Assessment for learning

Assessment for Learning is a core practice used by our teachers to obtain the best evidence about what their students have learned, and how that information can be used to improve individual learning. It is the feedback that is given to students minute by minute and day by day, and it teaches students that they can improve.

It allows teachers to better meet the needs of their students now, rather than at the end of a subject. In turn, it means teachers can adjust the way they teach a subject while the learning is taking place.

Assessment for Learning – 5 key Classroom Strategies

• Sharing learning expectations and success criteria
• Using questioning to elicit evidence
• Feedback that propels students’ learning forward
• Self-assessment that activates students as owners of their own learning
• Peer assessment that activates students as learning resources for one another

Assessment for Learning (formative assessment) differs from Assessment of Learning (summative assessment, which we also use) in that it is an ongoing process of feedback and adjustments. Summative assessments are given at the end of the year or subject to provide a final evaluation of how well a student has performed.