Table Of ContentDesigning Assessment for Quality Learning
The Enabling Power of Assessment
SeriesEditor:
ClaireWyatt-Smith Australian Catholic University, Institute for Learning Sciences
Australia,Brisbane,Australia
Thisseriesheraldstheideathatnewtimescallfornewanddifferentthinkingabout
assessmentandlearning,theidentitiesofteachersandstudents,andwhatisinvolved
inusingandcreatingnewknowledge.Itsscopeisconsistentwithaviewofassessment
asinherentlyconnectedwithcultural, socialpracticesandcontexts.Assessmentis
asharedenterprisewhereteachersandstudentscometogethertonotonlydevelop
knowledgeandskills,butalsotouseandcreateknowledgeandidentities.Working
from this position, the series confronts some of the major educational assessment
issuesofourtimes.
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/13204
Claire Wyatt-Smith • Valentina Klenowski
Peta Colbert
Editors
Designing Assessment
for Quality Learning
Volume 1
2123
Editors
ClaireWyatt-Smith PetaColbert
AustralianCatholicUniversity AustralianCatholicUniversity
Brisbane Brisbane
Queensland Queensland
Australia Australia
ValentinaKlenowski
QueenslandUniversityofTechnology
Brisbane
Queensland
Australia
ISSN2198-2643 ISSN 2198-2651(electronic)
ISBN978-94-007-5901-5 ISBN978-94-007-5902-2(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-94-007-5902-2
SpringerHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
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Preface
Thereisatideintheaffairsofmen.
Which,takenattheflood,leadsontofortune;
Omitted,allthevoyageoftheirlife
Isboundinshallowsandinmiseries.
Onsuchafullseaarewenowafloat,
Andwemusttakethecurrentwhenitserves,
Orloseourventures.
fromJuliusCaesar,byWilliamShakespeare
The tide is turning for assessment. After several thousand years, the Confucian
heritageofcompetitiveexaminationsinAsiaisbeingchallengedbytheneedforas-
sessmentapproachesthatmeettoday’seducationalimperatives.Aftermanydecades
ofatestingcultureintheUnitedStatescenteredoncomparingstudents’scores,the
tideisturninginfavoroflearning-orientedassessment.Aroundtheworld,therela-
tivelynovelideathattheprimarygoalofassessmentmightbetoencouragelearning
israpidlybecomingaflood—inundatingteachersandstudents, policymakersand
teacher-trainerswithnewenthusiasms,newinsightsandnewchallengesaboutways
of using assessment designed to promote, rather than measure, student learning.
Building on the relatively well-established foundations of ‘formative assessment’,
the tidal wave of interest in ‘assessment for learning’(AfL) has become a global
phenomenon.Theclearmessageofempiricalresearchthat,usedskilfully,suchas-
sessmentcansignificantlyenhancestudentlearningandperformance,haselevated
AfL into something of a ‘holy grail’ for governments desperate to raise student
achievementacrosstheboardinanincreasinglycompetitiveworld.Intheircontri-
butiontothisbook, forexample, EarlandTimperley(Chapter20)quotepowerful
researchevidencefromanearlierstudybyPopham(2011,p.25):
Recentreviewsofmorethan4,000researchinvestigationsshowclearlythatwhen[formative
assessment]iswellimplementedintheclassroom, itcanessentiallydoublethespeedof
student learning...it is clear that the process works, it can produce whopping gains in
students’achievement, anditissufficientlyrobustsothatdifferentteacherscanuseitin
diverseways,yetstillgetgreatresultswiththeirstudents.
Tidesarepowerfulanddifficulttocontrol;theirimpactcanbeunpredictableasthey
re-shapethelandscapeandre-directexistingstreams.If20yearsagono-onecould
v
vi Preface
haveimaginedquitehowpowerfulthislateststreamofassessmentthinkingwould
be,then,no-onetodaycanproperlypredictwhereitwilltakeusin20years’time.
