Dtlls_Unit_3

ASSESSMENT. The assessor has to appreciate that there are many different styles that can be used to assess any particular piece of work or unit. He has to be aware that he will have to change and adapt plans to suit his learners, taking into account their disabilities and learning needs. Assessment comes in many different forms, summative, formative, practical’s, observations, projects, reports and witness testimonies to name a few. Depending on the course being delivered dictates to which type of assessment will be used to guide the learners as to how they are progressing. Assessments have to be planned to suit the individual learners and the courses that are being delivered. However, as Ramsden (1992) says, it will be rare to find one assessment method which will satisfy the assessment of all the intended learning outcomes for a course, so it will be necessary to consider a range of assessment methods for our students. It may be that specialist resources and equipment have to be put in place before the assessment takes place, and should the assessment be taking place in a workplace environment then the supervisors and the business involved would have to be informed beforehand. Following an assessment the results are obtained and some kind of judgement will have to be made, and whatever decision the assessor comes to you will have to make sure the standards have been achieved, what was good, what needed to be redeveloped, this will all show up in the grades or pass marks obtained. Equality and Diversity must adapted in assessment all times, every learner must be treated equally and given the same opportunities to be assessed in a manner which will suit their learning needs. Whatever their backgrounds and needs, age, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability (mental or physical), or sexual orientation they must given equal opportunities to be assessed. Diversity refers to the differences between individuals, and the importance of appreciating those differences and acting accordingly within the assessment procedure. As an assessor you may want to give learners every opportunity to achieve their qualification, but because of their diversity you may have to offer each of them different kinds of input or support for them to achieve the same goals. The assessor may have to supply a reader, ask verbal questions rather than written ones, and at the end of the assessment ask if everything was understood and explain the complaints procedure should there be a problem with the outcome of the assessment. The assessor needs to be aware of the Disability and Equality Act and the protection and legal rights of his learners. BARRIERS TO ASSESSMENT 1. Assessment for learning should be part of effective planning of teaching and learning – finding time to plan differentiated objectives may be difficult 2. Focus on how pupils learn – some pupils with SEN and/or disabilities may not be comfortable with oral communication; some pupils may have memory problems 3. The importance of pupils’ motivation – some pupils with SEN and/or disabilities feel all learning has always been hard and easily lose momentum and enthusiasm 4. Commitment to learning goals and a shared understanding of the criteria by which pupils will be assessed – discussing criteria by which pupils will be judged or judge their progress may present barriers 5. Pupils should receive constructive guidance about how to improve – some pupils may find it hard to receive comments about improving their work 6. Develop pupils’ capacity for self-assessment and reflection – some pupils may have anxieties about any future planning, particularly if it involves editing, rewriting or redoing a task. WAYS TO REMOVE THE BARRIERS. 1: Planning to ensure that pupils understand their goals and how pupils receive feedback make lesson objectives clear in pictures and writing; give feedback verbally; put notes in pupils’ books; offer recognition in front of peers; give specific feedback rather than a general comment. 2: Focus on how pupils learn talk about your own ways of learning; about how you remember things; ‘think out loud’; encourage pupils to talk about how they achieved something. 3: Importance of pupils’ motivation emphasise progress and achievement, not failure; encourage pupils to look back in their books and see the progress made; point to the next step in the pupil’s learning. Comments on pieces of work should be positive and explicit, eg. “Good. You’ve written the instructions clearly”; or evaluative, eg. “I really liked your use of adjectives – ‘quaking’ made me understand how the girl was feeling”. 4: Commitment to learning goals and a shared understanding of the criteria by which pupils will be assessed talk to pupils about what they are trying to achieve; involve pupils in deciding their own goals; encourage peer and self assessment; encourage pupils to make their own comments in their books; let pupils mark each other’s work or comment on a storyline or account; encourage paired marking where pupils choose a suitable partner with whom they can discuss their work; use ‘response partners’ or study buddies who talk about meeting success criteria and next steps in learning. 5: Pupils should receive constructive guidance about how to improve teachers should emphasise what is correct/interesting in a given piece of work; comment on the positives; point out weaknesses as points for development rather than ‘wrong answers’; give opportunities for pupils to attempt a piece of work again. 6: Develop pupils’ capacity for self-assessment and reflection encourage pupils to see how they’ve improved on their previous best; help them with the vocabulary of self-assessment (according to their age and attainment) eg. “good adjective”, “better writing”, “good problem-solving, “neater”, “good story ending”; encourage pupils to proofread before making a neat copy on the computer.