Critically analyse the effectiveness of the planning, teaching, evaluation and assessment cycle with close reference to current

assessment theory and the significance of the role of a Teaching Assistant in assessment.

the term assessment refers to all those activities undertaken by teachers, and by their students in assessing themselves, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged (Black & William, 1998) My work-based task took place in the Primary school in which I am a teaching assistant in Year 6. It is a suburban school with approximately 450 pupils on the roll. I decided to base my task on my maths group; a class of 4 children; 2 boys and 2 girls, all of whom are on the Special Needs register. One boy has EBD (Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties), one boy has ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), and both the girls have multiple learning difficulties (one with recently diagnosed dyslexia). It was suspected that both the girls had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and one had suspected dyspraxia, although neither of these diagnoses were confirmed at the time of writing. I planned a 6 lesson unit of work for the pupils based on the Springboard Maths Intervention programme with summative assessments at the

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beginning and end of the of the unit and formative assessments during the lessons. In this paper I will be covering the issues that arose during this time, including the problems I encountered with peer assessment, pupils attitudes towards testing, the positive impact of the planning, teaching, evaluation and assessment cycle on my teaching and the pupils understanding. I will also comment on the way in which my practice has changed because of this.

Definitions. The definitions I am using for different types of assessment used in this assignment are: Formative assessment: Evaluation of student learning that aids understanding and development of knowledge, skills and abilities without passing any final judgement (via recorded grade) on the level of learning. (Harvey, 2004-2011) (Black & William , Assessment for Learning: Beyond the Black Box, 1999) Summative assessment: The process of evaluation (and grading) the learning of students at a point in time. (Harvey, 2004-2011)

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The National Strategies state that the cycle that supports the process of ongoing planning, informed by an assessment of childrens learning is as such:

Assess

Review

Plan

Apply

Teach

Practise

The title of this paper takes four of these elements and these informed my Work-Based Task (Appendix ); :

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Planning

Assessment

Teaching

Evaluation

1. Assessing Observing children and collecting evidence of how they are learning. 2. Planning Deciding what to teach next and how to teach it by using pupils specific strengths to help address their needs. 3. Teaching and Learning Teachers execute the plans they developed and children learn. 4. Evaluating Examining the evidence to analyse childrens individual strengths and needs. As identified in my introduction, the unit of work I chose to plan, assess, evaluate and teach was maths for my year 6 intervention group. Currently the group were generally working at a Year 3 level which is why they are not learning with the rest of their year group. When I picked up the group in January, their maths experience was, in my opinion, patchy. The planning was done by a teacher and handed over to a HLTA (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) to deliver. The planning I saw was written on the back of an envelope and read

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 can you do some graphs with them today there is a worksheet in the green book to photocopy. If they finish that there are some maths games on the BBC website to play, so you might want to send one of them down to get the laptops. There was no visible cohesion between lessons and the teacher admitted that she hadnt marked the last weeks worksheets, so therefore could have no idea of the progress of the pupils. I asked the HLTA what feedback she gave and in what format and she explained that she usually just gave the worksheets in and that her and the teacher only communicated about the class if there was a problem with behaviour. When I was asked to take on the group, I discussed the provision mapping with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). I used the teacher assessment for their levels they ranged from a 1b to a 2a, therefore they were severely behind the national acceptable standard of level 4 for the end of Year 6. Due to the varying levels of learning difficulties even within the 4 children, I could see that it was going to be challenging to pitch the lessons correctly. I was advised by the class teacher that none of my cohort would be taking the Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs). At the beginning of the unit I used a summative assessment test from Wigan LEA. (Appendix )

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My planning was taken from the Springboard Programme for Year 3 (an example of which is Appendix ). I followed the planning fairly rigidly to

begin with as it has natural progression built into it, along with guidelines for assessment, homework and many of the resources needed. While teaching the class I was constantly formatively assessing their progress; slowing down or speeding up the lesson pace, responding to the pupils understanding. There are games in the programme which require partner/ group work and naturally lend themselves to peer assessment. It was interesting to observe this, as they often didnt want to work with each other, depending on how the previous playtime session had gone, who had fallen out with who or, especially with one pupil who expressed the feeling that the other three were thick. It was difficult for the children to see that assessing each others work was beneficial purely because of their emotional and behavioural understanding. Although this was somewhat unsuccessful, other forms of formative assessment were informative. In other words, I found that evaluating the level of work in the classroom as I was going along informed my planning for the next lesson; adhering the schools Assessment for Learning (AFL) policy. Current assessment theory underpins the government initiative of AFL. This is an extension of formative assessment. (appendix )

Assessment for Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teacher s to decide where the

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learners are in their learning, where they need to go , and how best to get there (Assessment Reform Group, 2002) . Schools have a responsibility to their pupils, their parents and carers and are accountable to both the Local Education (LEA) and the government. Therefore there are both summative and formative assessments in place. Summative All end of Year Assessments (EYFS data, KS1 and KS2 SATs, optional QCA results from years 3,4 and 5, and Year 1 teacher assessments) are recorded on individual tracking sheets, and on Cohort tracking sheets. Maths and English are also recorded on coloured cohort tracking sheets. (Appendix Formative Medium term planning is highlighted, using a traffic light system, to show levels of achievement of learning objectives by the children. Evidence of Teacher and self assessment in books. Peer assessment observed by class teacher/ teaching assistant. Reporting A report is sent to parents formally (annual report) and informally throughout the year (parent evenings), Governors are informed of )

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targets set for end of Year 6, and data analysis is shared. Reports and relevant information are transferred when pupils move to another school or to Secondary phase. My school uses AFL in its long, medium and short term planning. We use what has become know as The WALT: We Are Learning To to identify the learning objective for each lesson. Some teachers also discuss with their pupils what the success criteria is too and have a check list which the pupils can use to determine whether they think their own learning/ outcome has been successful. I have used this to a lesser degree in my maths lesson as sometimes with my cohort of pupils they found this to be a bit too much information. It is important for teaching staff, though, to be aware what makes a lesson successful by assessing how much learning has actually occurred. This can be done in many ways, both summative and formative: marking books (using progressive marking) peer assessment a quick fire quiz a short test (eg spelling test) questioning (both open and closed) in the plenary session.

