Assessment of learning

in the classroom
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this discussion, students should be able to:
• Reflect on your own experiences of assessing learning in the
classroom
• Discuss types of assessment and their purposes
• Consider different ways of assessing learning in the classroom
• Identify the dimensions of providing feedback to students on their
learning
 Assessment is the ongoing process of gathering,
analysing and reflecting on evidence to make
informed and consistent judgements to improve
future student learning.
What is the purpose of assessment?
Three main purposes for assessment
Assessment for learning occurs when teachers use
inferences about student progress to inform their teaching.
(formative)
Assessment as learning occurs when students reflect on and
monitor their progress to inform their future learning goals.
(formative)
Assessment of learning occurs when teachers use evidence
of student learning to make judgements on student
achievement against goals and standards. (summative)
 Classroom assessment is both a teaching approach and a
set of techniques. The approach is that the more you know
about what and how students are learning, the better you can
plan learning activities to structure your teaching
Tom Angelo (1993)
 Classroom assessment is a complex undertaking that
means something different to different audiences and in
different situations.
 Classroom assessment is an integral part of curriculum
implementation. It allows teachers to track and measure
students’ progress and to adjust instruction accordingly.
 Classroom assessment informs the learners, as well as
their parents /guardians, of their progress.
 Effective School Year 2015 – 2016, the policy guidelines
on Classroom assessment for K to 12 Basic Education
Program shall be implemented in public elementary and
secondary schools nationwide. (DepEd Order No. 8. s.
2015)
 In its commitment to ensure teaching and learning
continuity while looking after health, safety and well being
of its learners, teachers and personnel, the Department of
Education issued DepEd Order No. 12 s. 2020 titled
Adoption of the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan
for School Year 2020 – 2021 in light of the COVID – 19
Pandemic.
 To supplement the said DO, the DepEd issues the Interim
Guidelines for Assessment and Grading in Light of the
Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan.
(DepEd Order No. 31. s. 2020)
 Assessment has many purposes that sometimes support
one another and sometimes compete or conflict with one
another.
 As Wilson (1996) noted, teachers engage in a broad
range of assessment roles, and keeping them straight is a
challenging task
SOURCE:
Adapted from Assessment Roles and Goals (Wilson, 1996).
 Assessment Roles and Goals Role Goal
Teacher as mentor
Provide feedback and support to each student.
Teacher as guide
Gather diagnostic information to lead the group
through the work at hand.
Teacher the accountant
Maintain records of students’ progress and
achievement.
Teacher as reporter
Report to parents, students, and the school
administration about student progress and achievement.
Teacher as program director
Make adjustments and revisions to instructional
practices.
 these roles overlap, and watching teachers try to manage
the assessment activities and juggle them to satisfy the
various goals shows how complex the process of classroom
assessment really is. Also, tensions are embedded in these
various roles and goals that cause concern for teachers.
 I hope that these tensions become more visible and
understandable after I describe three different approaches to
classroom assessment that have guided my thinking as I
have contemplated the role of classroom assessment
The three approaches are Assessment of Learning,
Assessment for Learning and Assessment as Learning.
 It is important to understand them all, recognize the
inevitable contradictions among them, know which one you
are using and why, and use them all wisely and well.
 What is the purpose of classroom
assessment?
Classroom assessment is usually formative – rather than
summative – i.e. it is aimed at improving learning rather
than at assigning grades

The goal is to better understand your students learning

and in turn improve your teaching
Assessment for learning:

Assessment for Learning shifts the emphasis from

Assessment for
summative to formative
Learning shifts theassessment, fromto formative
emphasis from summative making judgments
to creating descriptions that can be used in the service of the
assessment, from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
next stage of learning.
Assessment for learning:

When they are doing Assessment for Learning, teachers

Assessment for
collect a wide range of the
Learning shifts data so from
emphasis thatsummative
they can modify the
to formative
learning workassessment,
for their students.
from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
Assessment for learning:

Teachers craft assessment tasks that open a window on

what students know and can do already and use the insights
Assessment for
that come from the
Learning shifts process tosummative
the emphasis from design the next steps in
to formative
observation, assessment,
worksheets, questioning in class, student-teacher
from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
conferences or whatever mechanism is likely to give them
information that will be useful for their planning and teaching.
Assessment for learning:

Marking is not designed to make comparative judgments

among the students but to highlight each students’ strengths
Assessment for
and weaknesses and
Learning shiftsprovide them
the emphasis from with
summative feedback that will
to formative
further their learning.
assessment, from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
Assessment for learning:

In Assessment for Learning, teachers use their personal

knowledge of the students and their understanding of the
Assessment for
context of the assessment
Learning shifts the emphasisand the curriculum
from summative to formative targets to
identify particular learning needs.
assessment, from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
Assessment for learning:

Assessment for learning happens in the middle of learning,

often more than once, rather that at the end.
Assessment for
Learning shifts the emphasis from summative to formative
assessment, from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
Assessment for learning:

It is interactive, with teachers providing assistance as part

of the assessment. It helps teachers provide the feedback to
Assessment for
scaffold next Learning
steps.shifts And it depends
the emphasis from summative onto formative
teachers’ diagnostic
skills to makeassessment,
itcanwork.from making judgments to creating descriptions that
be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
Assessment for learning:

Recordkeeping in this approach may include a grade book,

but the records on which teachers rely are things like
Assessment for
checklists of student’s
Learning shiftsprogress
the emphasis fromagainst
summativeexpectations,
to formative artefacts,
portfolios of assessment,
students work over time, and worksheets to trace
from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
the progression of students along the learning continuum.
Formative assessment is assessment for learning
Assessment for
Learning shifts the emphasis from summative to formative
assessment, from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
 Formative assessment helps improve student learning
because of it’s feedback mechanism.
Assessment for
Formative assessment is done while instruction is
Learning shifts the emphasis from summative to formative
ongoing. assessment, from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
 Formative assessment helps improve student learning
because of it’s feedback mechanism.

