Assessment and Learner Essay Example for Free

view and prentice EssayThis discussion newspaper is erupt of a series being published and disseminated by the post of the Queensland School political plat skeletal frame Council. The purpose of this series is to encourage discussion on various issues concerning judgment and reporting. teacher thoughtfulness is one of several types of opinion techniques recommended by the Council in its Position and Guidelines on Assessment and report for Years 1 to 10 and in its syllabus documents for the key tuition aras. Other mind techniques accommo period consultation, foc utilize analysis, peer judicial decision and self- estimate. The Position and Guidelines state that Observation involves teachers in observing pupils as they enrol in planned activities. instructor card occurs continu onlyy as a natural part of the encyclopedism and didactics process and finish be used to gather a broad mountain range of teaching about learners ostensoriums of larn outcomes (p. 16). Teacher none has been valued as an important assessment technique in the lower uncomplicated school, un little has in the past received less wariness in later(prenominal)(prenominal) year levels.Secondary schools especially have favoured black-tie testing and structured assessment tasks rather than in place honoring, although thither has been rough movement towards in-situ musing in most subjects in recent years, level(p) in the senior years. The Councils Position and Guidelines and syllabus documents elevate teacher reflexion to a to a enormouser extent prominent position in the range of assessment techniques that teachers might use. Other techniques have been identified as consultation and focused analysis as well as peer and self-assessment.Focused analysis includes to a greater extent levelal assessment procedures much(prenominal) as club tests and set tasks. However, these categories of assessment techniques ar not ineluctably distinct. For example, as this paper explains, observation may be employed in association with focused analysis, especially where what is let outd is school-age child capital punishment on a set task. This discussion paper is not an prescribed policy statement of the Council. Rather, it represents the views of the author, Dr Graham maxwell, of the School of Education, The University of Queensland. As such, it offers a person-to-person perspective on the issues.Dr Maxwell has been involved in research and consultation on assessment for m any years in Australia, the States and UK, ranging over all sectors and levels of education. He has taught courses and conducted workshops on assessment for pre-service and in-service teachers for 30 years. He has also been involved in recent Council deliberations on assessment and reporting. The audience for this discussion paper is professional educators, especially schoolteachers and administrators who must grass with assessment and reporting habituate in scho olrooms and schools.Such people already know a great deal about assessment and reporting theories and practices, and this discussion paper builds on that knowledge. The hope is that the discussion paper leave aloneing serve as a basis for professional debate, development workshops and collaborative planning. troika The representation of the Council would be pl expertnessd to have your reactions to and comments on the discussion paper, as well as any examples of ship bearing in which the discussion paper may have helped to clarify or resolve any theoretic or realistic problems you are facing in the implementation of Council syllabuses.These reactions, comments and examples would assist the Office of the Council in deciding what further assistance it might be subject to provide on these issues. JE Tunstall Director Queensland School Curriculum Council October 2001 iv CONTENTS Preface Introduction Arguments for valuing teacher observation Collection and dischargeing of essay proviso for teacher observation Factors affecting hardness of teacher observations and what to do about them 1. Prejudgments and prejudices 2. Selective perception 3. Providing inadvertent clues 4. In assume proof 5.Inconsistency Conclusion Some useful addresss on teacher observation iii 1 2 5 7 9 10 11 11 12 12 13 14 v Teacher Observation in learner Assessment INTRODUCTION Teacher observation is one of the assessment techniques recommended in the Position and Guidelines on Assessment and reportage for Years 1 to 10 of the Queensland School Curriculum Council (the Council). For the implementation of Council syllabuses, assessment is seen as involving a variety of school-based (teacher-enacted) techniques for profiling student reflexions of scholarship outcomes.Teacher observation, that is, observation of a student by a teacher, is one of those techniques. It can be used in conjunction with another(prenominal) techniques. 