MadelaineGravatt1177801

701Assignment1:AnnotatedBibliography

Fullreference
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2004). Working inside the black box:
Assessmentforlearningintheclassroom.
PhiDeltaKappan
,
86
(1),921.

Typeofpiece
Journalarticle

Keywords
Formative assessment, assessment for learning, questioning, feedback, peerassessment,
selfassessment,summativeassessment,grading

Summary
Following on from their research that confirmed formative assessmentraisesstudent achievement,
Black et al. sought to get better evidence as to how teacherscan change their practice toimprove
formative assessment. This article reports on a followup project that worked with 24 teachersover
an extended period of time as they developed innovative practices in their classrooms to improve
formative assessment. Based on classroom observations, records of meetings with the group of
teachers, and interviews with teachers and student groups, their findings present practical and
authentic ways that teachers can improve learning through formative assessment. The changes
implemented by these teachers improved student achievement as reflected in improved scores in
examinations compared to parallel classes. Their main findings on how teachers can improve
formativeassessment are summarisedinfourpractices:questioning,feedback throughgrading,peer
andselfassessment,andtheformativeuseofsummativetests.

Relationshiptocourse
This article has broadened my understanding of what constitutes assessment to include more than
traditionaltests,essaysandexaminations.Blacketal.highlightthe importanceofusingquestionsasa
means of formative assessment, as they are a powerful way of extending students thinking and
making them more active participants in their learning. However the effectiveness of questioning
depends on the type of question being asked: open questions or problemsolving tasks activate
deeper knowledge, whereas factual questions only test recall and surface understanding. This
correlates strongly to thework on cognitive engagementandBloomstaxonomyandSOLOtaxonomy
thatwehaveexploredinourcourse.Thesebigquestionscanbeusedasawayof openingalessonor
startingclassandsmallgroupdiscussions.

This articlealso focuses onthe importance of peerand selfassessment.The authors stressthatthe

first step insuccessfullyimplementingthesestrategiesistohavestudentsthinkoftheirworkinterms
of a set of goals. This resonates with me strongly and is a mindframe that I sometimes forget.
Students and teacherscanbetoofocusedongradesandtheendproductthattheyignoretheprocess
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of how to get there and disregardspecific learninggoals. Ireallylikethisapproachofseeinglearning

notin termsoftheendproduct(suchas agrade),butbyfocusingonallthestepsandgoalsneededto
beachievedaspartoftheprocessoflearningandachievement.

While offering exciting and promising practices with which to improve student engagement and
achievement, some of the suggestions made in the article have the potential to clash with school
policy and therefore would require a supportive leadership team to make possible. For example,
giving only comments instead of grades may be against requirements laid down bythe school and
might clash with parent expectations.As a beginnerteacher this could be a challengeto implement
withoutsupportfrommiddleandupperleadership.

Relationshiptopractice
This article includes a multitude of useful practices to incorporate into my teaching. Starting with
questioning, thisarticlereminded me of the importanceof givinglongerwait time. Italso raised my
awareness of creating the expectationthatallstudents needtothinkaboutthequestionbeing asked,
something I havenot been doing. Manyof thetimes Ihaveusedquestioningwitha class,ithasbeen
closed Q & AsessionswhereIaskforhandsuporchooseastudentthatIknowwillhaveananswerto
share. This leaves a lot of students disengaged and relies on the students who already know the
answers. Iplan to change this bygiving all students theopportunitytoexploreanswerstogetherand
fostering the perception of wrong answers as a useful part of learning. I particularly liked the
suggestion of asking students to brainstormideas inpairs before asking forcontributionsasawayof
increasingparticipationof all students. Theauthors also highlighted theimportanceofplanningboth
questions and anticipated responses to create effective teaching moments.Ilikedtheirsuggestionto
collaborate with otherteachers regardingideasandexperiencesongoodquestions,somethingIhave
appreciateddoingwithmypeersinthecoursebutdonotoftenseehappeninginschools.