Formative assessment is done while instruction is

Assessment for
ongoing. Learning shifts the emphasis from summative to formative
assessment, from making judgments to creating descriptions that
can be used in the service of the next stage of learning.
Does NOT affect grades but directly affects learning
(Black & Williams, 1998)
Assessment for learning:
 establishes a classroom culture that encourages interaction
and the use of assessment tools
 occurs throughout a learning sequence and is planned
when
teachers design teaching and learning activities
 involves teachers sharing learning intentions and explicit
assessment criteria with students
Assessment for learning:
 involves teachers and students setting and monitoring
student progress against learning goals
 requires teachers to ascertain students' prior
knowledge,
perceptions and misconceptions
Assessment for learning:
 involves teachers focusing on how students learn and how
to scaffold their learning
 involves teachers adapting teaching practice to meet
student needs
Assessment for learning:
 provides sensitive and constructive feedback to students
on their performance
 involves teachers making formative use of summative
assessment
Group Activity # 1

Select two characteristics of Assessment for learning

and discuss how these may be demonstrated in the classroom.
Assessment as learning:

Assessment for Learning can go a long way in enhancing

student learning. By introducing the notion of Assessment as
Learning, I intend to reinforce and extend the role of
formative assessment for learning by emphasizing the role of
the student, not only as a contributor to the assessment and
learning process, but also as the critical connector between
them.
Assessment as learning:

The student is the link. Students, as active, engaged, and

critical assessors, can make sense of information, relate it to
prior knowledge, and master the skills involved.
Assessment as learning:

Students personally monitor what they are learning and use

the feedback from this monitoring to make adjustments,
adaptations, and even major changes in what they understand.
Assessment as learning:

Effective assessment empowers students to ask reflective

questions and consider a range of strategies for learning and
acting.
Assessment as learning:

Recordkeeping in assessment as Learning is a personal

affair. Students and teachers decide (often together) about the
important evidence of learning and how it should be organized
and kept.
Assessment as learning:

Students routinely reflect on their work and make

judgements about how they can capitalize on what they have
done already.
Assessment as learning:
 involves students monitoring their learning and using
feedback from this monitoring to make adjustments and
changes to their skills and understandings
 establishes students’ role and responsibility in relation to
their learning and assessment
Assessment as learning:
 empowers students to consider strategies for learning and
taking action
 involves students in self-assessment and peer-assessment
Assessment as learning:
 promotes students’ self-esteem and self-confidence
through an understanding of how they learn to learn
 develops students’ capacity to reflect on the learning and
to
contribute to their future learning
Assessment as learning:
 enhances students’ life-long learning skills
 emphasises the process of learning as it is experienced by
the student
Group Activity # 2

Use a Venn diagram to discuss the relationship between

assessment for learning and assessment as learning.
Assessment of learning:

 enables students to demonstrate what they know and

can do
 describes the extent to which a student has achieved the
learning goals, including the Standards
Assessment of learning:

The predominant kind of assessment in schools is

Assessment of Learning.
Assessment of learning:

Its purpose is summative, intended to certify learning and

report to parents and students about students’ progress in
school, usually by signaling students’ relative position
compared to other students.
Assessment of learning:

Assessment of Learning in classrooms is typically done

at the end of something (eg, a unit, course, a grade, a Key
Stage, a program) and takes the form of tests or exams that
include questions drawn from the material studied during
that time.
Assessment of learning:

In Assessment of Learning, the results are expressed

symbolically, generally as marks across several content
areas to report to parents.
Assessment of learning:

This is the kind of assessment that still dominates most

classroom assessment activities, especially in secondary
schools, with teachers firmly in charge of both creating and
marking the test.
Assessment of learning:

Teachers use the tests to assess the quantity and accuracy

of student work, and the bulk of teacher effort in assessment
is taken up in marking and grading.
Assessment of learning:

A strong emphasis is placed on comparing students, and

feedback to students comes in the form of marks or grades
with little direction or advice for improvement.
Summative assessment is assessment of learning.
 Summative assessment is done to find how much and
what
students have learned, and is done at the end of the unit of
instruction.
Assessment of learning:
 uses teacher judgements about student achievement at a
point in time
 is supported by examples or evidence of student
learning
Assessment of learning:
 ensures consistent teacher judgements through
moderation processes
 is used to plan future learning goals.
Group Activity # 3

Discuss the types of assessment of learning used in your

school (High School). How was the information/data from
these used? Be more creative in the presentation of your
group outputs.
 Task assessments can be classified as formative and
summative depending on their purpose, relation to grading,
frequency, and students and teacher’s roles.
Group Activity # 4
FORMATIVE SUMMATIVE
CRITERION ASSESSMENT ASSESSMENT
PURPOSE
FREQUENCY
Effects to Students’
Grades
Effects to Students’
Learning
Benefits to Teachers’
Instruction