Assessment and Progression Part 2

Planning for progression

Planning for progression should always take account of the pace and depth of learning, moving from literal, simple information to more abstract and complex concepts. Progress happens when skills, knowledge and understanding can be transferred to and applied in new and increasingly unfamiliar contexts and is enabled when discussion, reflection and evaluation form an integral part of the learning.

As such, it is important to remember that we are dealing here with people, not products. Progression doesn’t happen in age boxes or phase boxes – it happens when it happens. Our current thinking in relation to assessment and progression can easily be distorted by the constructs which frame our thinking which have grown from decades of unhelpful terminology and assessment tools. The job now is to strip away the aspects which do not focus on the learner, constructing the learner-focused curriculum and thinking about how children make progress.

Developing progression

Progression in education means increasing knowledge, improving skills and deepening the understanding of ideas and concepts. It is a non-linear, divergent process which occurs at different stages of the continuum for each learner.

In order to ensure that learning and teaching allows for progression, as practitioners we need to know:

The key principles of progression in each area of learning and experience (Area)
The nature of progression for that Area
The concept of progression along the continuum of learning
How to create experiences which transfer existing skills and knowledge in a new context
The purpose of the descriptions of learning.

And in designing our curriculum we need to consider the essence of learning in each Area for each statement of what matters.

At a classroom level (including the virtual and outdoor classroom), progression is simply:

What does the learner need in order to move from here to here successfully and progressively? - Knowing the child, the need and how to support them
What do I need to know? - Understanding where the child is in relation to where they need to go
How do I gather that information? - Identifying the processes used to gain intelligence
What do I do with it? - Planning the learning
Who else needs to know? - Leadership, teachers, parents, learners, support systems
Who else needs to be involved? - Professional learning support systems e.g. moderation, training, internal, external support and leadership accountability
How do I check what I'm doing is working? - Leadership
Who else needs to help me with this? - Leadership

Response and Reflection

Think about the following questions in relation to where you are on the journey to reform:

a) as an individual

b) as a school.

To what extent do you understand non-linear progression?
How do you facilitate discussion about the nature of progression to ensure a shared understanding?
How do you determine individual learner starting points in order to plan for progress?
How do you know when deep learning is taking place?
How do you support learners to improve their effectiveness as learners through discussion, reflection and evaluation?

Principles of progression and descriptions of learning

The Curriculum for Wales sets out the framework for progression in its principles for progression and descriptions of learning for each area of learning and experience. The descriptions of learning occur at five progression steps and taken together, these provide a continuum of learning that reflect the essential learning from each Area as learners develop in relation to the four purposes. In doing so they help signal a clear line of sight from early stage learning to the point at which learners transition to post-16 education and work. Progression along that continuum is not expected to be linear and neither is it intended to be achieved at a particular rate. It is more likely that learning will look like an expedition, with stops, detours and spurts. The descriptions of learning act as staging posts along a road, rather than a border between two separate ways of thinking. While there may be specific threshold concepts which represent a significant shift in a learner’s understanding, these are not linked to specific ages, nor will they happen at the same time in different Areas for an individual learner. Underpinning progression across all Areas are five principles of progression.

🌐 Supporting learner progression: assessment guidance

The principles of progression set out how learners should make progress, and contribute to the four purposes.

The new curriculum and assessment arrangements require us to develop a new understanding of progression and how it informs curriculum planning and assessment for the purpose of learner progression.

These principles of progression are supported by descriptions of learning which provide more detailed guidance on progression within each area of learning, and what it means for a learner to progress throughout the continuum of learning.

They should be used as part of discussions within clusters and networks of schools in order to build collaborative approaches to curriculum, assessment and learner progression.

The principles of progression are:

Increasing breadth and depth of knowledge
Deepening understanding of the ideas and disciplines within the Areas
Refinement and growing sophistication in the use and application of skills
Make connections and transferring learning to new contexts
Increasing effectiveness.

🌐 Principles for designing your curriculum

Descriptions of learning articulate the essence of learning in the Areas across the five progression steps.

Descriptions of learning:

Demonstrate appropriate progression but allow schools the space to be innovative and responsive to changing situations
Do not contain universal expectations of performance
Ensure that formative assessment is integral to changing practice and pedagogy
Do not encourage checklists
Are personal to that Area and the level of specificity may vary
Give expression to the four purposes
Consider the 'essence' of learning - what children need to learn, how they might learn it and why
Are a vehicle for changes in the approach to learning and assessment in line with the philosophy of the Curriculum for Wales Framework

Descriptions of learning are designed to guide practitioners to develop learning which enables learners to progress towards learning in the statements of what matters. They are not meant to be the starting point or ultimate driver for curriculum design.

Response and Reflection - progression and Descriptions of Learning

What does progression look like?
What does learning and assessment look like?
How? Why? What? When?
What are the next steps for learning?
How do you know that the learner understands?