Onethingwecanbesureof,however,asShakespearesuggested,isunlesswetake
advantage of this tide while it is, as now, at the flood, unless we ‘take the current
whenitserves’,wewill‘loseourventures’andfindourselves‘boundinshallowsand
miseries’.Putmoreprosaically,theclearmessageherewithregardtoassessmentis
thatthedoortosignificantchangeiscurrentlyopen;thereisatthepresenttimean
opportunitytore-thinkthewaysinwhichweconceivethepurposesofassessment,
thechoiceswemakeaboutourassessmentprioritiesandthetechniquesthatwehave
developedovertheyearstodoit.
However,asShakespearealsowarnsus,itisalltooeasytofailtotakeadvantage
of this portentous tide. Lack of genuine commitment, inadequate understanding,
contradictorypolicies,afailuretoprepareteacherswiththenecessaryskills—even
simpleinertia—allhavethepotentialtoleaveusbound‘inshallowsandinmiseries’,
continuing to be wedded to discredited assessment paradigms, unwilling to give
up increasingly outmoded approaches and condemned to watch helplessly as the
opportunity to adopt new approaches that have potentially enormous educational
benefit,tricklesaway.
Foranyonetemptedtothinkoftheaboveasdramatichyperbolewrittenforeffect
rather than substance, I refer you to this unusually radical collection of chapters.
AblysummedupbyJimPophaminhischapter, whospeaksforusallinasserting
that:
...fornearlyanentirecenturyeducatorshavebeenregardingeducationalassessmentina
waythatprovideslittle,ifany,benefittostudents’learning.Becausethedominantfunctionof
educationaltesting,historically,hasbeentoprovidecomparativeinterpretationsofstudents’
testscores,educationaltestshaveneverbeenrequiredtoshowhowtheycontributeeitherto
teachers’instructionaldecision-makingor,ultimately,tostudents’learning.
For Popham, it is time now that ‘a hundred years of acquiescence’ in this re-
spect should be replaced by a focus for testing and assessment on ‘instructional
actionability’:
...thatis, seeingit[assessment]chieflyinrelationtoitscontributiontostudents’learn-
ing...and that therefore...many of the time-honored tools for evaluating the worth of
educationaltestsaresimplyirrelevantifourmissionistrulytohelpstudentslearnbetter.
So what is the nature of this new ‘flood’of assessment thinking?What are its im-
plicationsforpractice,andwhatdoweneedtodoasaneducationalcommunityto
ensure that we do indeed ‘take it at the flood so that it leads on to fortune’and do
not,tostretchthemetaphoralittlefurther,misstheboat?
The collection of studies in this book provides a range of answers to these
questions. Perhaps the most important of all is the repeated call in many of the
contributionsforgreaterassessmentliteracy;foramuchmoresophisticatedunder-
standingofhowassessmentworksinpractice,asthishasbeenilluminatedthrough
extensiveresearch.Chapters6–11,forexample,describearangeofwaysinwhich
schoolprincipals,teachersandstudentsthemselvescanbehelpedtounderstandthe
Preface vii
socioculturaltheoryoflearninguponwhichAfLisbasedandcanbehelpedtode-
velop the skills to implement it effectively in practice, regardless of which of the
abovegroupstheybelongto.
Thesevariouscontributionsdemonstratethepotentialofarangeofresearchmeth-
odstohelpusunderstandthepowerandpotentialofeducationalassessmentmore
clearly. Narrative studies, historical analyzes, case studies, research syntheses and
experiments provide the data that underpin the creation of the new theoretical in-
sights pertaining to assessment, which are presented in this book. These data and
insightscaninturninformthedevelopmentofinnovativenewassessmentpractices
designedtosupportlearning.
Thebookmakesclearthattherecognitionthatstudentsthemselvesarekeypart-
nersinthissortofassessmententerpriseiscentraltosuchinnovation.Studentsmust
behelpedtoseeassessmentasanintegralpartofeffectivelearning,alongwiththe
hurdlesandoccasionalfailuresitpresents,asanecessarypartofbuildingresilience
andmakingprogress.Theextensivereviewofrelevantresearchinthisrespectpre-
sentedbyTillemainChapter3makesclearthatthisisasinequanonofeffectiveAfL.