1 Teacher observation has been accepted readily in the past as a legitimate source of information for go ining and reporting student reflections of accomplishment outcomes in early childhood education. As the student progresses to later years of schooling, less and less attention typically is presumptuousness to teacher observation and to a greater extent and more attention typically is given to formal assessment procedures involving required tests and tasks taken under explicit constraints of context of use and time.However, teacher observation is capable of providing corporeal information on student demonstration of learnedness outcomes at all levels of education. For teacher observation to stand to valid judgments concerning student learning outcomes, read strikes to be gathered and put down organizedally. Systematic multitude and recording of evidence requires preparation and foresight. This does not necessarily destine of that all aspects of the process of observation motivating to be anticipated but that the salu te taken is deliberate rather than happenstance.It is infallible, at least, to know in advance both what kinds of learning outcomes are anticipated and how evidence impart be recorded. Adequate records are essential for good assessment. Teacher observation can be characterised as two types incidental and planned. parenthetical observation occurs during the ongoing (deliberate) activities of teaching and learning and the interactions between teacher and students. In other words, an unplanned fortune emerges, in the context of classroom activities, where the teacher observes some aspect of individual student learning.Whether incidental observation can be used as a basis for formal assessment and reporting may depend on the records that are kept. aforethought(ip) observation involves deliberate planning of an hazard for the teacher to observe specific learning outcomes. This planned opportunity may occur in the context of regular classroom activities or may occur through the set ting of an assessment task (such as a practical or instruction execution practise). 2 1 2 Other possibilities for collecting evidence by observation exist, including observations by another teacher, observations by other students, and student self-observation.This paper concentrates on teacher observation and does not consider these additional forms of observation. Ultimately, the teacher must judge the validity and relevance of all forms of evidence, so these substitute forms of evidence involve similar principles of assessment to those applicable to other forms of evidence, including teacher observation. Classroom should be construe liberally. It may include settings outside the school, such as field excursions, public presentations and work experience.What matters is the presence of an assessor, typically the teacher, to observe and record the suit. 1 preaching physical composition on Assessment and reportage ARGUMENTS FOR VALUING TEACHER observance Teacher observation i s an important but underutilised assessment technique. It is sometimes argued that teachers are unable to make appropriate and dependable assessment judgments from observations of students in natural settings. The table (below) details some of the claims of this viewpoint, together with some germane(predicate) rebuttals.Handled carefully, teacher observations can provide important evidence for assessment judgments. In some cases, they provide the sole(prenominal) way of obtaining evidence about particular learning outcomes, especially those involving practical techniques, performance activities, real look projects and radical work. Table 1 Arguments against teacher observations and rebuttals of those purposes Arguments against teacher observations Lack of representativeness Students may not demonstrate all relevant learning outcomes in natural settings.They may know or know how but the context may not prompt them to demonstrate this. Lack of observation Teachers may not observe the demonstration of a learning outcome when it occurs, either because their attention is els ewhere or because they fail to recognise it. Lack of fancy of influences The student can derive unintended cues and prompts from the setting, even from the teacher, and these can be unnoticed by the teacher. Student performance may then be mis readed. Lack of stock(a)isation any students do not meet the same tasks under the same conditions.Teacher judgments of student demonstrations of learning outcomes are therefore undependable. Lack of objectivity Teacher judgments are inhering and prone to inconsistencies. Too much is left to the discretion of the teacher. Possibility of stereotyping inwrought judgments put up the possibility of stereotyping of students in terms of other performances or characteristics. Possibility of bias Subjective judgments yield the possibility of conscious or unconscious bias for or against particular individuals or groups.Rebuttal of those arguments encyc lopaedism outcomes that have not been demonstrated can be deliberately prompted. Assessment should be planned as well as incidental. Teachers can ensure that assessment is comprehensive. Over time, teachers have many opportunities for observation. It is not vituperative if particular opportunities for observation are missed. Some observation is deliberate and focused. No single occasion is fitting for judging a students demonstration of learning outcomes. Multiple opportunities and a variety of contexts stick out cross-checking the robustness of the students performance.Quality requirements for teacher judgments are evidence-based and defensible. Tailoring and adaptation allow optimum student performance and holistic reading material of the evidence (taking contextual factors into consideration). All assessment involves chronological successions of subjective decisions mechanistic marking schemes reflect earlier design decisions. Procedures to strengthen and verify teacher judgm ents can be introduced. Stereotyping is not inevitable. Each assessment occasion can be approached as a fresh opportunity to test hypotheses derived from prior impressions.Conscious bias is unethical. Unconscious bias requires constant vigilance. It is uncorrectable for bias to endure evidence-based justification to students and their parents (a form of accountability). 