Choose one statement of what matters from any area of learning and experience.
Begin by looking at progression step 1 only and predict what this learning will look like as progression step 5. Consider what the steps in between will be.
Now take one lane of development from this statement of what matters and think about what the learning could look like and what the assessment could look like.
Next take just one description of learning at one progression step and think about what would be needed in relation to learning and assessment.
Finally, thinking about the learning itself being the evidence, what would the learner do to show they have depth of learning?

🌐 Principles for designing your curriculum: descriptions of learning

"Dysgu ei hun yw'r dystiolaeth – … caiff asesu ffurfiannol ei annog, ei fynnu bron, fel ffynhonnell y data."

"Learning itself is the evidence - ….formative assessment is encouraged, almost required, as the source of data."

Harlen 2016

What's in the gap?

Progression steps, as part of a continuous cycle of learning, support planning for progress towards the four purposes. It is important that we recognise that learning and progression is what happens between the descriptions of learning. This is where the 'essence' of learning sits and the job that schools and practitioners have to do. So what happens in the gap to elicit progress?

Learners will not simply move from one progression step to the next. They will get there through the equitable and authentic learning experiences that are created, the knowledge and skills they gather and the formative feedback they receive. This isn't written into the framework because it is individual to the learner, the group, the setting and the community.

In this model, the learner is able to demonstrate depth of knowledge and transference of skills at progression step X. In order to demonstrate the same at progression step Y we need to collaborate with the learner to fill in the gap. This is where we need to consider carefully the 'how' and the 'why' and have a detailed understanding of every element of the curriculum as well as how they are inter-related. Most importantly we need to remember that progress is always towards the four purposes.

Response and Reflection

What do you currently assess? How? Does it make a difference to learning? How do you know?
What are you doing that doesn’t make a difference to learners? Who are you doing this for?
What do your learners say makes the difference? When did you last ask them? When was the last time you asked yourself?
How much of your time do you give your learners which moves them forward in their learning? Is it a priority?
How do you create a positive environment for ensuring progression ?

🌐 Supporting learner progression: assessment guidance

We've probably all seen by now the 'Fleas in a Jar' presentation, guarding against putting lids on achievement. In this video, Growth Mindset author Carol Dweck explains 'The Power of Yet', how believing that you can improve impacts on your ability to succeed.

Assessing 'what matters’ needs to be our guiding principle, and whilst that may seem an obvious analysis, it is not always reflective of what we do in schools today. Now, more than ever, a purpose driven curriculum needs purpose driven assessment, reflecting and enhancing learning rather than detracting from it.

To make the change we need to look beyond any and all perceived stumbling blocks. At this time the future for schools is uncertain, but effective and purposeful teaching, learning and assessment are vital to securing the success of all our learners.

A final thought ....

If you are already working at full capacity, you can’t introduce a whole load of new stuff to your practice and still expect to be effective. How many times have you heard someone say, "I’m doing lots of things not very well when I could be doing a few things really well"? How many times have you thought it of yourself? Change is not about adding. It's about refining and responding to changing needs.

Start

Stop

Continue

Change

Start

What are you going to start doing as a result of something you have learned so far?

I’m going to start…
It matters because…

In order to make this happen I’ll need…

Stop

What are you going to stop doing as a result of something you have learned so far?

I’m going to stop…
It matters because…

In order to make this happen I’ll need…

Continue

What are you going to continue doing or do more of as a result of something you have learned so far?

I’m going to continue…
It matters because…

In order to make this happen I’ll need…

Change

What are you going to do differently as a result of something you have learned so far?

I’m going to stop…
It matters because…

In order to make this happen I’ll need…

Research and Reading

📚 Visible Learning – John Hattie (2008) ISBN: 8601404531293

🌐 https://visible-learning.org/

📚 Embedded Formative Assessment: (Strategies for Classroom Assessment That Drives Student Engagement and Learning) – Dylan William (2017) ISBN: 193400930X

🌐 https://www.dylanwiliam.org/Dylan_Wiliams_website/Welcome.html

📚 Priestley M, Biesta GJJ and Robinson S (2015) Teacher Agency: An Ecological Approach. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN-10: 1474297366

📚 Assessment for Learning Without Limits – Alison Peacock (2016) ISBN-10: 0335261361

🌐 https://learningwithoutlimits.educ.cam.ac.uk/

📚 The Yes Brain Child: How to Cultivate Resilience, Encourage Curiosity, and Inspire Passion and Purpose in Your Child's Life – Dan Siegel (2018) ISBN-10: 1471167879

🌐 https://www.drdansiegel.com/

📚 This Much I Know about Love Over Fear … Creating a Culture for Truly Great Teaching – John Tomsett (2015) ISBN-10: 1845909828

📚 In Search of Deeper Learning – Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine (2019) ISBN-10: 0674988396

📚 The Learning Rainforest: Great Teaching in Real Classrooms – Tom Sherrington (2017) ISBN-10: 1911382357

📚 Rebuilding Our Schools from the Bottom Up: Listening to Teachers, Children and Parents – Fiona Carnie (2018) ISBN-10: 1138211885

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