I am interested in giving studentscomments insteadof grades,asit is showntoengagestudentsin

actively improving their work. It alsohelps focus parents on learningissues rather than interpreting
grades. I particularly want to try their example ofhavingstudentsrespondtoteacherscommentson
a table in their workbooks where they then reference where in their next piece of worktheyhave
demonstrated that they have worked on the feedback given. I also want to implement allocating
lesson time to rewritingselectedpieces ofwork afterfeedback isgiven. Thisresonatedwithme as I
think teachers often expect students to improve but may not explicitly givethem the opportunity to
doso.

This article cemented my desire to practice peer and selfassessment with my classes. I think it is
valuable for students tohave things explained instudent talkfrom their peers, thoughI appreciate
that routines and expectations around respect and safety will first need to be established before
peerassessment. Iespecially found useful thesuggestionof havingstudentsselfassessusingatraffic
light system, then having the greens help explain things to the yellows, whilethe teacherhelps go
over things withthe reds. Thisarticlealso highlightedthe usefulness ofselfassessment in preparing
for summative assessment by having students use a traffic light system to help them plan revision
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effectively, as well as thebenefit of familiarising students withmarkingcriteriathroughboth selfand

peerassessment.
Fullreference
Graham, J., Meyer, L.H., McKenzie, L., McLure, J., & Weir,K.F. (2010). Mori andPacific secondary
student and parentperspectives on achievement and motivationand NCEA.
Assessment Matters
, 2,
132157.Wellington,NZ:NZCER.

Typeofpiece
Journalarticle

Keywords
Moristudents,Pasifikastudents,parents,NCEA,motivation

Summary
This articleexplorestheperspectivesofMoriandPasifikastudentsandtheirparentsonNCEAandits
impact onmotivation and achievement. This research aimed to gain understandingsaboutparticular
design features of NCEA and how these may be improved to enhance student outcomes from the
perspectiveofMoriandPasifikastudentsandparents.

Through using a kaupapa Mori approach, parent and student focus groups from two urban
secondary schools were interviewed during the first half of 2008 regarding the changes to NCEA
announced in 2007. In all, 60 Mori and Pacific students participated and 26 parents. The findings
found that compared to New Zealandsprevioussystemof normbasedassessment,theNCEAsystem
of standardsbased assessmentis better suitedtoMoriandPacificstudents.Thisispartly duetothe
collectivist nature of their cultures, where competition is not seen as outperforming peers, but
competing to encourage everyone to do well. NCEAwas alsoseen to support differentlearners and
allowstudentstoexploretheirownstrengths.

Themain themesemerging from the research are largelyconsistent with other cultural groups, with
specific emphasis onsocialinfluencersonmotivation,achievementandschoolengagement.Whnau,
peers, teachers were seen as key influences, in eitherapositiveornegative way. The students also
talkedaboutinternal motivationtodo wellasa source of pride,particularlyin relationtoCertificate
endorsements.

Relationshiptocourse
This article touches on the impact of cultural identity on the learning process and the cultural
mismatch between the dominant culture and nondominant cultural groups in New Zealands
mainstream schools. New Zealands mainstream schools are largely Western cultural institutions,
therefore Pkeha students experience educational practices more aligned with their cultural
background thanMoriorPasifikastudents.Thisisakeycontributingfactortoeducationalinequityin
New Zealand.Thoughmore Mori and Pasifika students are achieving athigherlevels throughNCEA
than in the previous normreferenced examination system, large discrepancies still persist. This
highlights the importance of culturally responsive pedagogies that we have been exploring
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throughoutthe course, andtheneedtoactivelyimplementTeKotahitanga, Ka Hikitiaandthe Pasifika

Education Plan in our teaching practice. The core of these plans is developing strong, positive
relationships with Mori and Pasifika students. This also relatestothe importance of implementing
interactive, studentfocused pedagogies, that enable students to bring their own experiences and
culturetolearningandhavetheseincorporateintothecurriculum.

It is highly valuable to hear the perspectives of Mori and Pasifika students and parents on NCEA,
however a downfall of the research is thatthe students andparents were selected by the schoolto
participate and therefore are likelyto be higherachieving or more motivatedstudents. Many of the
comments reflect this, as they talk about the students who just settle at an Achieved as being
different from them. I feel it would be helpful to also hear what the students failing in the NCEA
systemhavetosayonwhatmotivatesthemandaffectstheirachievement.