2 Teacher Observation in Student Assessment An important argument in post of teacher observation is that teachers have access to a rich and diverse range of evidence on student learning outcomes from observations of their students and that the capability of teachers to collect and interpret this range of evidence should be respected.Otherwise, a rich source of evidence on student learning outcomes is being ignored. In any case, the issue is not whether teacher observations should be used since they are necessarily used informally during teaching but how teacher judgments can be strengthened and improved so that they can be used for formal purposes, especially for reporting and certification. A strong justification for using teacher observation in assessment is its capacity to enhance assessment validity.By extending the range of thinkable assessments, teacher observation allows assessment to be more comprehensive ensuring recognition of all coveted learning outcomes, especially those not assortedly assessable than in classroom contexts connected situated within familiar learning contexts and closely cogitate to curriculum frameworks, learning experiences and pedagogical planning contextualised sensitive to the effects of context on performance and etymologizing assessment evidence from a variety of situations and occasions authentic interesting, challenging, worthwhile and meaningful to students holistic emphasising relatedness and connectors in learning and involving performance on complex wholes rather than separate members.All of these characteristics can be back up a s important for high quality learning and assessment. Assessments with these characteristics have better representation of, clearer relevance to, and stronger consequences for lovable learning outcomes.Appropriate representation, relevance and consequences are often now recognised as the requirements of valid assessments. past tense practice in assessment, specially in secondary schools, has not accorded much recognition to teacher observation for formal purposes. Some people have argued that while teacher observation is necessarily a component of classroom teaching, a clear distinction should be do between informal and formal assessment. For example, some educators argue that assessment situations should not be confused with learning activities. 3 This draws also firm a distinction. Certainly, there should not be strong accountability for first attempts. Also, reports acquire to signal the progress make by students at the time of reporting.However, a firmdistinction between assessment situations and learning activities stems from over3 This is argued by Caroline Gipps in her book, Beyond Testing Towards a Theory of Educational Assessment, The Falmer Press, London, 1994. 3 Discussion Paper on Assessment and Reporting concern for comparison and ranking. Where the aim is to map the students visibility of demonstrated learning outcomes, standardised comparison is not the issue.The question is merely what justifiable evidence is there for concluding that the student has demonstrated a particular learning outcome. This does not require students to be tried under controlled and artificial conditions.An alternative vision is one where assessment becomes incidental to and indistinguishable from learning activities. This allows for the strongest connection between pedagogy and assessment and, as already argued, a strengthening of the quality of the learning and the validity of the assessment. It can be argued that unless there is a strong connection between pedagogy and assessment, the assessment will be disembodied and discriminatory, that is, unconnected to any means for improving student learning and privileging students with existing ethnic capital. Such an approach focuses on the students best performance over time and value the progress they are making (similar to personal best in athletics).Howard Gardner puts it this way Rather than being impose externally at odd times during the year, assessment ought to become part of the natural learning environment. As much as possible it should occur on the fly, as part of an individuals natural engagement in a learning situation. Initially, the assessment would have to be introduced explicitly but after a while, much assessment would occur naturally on the part of student and teacher, with comminuted need for explicit recognition or labelling on anyones part. As assessment gradually becomes part of the landscape, it no longer of necessity to be set off from the rest of classroom activ ity. As in a good apprenticeship, the teachers and the students are always assessing.There is also no need to teach for the assessment because the assessment is ubiquitous indeed, the need for formal tests might atrophy altogether. 4 4 Assessment in context The alternative to standardized testing, in B. R. Gifford M. C. OConnor (Eds), Changing assessments Alternative views of aptitude, achievement and discipline (pp. 78119), London, Kluwer, 1992. 