For,asCareandcolleaguesargueinChapter4intheirevaluationofanassessment
projectinschoolsinQueensland,AfLismuchmore:
thanaseriesoftechniquesorstrategies...[itis]partofadialecticalandculturalprocess
of increasing understanding and control of the learning process by the learner—that is,
exercisingagency.
Detailed ‘micro’classroom studies such as that presented byWillis and Cowie in
Chapter2demonstratehowimportantitisfortheeducationalcommunityasawhole
to recognize the centrality of learner agency in this respect; to develop its under-
standingofhowclassroomrelationsingeneralandassessmentpracticeinparticular
arenegotiatedinthesocialbehaviorofstudents.
Understandingandagencyarealsokeyforteachersiftheyaretobeabletouse
assessment effectively to support learning. The contribution byAllal and Mottier
Lopez in Chapter 10 on how teachers can build communities to support effective
summativeteacherassessmentmakesclearthat‘teachers’professionaljudgmentis
bothanindividualcognitiveactandasociallysituatedpractice’.
The keynote, here, is that in order to meet educational goals assessment must
beofhighquality.Itmustrepresentawell-thoughtthroughandresearch-informed
matchofmeansandendsinwhichfitnessforpurposeiscentral.Happily,thisbook
providesmanynewinsightsinthisrespect.TothequestionposedbySmithandSmith
inChapter8:
Howcanteachersandothereducationalprofessionalsdevelopassessmenttasksthatengage,
informandenhancethelearningprocessforstudentsandtheteacherswhoworkwiththem?
thevariouscontributionstothiscollectionprovidearangeofclearandconstructive
answers.
Nevertheless, it is not going to be easy to bring about genuine and profound
changeinlearningsettingsinwhichtraditionalassessmentpracticeshaveheldsway
formanydecades.Evenifitisthecasethat‘hurricanewindssweepacrossthesea
viii Preface
tossinguptwentyfootwaves’inassessmentpolicy,andevenif‘afathombelowthe
surfaceturbulentwatersswirl’amongprofessionalleaders,itisstilllikelytobethe
casethat‘ontheoceanfloor[oftheclassroom]thereisunruffledcalm’(Cuban1984,
p.2,citedbyTimperleyinChapter9).
Unfortunately,thechallengingtaskofraisingthelevelofteachers’andstudents’
assessment literacy and encouraging them to embed learning-centered assessment
intothedailyroutinesoftheclassroomismadeevenharderbythemixedassessment
messagescomingfrommanynationalgovernments.Inmanycountries,contempo-
raryassessmentpoliciesappeartobeactingagainsteachother.Despitethedesireto
implementAfL,prevailing‘high-stakes’accountabilitypracticesemphasizesumma-
tiveandexternalassessmentattheexpenseofformativeandclassroom-basedteacher
assessment.AsEngelsenandSmithobserveintheirdiscussionoftheimportanceof
assessmentliteracyinChapter6:
Theproblemisthatthepolicymakerspropagatetwoconflictingmessages: theyincrease
theintensityofnationaltestingofallstudentsandappeartobeobsessedwithinternational
rankings,whileatthesametimetheytalkabouttheimportanceofcaringfordiversityand
individuality,alsoinassessment.
Koh makes a similar point in Chapter 16, referring to recent assessment policy
initiativesinSingapore,where:
...newassessmentpolicyinitiativeshavebeenintroducedtoschools,andmillionsofdollars
havebeeninvestedintoin-serviceprofessionaldevelopmentworkshopstoimproveteachers’
assessmentliteracy.However,therequired/desiredchangesandimprovementsinteachers’
assessmentpracticesarehinderedbyastrongperformativeculture, whichplacesagreat
emphasisonhigh-stakesexaminations, standardization, objectivityinscoringandnorm-
referencedreporting.
Such policies can be designed to be complementary rather than contradictory she
suggests,butonlywherethereisagoodlevelof‘assessmentliteracy’:
Theenablingpowerofauthenticassessmentasaschool-basedassessment, toassistwith
students’learning and mastering of twenty-first century learning outcomes can only be
realizedwhenSingaporeanteachersareequippedwithahighlevelofassessmentliteracy.