This article also highlights the importance of teacher expectations and the powerful role these can
have on student engagement. I find it worryingthatteachersexpectationshavethepowertodecide
whether students sit Unit or Achievement standards, limiting the opportunities forthem to achieve
Merit or Excellence credits and gain endorsements, however I believe this was more of aproblem
before alignment in 2013. I think itis still a shamethat some subjects onlyofferUnitStandards,asit
can be disheartening if that is your strongest subject and it can affect the way others perceivethe
valueof that subject. In response to this, studentssuggestedaunified systemwithonlyAchievement
Standards. Although I understand thatUnitStandardsare competencybased andsoassesswhether
students can or cannot do something, it does seem disappointing that students arenot offeredthe
opportunitytopushthemselvesfurtherwhilecompletingthesestandards.

Relationshiptopractice
This article highlights the importance of relatedness as a determinant of motivation. Therefore in
order to motivate my Mori and Pacific students in particular, it is crucial to create a class climate
wherethey feel understood, enjoy learningandarecomfortable and confident interactingwiththeir
peers. Students also talked about teachers who motivated them through caring about them as
learnersandallotheraspectsoftheirlife,whichIbelieveisacrucialpartofbeinganeffectiveteacher
and whatreally drives me to do teaching. Students also talked positivelyaboutteacherswhopushed
them which is something I wish to work on to agreater extent. Praise and being supportive comes
naturallytome,butbeingawarmdemanderissomethingIwanttofocusonbecoming.

Another learning from this article was that competitive learning strategies, where one person
succeeds and the rest fail, isnot suited to MoriandPasifikaculture,soI willbeconsciousnottouse
these types of activities. To behonestI am not sureifthese activities are effective withmany other
studentseither.

Students talkedaboutnegativefamilyinfluencewhenitcametofamilyresponsibilitiesandpressures,
such as having to babysit during study leave, or housework,andhaving a home that istoonoisy to
studyin.Itisimportantformetounderstandtheseconflicting pressuresthatstudentsfaceinorderto
relateandunderstand wherethey come from,andwhyperhapssometimestheyarenotable tohand
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MadelaineGravatt1177801

in or complete homework given. Students alsotalked about pressure fromparentstoleaveschoolto

start working, which will beimportanttounderstandwhendiscussingwithstudentsandtheirparents
futuregoalsandacademicpathwaysforstudents.
Another point of interest was that parents wantedmore specificinformation about their child from
their teachers and wanted the honest truth. This is something I will need to keep in mind when
meeting parents andnotfall into my peoplepleasing tendencies of tryingtosay what I thinkpeople
wouldliketohear.

I thought the lack of understandingof NCEAfrom Year10 studentswasconcerning as it limited the

intended flexibility of NCEA since students were not aware of opportunities tostartLevel1 creditsin
Year 10. I think this couldpotentiallybe atrickysituationtomanageandwouldhavetobemadeona
Department level but has obvious benefits for students who either need acceleration, or would
benefitfrom aheadstartincollectingcredits.Thiswillbeimportant torememberwhenteachingYear
10 students,though it could belimited by what mydepartmentdecidestodo. Parentsalsoindicated
that they lacked theunderstanding ofNCEA toproperlysupporttheirchildren andthattheyreliedon
their child,ratherthantheschool,forthisinformation.Boththesepointsareconcerningandhighlight
theneedtoexplainNCEAinclear,simpletermswhentalkingtoparentsabouttheirchildslearning.

MadelaineGravatt1177801

Fullreference
Black, P., & Wiliam, D., (2006). Developing a theory of formative assessment. In Gardner, J., (ed)
Assessmentandlearning
(pp.81100).London:Sage.

Typeofpiece
Bookchapter

Keywords
Formativeassessment,theoreticalpedagogy,student/teacherresponsibility,classroominteraction

Summary
This chapter aims to connect four main types of formative assessment activity (classroomdialogue,
commentonly marking, peer and selfassessment, and formative use of summative tests) with a
broader theory of pedagogy. It does this for three reasons: to connect these activities to research
evidencethatprovestheireffectivenessin improvingstudentlearning,toensureteachersunderstand
the theoretical basis of the activities so they can adapt them to suit their learning contextwithout
damaging their effectiveness, and to usethe theoretical frameworktosuggestways these activities
maybeevaluatedandimproved.