4 Teacher Observation in Student Assessment COLLECTION AND RECORDING OF EVIDENCE All assessment requires the collection and recording of evidence of student learning. For the implementation of Council syllabuses, it has been recommended that the evidence focus on the demonstration of learning outcomes. Evidence is documentation that records, illustrates or confirms student demonstrations of learning outcomes.Collection and recording of evidence is necessary for two reasons accountability justification of the assessment judgments and ver ification confirmation of the assessment judgments. Accountability and verification are key factors in assuring the quality of assessments. Accountability (justification) means being able to explain and asseverate assessment judgments to students, their parent(s) and other teachers. Verification (confirmation) means being able to revisit the foundations for assessment judgments being able to check their completeness, relevance and veracity.Teacher observations are primarily sended at the observation of events, performances and activities. In some cases, an artefact may be produced as a consequence of the event, performance or activity.In other cases, no artefact is produced and the event, performance or process iself is the sole focus of attention. An artefact is something constructed by the t student, for example, a worksheet, a piece of writing, a design, a painting, a composition, a webpage in other words, a product of some kind. Teacher observation is not primarily concer ned with the artefact itself but with the way in which the artefact was produced, that is, with the process.5 Evidence of process, whether or not there is a resultant artefact, may involve either direct record or written record. These two types of record have antithetic characteristics. A direct record keeps a trace of the event through an audio-recording, a video-recording or a sequence of photographs.The activity or event might be, for example, a speech, a dramatic presentation, a group activity or a practical task. The term trace emphasises that the record is not the same as the event itself. At best, it allows some features of the event to be represented and recalled. Some features of the event may be lost, such as the feel of the occasion or the spark between presenter and audience. Some features of the event may be filtered or distorted by the medium of recording, for example, through positioning and handling of the 5 In some cases, a sequence of artefacts may be produced and these may provide a industrial record of stages of production.These could involve, for example, a sequence of written drafts, initial designs, trial compositions, or tentative frameworks. In this case, the artefacts indicate milestones of development towards the final product. It is important to keep the total sequence of artefacts, together with annotations about contextual factors, such as the way in which the student has made use of comments and suggestions, so that a complete explanation of what the student has done can be made. 5 Discussion Paper on Assessment and Reporting recording device. It is important, therefore, to realise that such a record offers only partial representation of the event. Nevertheless, such traces are better than having no record at all.A written record can take the form of an observation sheet or a logbook (diary of events). Observation sheets can be more or less structured at one extreme they turn out checklists of learning outcomes at the other e xtreme they contain broad categories for writing on-the-spot comments or annotations and in between these extremes is a combination of them both.6 A logbook provides a record of critical incidents or key comments (sometimes referred to as an anecdotal record) for verity of recall, entries need to be made as soon after the event as possible. The students name and the date also need to be clearly recorded. A sequential collection of such records is sometimes called a running record.When keeping an observation sheet or a logbook, written entries can be (relatively) high inference or (relatively) low inference. High inference means that a judgment or interpretation is made, whereas low inference means that the specifics of the event are described (without any attempt to interpret what they signify).Thus, using a checklist of core learning outcomes would involve high inference, whereas providing a descriptive account of student performance without direct reference to core learning outco mes could involve low inference. In the latter case, judgments relating to the demonstration of learning outcomes can be delayed until a variety of evidence has been store.The advantage of low inference observations is that they are more objective or transparent and can provide a closer-to-the-event basis for later verification the specifics of the event are more easily accessible. The advantage of high inference observations is greater ease and efficiency in record keeping, but the specifics of the event are not then retrievable from the record.It is possible to record both a judgment (high inference) and a description (low inference), thus retaining some of the benefits of each. Descriptive accounts can include written commentary on student performance under specific headings on an observation sheet critical incidents or significant events recorded in a