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To ensure the lesson is on track, I also occasionally stopped the lesson half way through to check If they could remember what we were supposed to be learning that session. I found my most successful lessons were where I implemented some sort of practical element into the lesson (not necessarily from Springboard, but still leading to the objective). For instance, I used the 100 square on the playground when the weather was good enough rather than a square of paper, played dominoes on the floor with equivalent fractions and made a pirate ship while looking at directions. I also use the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) for both information (using flip charts etc) and for interactive games. Part of my formative assessment includes marking the pupils books. In maths there are usually just right or wrong answers, but showing working out can be an informative way of telling whether the child was either on the right track (choosing the correct method, eg) and has just made a calculation error or whether there is a misconception. My school has a basic marking and feedback policy which includes progressive marking (showing the next steps). I have tried to include this in my own marking. Weeden et al have some useful principles for marking and feedback: Marking should be linked to clear learning objectives Assessments should be fit for purpose and have appropriate mark schemes

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Marking should help identify pupil misconceptions Marking should be focused and prioritized Marking needs to be planned for and should be integral to teaching and learning

Marking and feedback should take place quickly so that the pupils remember the context

Recording may need to take a variety of forms that are manageable but informative. (Weeden, Winter, & Broadfoot, 2002)

The teaching assistants role in the planning, teaching, evaluation and assessment cycle varies depending on how a school or individual teacher makes use of the member of staff. My role this year has been out of the main classroom itself. I have been based in my own room with access to a Smartboard, PC and resources in order to deliver intervention classes for both individuals and small groups. Therefore my role is generally independent I have found myself to be fully involved in all aspects of the cycle. This has also been true within my literacy class (non-intervention) where we deliver Read Write Inc and Fresh Start to cohorts of children assessed to be approximately the same level as each other in reading. I have in the past, however, been more classroom based and have found myself in a more observational role; taking notes during the lesson and passing them on to the class teacher. She would

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then use these to inform her own planning for the next lesson. In this role I was purely involved in formative assessment as I did not administer any kind of test or be involved in marking books. As the teaching assistants role is evolving, our part in the cycle seems to be invaluable regardless of how much input we have; we are either informing the class teacher or our own planning. Either way, this has an impact on the way in which children learn and the way in which we get them there. As a teaching assistant I do not have access to all the quantitative data on each child, so administering the tests myself was useful as it gave me some statistics with which to work. It is useful to have a general level for each child in order to ensure that at the end of a unit some actual provable improvements have been made. Most children at the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 will be involved in SATS which give the necessary quantitative data required by parents, the LA and the government. These tests have not been without their critics after being introduced in the 1988 Education Act. A task group was set up to advise on the nature of the tests (TGAT Task Group on Assessment and Testing) who were pushing for more continuous assessment by teachers which would then be moderated by the SATs. (Gipps C. , 1992) cited in (Cooper, 1996) Children can become increasingly stressed by these tests as a big deal is made of them, especially in Year 6. I have observed teachers teaching to the tests and inciting worry in the classroom, emphasizing the

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importance of getting a 4A when the child is almost at a 4C. The significance of the gradings, however, are more important to the schools results than the child. A pupil will only be informed of that they have a achieved a Level 4 or 5 for example, not which grade (A, B or C) that they achieved. Comments that were intended to be a positive encouragement, eg. you were only 2 marks off a 4B, I have observed have the opposite effect and a child may only hear you failed to get the grade. The fear of failure when it comes to tests is with us most of us for most of our lives, maybe less emphasis should be on end of year tests (although necessary for reasons discussed before) and more on personal achievement and satisfaction at accomplishing day- to day tasks. The assessment process itself should not determine what is to be taught and learned. It should be the servant, not the master, of the curriculum. Yet it should not simply be a bolt-on addition at the end. Rather, it should be an integral part of the education process, continually providing both feedback and feedforward. It therefore needs to be incorporated systematically into teaching strategies and practices at all levels. Since the results of assessment can serve a number of different purposes, these purposes have to be kept in mind when the arrangements for assessment are designed. (TGAT, 1988) When I started my Work Based Task I was aware of assessment,

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planning and teaching but less of the evaluation that informs the rest. I now have a deeper understanding and first hand experience of the importance of the cycle and AFL in general. I can use different types of assessment in my teaching to different ends, all of which will improve my planning and therefore my teaching. In the 6 lesson unit 2 of the children made a sub-level improvement. This was most pleasing not just for me to observe, the class teacher and parents to be aware of (the marks were entered on their school report) but importantly for the children to know and for us to all know where to go next and how to get there. I believe that I have helped to lay the foundation of their mathematical knowledge with some sound concrete and now all that is left to do is to build upon that understanding. The children are now moving on to Secondary School with most of their misconceptions addressed. Although a new government came into power in 2010, it seems that AFL is here to stay. Unless, of course, someone reassesses the situation.

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