FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Formative Assessment happens continually throughout learning.
It gives pupils and teachers a chance to improve as the lesson goes on.
It is different to assessments in the past which may have only happened at the end of a topic or piece of work, when it is too late to change anything.
These types of assessments are still important, but here at Cockenzie we feel it is also important to involve children in their own learning because this raises the standard of work.

Evidence has shown that learners learn best when they understand clearly what and why they are trying to learn (the learning intentions) and what is expected of them (the success criteria).

Formative Assessment is all about:

• Involving pupils in their own learning
• Sharing learning goals and success criteria with pupils
• Involving pupils in self-assessment and peer assessment
• Asking the right kind of questions
• Giving children feedback about the quality of their work and how they can make it better
• Helping children decide what steps they should take next
• Belief that every pupil can improve

Here are some of the Formative Assessment strategies we use in school to improve our learning:

• Increased wait time – this encourages all children to try to find an answer
• Talking Partners – allowing a short discussion with others to explore ideas and knowledge
• Asking open questions which encourage children to think rather than just answer yes or no
• Feedback – focusing on a specific learning intention at a relevant time (ie with the children)
• Self/peer assessment – children take the responsibility for feeding back to the teacher/group about their own work
• Tickled pink / green for growth – indicating a success and an area which needs to be worked on
• Traffic lights – children indicate how well they understand a task. This can also be used to show how well a child thinks they have completed a task.