logbook and key performance features recorded in a logbook.Critical incidents and significant events are particularly noteworthy instances of the demonstration of particular learning outcomes (or the lack of it), especially those observed for the first time or demonstrated in a particularly dramatic or unexpected way. Key performance features are salient features of an observed performance whether or not they are particularly critical, including evidence that strengthens or confirms early judgments relating to student demonstrations of learning outcomes.When an artefact, direct record or descriptive account is kept and placed in the students assessment portfolio, the artefact, direct record or descriptive account can be referred to again at a later time in order to retrieve the specifics of student performance. This allows assessment judgments to be delayed until a convenient time or allows assessment judgments to be 6.Rating scales are not mentioned here since supreme distinctions of quality are not part of the assessment position espoused by the Council. However, the sequences of core learning outcomes (a rranged in levels along a developmental continuum) provide quasi-rating scales. It is a matter of convenience and style whether a sequence of core learning outcomes is characterised as a quasi-rating scale (showing where the student is positioned along the developmental continuum) or simply an expanded checklist (showing which core learning outcomes the student has demonstrated). 6 Teacher Observation in Student Assessment verified on a subsequent occasion, for example, for purposes of moderation.It is difficult to verify written records of judgments without an accompanying artefact, direct record or descriptive account as a reference point. 7 Table 2 thick of types of teacher observation evidence Focus on product keep artefact(s) Focus on activity record process Direct record (trace) o Audio-tape o Video-tape o Photographs Written record o Observation sheet Checklist (high inference) Description (low inference) o Logbook Description of critical incidents Description of key performance features PLANNING FOR TEACHER OBSERVATION Teacher observations cannot be useful without planning. Different types of evidence require different types of planning.An essential requirement forall types of evidence is anticipating the kinds of learning outcomes that may be demonstrated. This is particularly important where observation is incidental and where judgments (rather than descriptions) are recorded. Council syllabuses provide a framework of learning outcomes that serve as the perceptual reference points for recognising the characteristics of student performance. The framework of learning outcomes makes available to the teacher concepts and language for recognising and describing what a student knows and can do. instruction the structure, language and concepts of the framework therefore is a key aspect of planning for teacher observation, as it is too for teaching.Incidental observation necessarily involves little additional planning, apart from the normal planning of classroom learning activities for students. Incidental observation is opportunistic, 7 Where there is no supporting evidential record for the judgment, verification of the judgment is strictly impossible.The record of judgment needs to be considered in the context of other evidence collected from different times and events. Where it corroborates other evidence, the judgment is strengthened. Where it contradicts other evidence, more evidence may be needed. Ultimately, the clog of evidence is what matters. Other evidence could include the judgments of other observers, that is, other records of judgment of the same event.7 Discussion Paper on Assessment and Reportingcapitalising on revelations of student learning during regular classroom learning activities. In this sense it cannot be planned. It is essentially unanticipated. It can only be recorded through descriptions in a logbook.Although there may sometimes be an artefact to provide corroboration for the teachers observation, any process details depend on teacher description. Incidental observation is therefore the weakest form of teacher observation and would preferably be used only as supplementary evidence to support other forms o evidence. f Relying on incidental observation alone would be unsatisfactory (see caveats below).Planned observation can involve planningfor in situ observation (in learning situations) or planning for set assessment tasks. There is little to distinguish these two situations in practical terms. However, as assessment becomes more important, particularly in Years 8 to 10, students may need to know when they are being assessed, since they may otherwise choose not to show their actual capabilities. Absence of demonstration of learning outcomes might not indicate incapability of demonstrating those learning outcomes but lack of appropriate repugn or opportunity. Formal assessment occasions would appear to become more important in the secondary school than in the primary school, at least for the present.8 For all planned observations, whether in situ or set tasks, thought needs to be given to how the event and/or the observations will be recorded. Consideration needs to be given to whether a direct record will be kept and what form of observation record will be made. The validity of teacher