Theauthorsdrawon arange of educationalresearch and theory tolinktheseactivitiesintoaunified

theory of feedback in teaching. To do this the authors have highlighted key factors affecting the
effectiveness of the activities. The main factors highlighted by the authorsare the centralityof the
teachers role inthe classroom, theimportance ofinteractive dialogue, generalandspecific learning
aims,andtheroleoflearnersasthemainagentsoflearning.

Relationshiptocourse
To ground formativeassessment in awider framework of teacher, Black and Wiliam identified three
main processes in learning and teaching: establishing where the learners are at in their learning,
establishing where they are going, and establishingwhat needs to be done to getthemthere.Thisis
something wehave looked atin the course in relation to feedback and planningandIfinditisa very
usefulframeworktouseasabasisofhowtoteacheffectively.

Black and William goontodescribelearningastheresponsibilityofboththeteacherandthestudent,

whereby theteacher isresponsibleforplanningandimplementinganeffectivelearningenvironment,
and the student isresponsible forthe learningwithin that environment. Ifeelthisrelatestoakoand
having a reciprocal relationship with students, whereby responsibility is shared and you are both
teaching and learning from each other. However it is important that an effective learning
environment is understood to mean not only lesson content and activities, but also having a safe,
inclusive class climate, strong relationships with thestudent,and culturally responsive teaching and
learning.

One observed outcome of students being active learners who take responsibility and managetheir
own learning was a shift from feeling pressuretosucceedintests torealisingtheneed tounderstand
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the work.Thisalsocreatedtheperceptionofassessmentasawayoffindingoutwhatthey needtodo

more work on, rather than rotelearning to achieve a grade. This strongly resonates with me as I
believe students should not be placing huge amounts of pressure on themselves to achieve high
grades, ignoring the wider learning process. At the same time,I believe teachingto the standards is
uninspiring andineffective teaching. The shiftinunderstandingassessmentasawayofrealisingwhat
yournextstepsareisthereforeamindframeIwishtoencourageinmystudents.

Relationshiptopractice
This chapter reveals that most of the time students are relegated to a passive role in classroom
interactions and that these are not used formatively. Teachers usually ask for missing information
which is then judged to be correct or incorrect, something I have fallen into during my teaching
experience. Black andWilliamshighlightthatthekeyinchangingthisistheteachersinterpretationof
the students responses: theteacher must focuson what they can learnaboutthestudentsthinking
fromtheirresponse and tune the activity or response accordingly. This is somethingIamstruggling
with as a beginnerteacher, as Iam usually trying tothinkof a million differentthingswhileteaching
and am too concerned with sticking to my lesson plan to be confident inletting natural deviations
occur. Anotherstrategy to improveclassroomdidactic interactionsthe authors suggest isspecifically
planningquestions tocreate deeper learning, somethingI amcurrentlyfocusingondevelopinginmy
practice.This involvesashiftfromthinkingaboutwhatamIgoingto teachandwhatarethestudents
goingtodo?tohowamIgoingtoteachthisandwhatarethestudentsgoingtolearn?.

Black and Williams stress the crucial role of selfevaluation inmaking students responsible for their
learning. Practicing selfevaluation enables students to judge what they needtodo inorder toreach
learning goals and how they are progressing in achieving their goals. The teachers role inthis is to
help set appropriate goals and to encourage selfassessment asstudents work towards them. I feel
this is anexcitingmodel of learning thatwould preparestudentsfor success during and afterschool
andincludesvaluablelearningaroundsuccesscriteriaandeffectivegoalmaking.

MadelaineGravatt1177801

Fullreference
Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback.
Review of Educational Research
,
77
(1),
81112.

