The Assessment for Learning research project

In 2005, the UK Assessment Reform Group responded to this question in the following way:

The answer to this question is 'yes'. Assessment is one of the most powerful educational tools for promoting effective learning. But it must be used in the right way. There is no evidence that increasing the amount of testing will enhance learning. Instead the focus needs to be on helping teachers to use assessment as part of teaching and learning.
(Assessment Reform Group, 2005: 2)

The individual techniques being recommended by AfL are not all new:

• Rich questioning
• Comment only marking
• Sharing criteria with learners
• Self assessment
• Peer assessment

So what is new in general about this approach?

What is new is that formative assessment provides a way for teachers to create classrooms that are more consistent with the research on learning. A focus on formative assessment does not just add on a few techniques here and there – it organises the whole teaching and learning venture around learning and supports teachers in organising the learning experiences of their pupils more productively.
(Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall and Wiliam, 2003: 79)

In my classroom I use comment only marking when marking homework. I give a positive and negative comment and a comment about how the pupil can improve next time, this informs the student about what they are doing wrong or right and how they can do better. I get students to mark each others work and give them a copy of the mark criteria so they can see how to get top marks and understand what examiners are looking for in answers. I also use peer assessment which allows students to be more critical about themselves and reinforce the aims of the curriculum.