Thisincludestheircompetenceandconfidenceinexecutingtheirjudgmentofstudents’work
forbothaccountabilityandlearningdemands.
It would appear that three elements are crucial to successfully riding the current
waveofinterestinnewassessmentprioritiesandcapturingitsmomentumtoeffect
change.Thefirstoftheseisawillingnesstoletlearnersthemselvesintothe‘secret
garden’ of assessment practice: to equip them with the understanding, the skills
andtheopportunitiestotakegreaterchargeoftheirownlearning,tobecomemore
empowered to judge success or failure for themselves, and more motivated to do
so. The second element follows from the first—that teachers and professionals of
allkindsalsoneedtobeenabledtochangedeeplyembeddedprofessionalpractices,
whichareinimicaltosuchstudentempowerment,andthattheyalsoneedsupportto
developthenecessaryunderstanding,skillsandopportunitiestocreateanassessment
partnership with their students. Thirdly, a key element in successful change will
requirecloseattentiontounderstandinghowstudentsandteachers,wholeinstitutions
Preface ix
andevengovernments,canbehelpedgenuinelytochangetheirframeofreference
throughpoliciesandpracticesthatbuildontheclearmessagesfromresearchinthis
area.
The rapid pace of change in contemporary society means that such change is
becoming ever more urgent. A highly mobile, digitally connected and globally
competitive world calls for a profound re-balancing in the center of gravity of the
educational project itself. There is a pressing need for the students of today to be
empoweredaslearnersinorderthattheycantakefulladvantageofthenewoppor-
tunities for study now widely available, both for their own benefit and for that of
society.AswellasbeingabrakeofthedevelopmentofAfL,traditionalformsofas-
sessmentarenowalsoincreasinglyoutofstepwiththeskillsandattitudesthatwillbe
neededbythelearnersofthefuture.Triedandtestedastheyare,mostcurrentassess-
mentpracticesareactingasabrakeoneducationalprogress,bothconceptuallyand
practically.Thecontributionsthatmakeupthiscollectionrepresenttheinternational
cuttingedgeofassessmentthinkingandpractice.Assuch,thecollectionexplicitly
recognizestheexcitingopportunitiesthatdigitaltechnologiesarebeginningtoopen
upfornewassessmentapproachestobedeveloped.The‘prioritiesandenablers’for
thedesignof‘next-generationassessment’,whichKimberandWyatt-Smithdescribe
inChapter22,andtheenablingpowerof‘technology-enhancedassessment(TEA)’
described in the research review by Broadfoot and colleagues in Chapter 23 both
offeranexcitingnewhorizonforassessmentdevelopment,whichatpresentwecan
barelybegintoimagine.
Theresearchpresentedinthiscollectionofchaptersisdrawnfromawiderange
of cultural settings and countries—the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand,
theNetherlands,Norway,Canada,Switzerland,HongKong,Ireland,Singapore,the
UnitedStatesandIsrael. Itdocumentsthestrengthofthecurrentinternationaltide
of support for a new set of assessment priorities. It makes clear the nature of the
emergingconsensusconcerningthere-balancingthatneedstobedoneifassessment
istoplayitsfullpotentialpartinsupportinglearning.Itmakesclear,too,thescale
ofthechallengethatconfrontstheeducationalcommunityinternationallyifteachers
andstudentsaretobeequippedtousethetoolsofAfLeffectively.Thecontributions
inthisbookalsoprovidethenavigationaltoolstoenableallthosewhoespousethis
purposetoridetheprevailingtideandtotakethecurrentthatwill‘leadontofortune’.
Thisisanoptimisticandradicalbookthatleavesnoroomfordoubtconcerningthe
‘enablingpower’ofassessment.Theonlydoubtiswhetherthereissufficientvision
‘to take the current when it serves’and not ‘to lose our ventures’in an outmoded
orthodoxy.
May2013 PatriciaBroadfoot