Typeofpiece
JournalArticle

Keywords
Feedback,assessment,studentandteacherlearning

Summary
Hattie andTimperleypresentstrongevidencethatfeedbackisoneofthemostpowerfulinfluenceson
student learningandachievement.Howeverwhetherthisinfluenceispositive ornegativedependson
the type of feedbackgiven and theway itisgiven.Lookingatatleasttwelvemetaanalysesthathave
specific information on feedback in classrooms, the averageeffect sizeof feedback was0.79 (twice
the averageeffect)andit is inthe top five highestinfluences onlearninginHattiessynthesisofover
500,000metaanalyses.

Hattie and Timperley usethe findings onthe variability of feedbackeffectivenesstodevelopamodel

of effective feedback to enhance learning. The model identifies four levels of feedback: task level
(how well tasks are understood/performed), process level (the main process needed to
understand/perform tasks), selfregulation level (selfmonitoring, directing, and regulating actions),
and selflevel(personalevaluationsandaffectaboutthelearner).Theresearchersfoundthateffective
feedback interrelates feedback at the task, process and selfregulatory levels. However feedback
directedattheselfwasfoundtobeineffectiveasitdoesnotcontaininformationrelatingtolearning.

Relationshiptocourse
This article has changed the way I look at designing assessments. Previously Iwouldhave designed
assessments as away to judge student competency or knowledge,but now Iknow to see them as a
means of providing information needed for students and teachers to answer the three feedback
questions (Where am I am going?How amI going?Where to next?). HattieandTimperleyhighlight
that too often assessments are used as accountability thermometers, to see if change has taken
place, and notas means to further enhanceand consolidate learning. I believe,however, that these
tworolesofassessment arenotmutuallyexclusiveandbothare importanttheformerasameansof
collecting dataandassessing progress, and thelater as a waytolookforwardandplanlearninggoals
andnextsteps.

This article has made me aware that praise isan ineffective meansof giving feedback as it does not
relate to the three feedback questions. Although I agree that praise cannot be usedin the placeof
feedback, I still feel there isa place for praise as a way of building studentsselfefficacyand helping
createpositive relationshipswithstudents.Howeveritisimportanttobeawareofhowandwhenyou
praise students, asresearch showsthatstudentscan perceive praise negatively. Praise after success
or neutral feedback after failure can be interpreted as an reflecting low teacher expectations of
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student ability, whereasneutral praise after success and negative feedback after failurecan be seen
asanindicationofhighteacherexpectations.

Being culturally responsive can also relate to the way feedback is given as different cultures can
perceive and respond to feedback differently. Hattie andTimperleydrawon research that suggests
that students fromcollectivist cultures (such as MoriandPasifika students) prefer indirect,implicit,
groupfocused feedback. While this is important to keep in mind, I think clear feedback relating to
their personal goals is still necessary to improve their educational achievement and it would be
inequitabletoavoidgivingthemthistypeoffeedbackduetopotentialculturalpreferences.

Relationshiptopractice
Themodel proposed by Hattie and Timperley isincrediblyusefultomypracticeofgivingfeedbackto
students. Firstly, I will make sure my feedback answers the three majorquestions: Where am I am
going? How am I going? Where to next?Hattie and Timperleysfeedback model then highlights the
role of the different levels of feedback.Ideal feedbackstartswithaddressingthe task,thenmoveson
to processes or understandings needed to learn the task, and then on to selfregulation about
continuingbeyondthe tasktomoredifficultorchallenginggoals.Feedbackrelatedtothetaskis most
effective when it addressesfaultyinterpretations,notlackofunderstanding.Itcanthenhelpstudents
develop more effective strategies for processing and understanding. Whereas if it regards a lack of
initial understanding orinformation,elaboration throughinstructionisbetter thanfeedback,asthere
isnounderstandingforfeedbacktobuildonandimprove.

This article shows that praise is rarelyeffectiveas it does not addressthe three feedbackquestions
and so does not advance learning. I have been guilty of overly trying tofind something positiveto
include infeedback, which mayhave putmeindangerofgivingundeservedpraise.Thisisareflection
of my automatic impulse to make people happy, however in this case it is to the detriment of
studentslearning. Undeserved praisecan also increase outcomeuncertaintyforstudents astheyare
uncertain what that positive feedbackis for. The wayIgive feedback is therefore animportantwayI
candevelopintoawarmdemander.