observations is strengthened by preparing an observation sheet that allows systematic recording of observations and judgments. An observation sheet may include checklists of learning outcomes and/or categories for describing student activities and performances. Learning outcomes might be made more explicit by listing their elaborations, components or criteria, that is, by providing more detail on the characteristics of the desired learning outcome.The advantages of prepared observation sheets include opportunity to share learning expectations with students in advance cost increase of student self-monitoring and self-assessment clarification of the desired learni ng outcomes to guide learning focus on the desired learning outcomes to guide teaching cuing of attention to the full range of relevant learning outcomes having available an explicit and standard recording format ease of recording of student performance characteristics structured means of providing feedback to students. 8 In the long term, taking up Howard Gardners vision (see footnote 4), a more natural approach to assessment would require that classrooms become more like normal work environments.This does not necessarily mean that the student (as the worker) is under constant surveillance but that there areopportunities to demonstrate their capabilities in situations that really matter (but are preferably authentic rather than artificial). The necessary shift in assessment practice to support this is from one-off testing to progressive demonstration of best (sustained) performance. Reformed assessment practice would place more onus on the student to demonstrate the desired learnin g outcomes (and to indicate when they think they are doing so) together with specific invitations to students to demonstrate their level of development in relation to sequences of learning outcomes of change magnitude complexity.8 Teacher Observation in Student AssessmentDisadvantages of prepared observation sheets include the need to allow for several levels of learning outcomes on a single sheet it can be difficult to anticipate all the learning outcomes that might appear it is possible that other serendipitous learning outcomes will be missed students learning may be constrained by listed learning outcomes. The disadvantages are outweighed by the advantages.They can be overcome, in any case, by careful design of the observation sheet, tailoring it to the underway stage of student development, and allowing space for additional observations to be recorded. Observation sheets should be used as a tentative organising structure for recording teacher observations rather than a li miting framework for the actual observations. pose also needs to be provided on the observation sheet for including descriptive details of the context. These details need to include any characteristics of the setting or the occasion that could have influenced the students performance, either positively or negatively, and that might be relevant in making a judgment about whether the student has demonstrated particular learning outcomes. The details can be physical (e. g. , uncomfortable surroundings), psychological (e. g. , personal attributes in stressful situations) or social (e. g. , other events in the life of the school or the student). by dint of all of this, it must be remembered that any written recordof observations is necessarily selective. Only certain features of student performance are likely to be noticed and can be recorded. Therefore, having a clear agreement and ready access to the framework of expected learning outcomes is essential. One technique for reducing the cognitive demands of on the fence(p) observation is spotlighting. This means targeting specific learning outcomes (across several levels of a strand) on particular occasions.This has the added advantage of ensuring systematic coverage of all relevant learning outcomes. However, it should not be pursued so religiously that evidence of other learning outcomes outside the spotlighting target is ignored. 9FACTORS AFFECTING VALIDITY OF TEACHER OBSERVATIONS AND WHAT TO DO roughly THEM Teacher observations will be valid to the extent that the evidence is appropriately recorded and interpreted, that is, whether the recorded evidence accurately represents the observed student performance the interpretation (judgment) of this evidence is justifiable. Accurate recording requires transparent and artless perception of the students performance.Justifiable interpretation requires careful consideration of what the students performance signifies, in terms of learning outcomes, taking into consi deration any factors 9 Margaret Forster and Geoff Masters discuss spotlighting in Performances Assessment resource kit, Camberwell, Victoria, Australian Council for Educational Research, 1996. 9 Discussion Paper on Assessment and Reporting that may have influenced the performance.The use of the term justifiable here emphasises that there may not be a single unequivocal interpretation of the evidence but rather that the interpretation should withstand challenge as being reasonable and defensible. There also may be a requirement that the interpretation be consistent with the interpretations of other teachers. 10 The following discussion covers some factors that can affect the accuracy of the recorded evidence or the justifiability of the interpretation or both.