit of work. But the overall structure (criteria, weighting, layout) should be unchanged.
5. Simplicity
This is an over-riding principle. But be careful not to over simplify something that is complex. People don’t like their efforts to be trivialized.
6. Mimic Real-Life Assessment
Assessment in school should be done in a similar way to assessment in real life. Think about recruitment processes, software selection, requests for proposal or tenders. Think about the England football team selection or the casting for a film. Time must be spent getting the children familiar with the assessment method you are using.
Assessment Sheets 1: Observations
Assessment Sheets 3: Examples
Posted by richard 
