Gustaf Bernhard Uno Skar

Assessment for Learning and Standards: A Norwegian Strategy and Its Challenges

Assessment for learning in low-stakes contexts raises a series of problematic issues related to standards development. This chapter discusses several such issues on the basis of two interrelated data sets on writing as a key competency across the curriculum in Norway: How may standards communicate with teachers across the curriculum? How may standards fare in local learning environments over time? And most importantly: How can a shared rhetorical community among teachers develop over time and produce reliable assessment across local contexts? This chapter uses data sets that are based on a less than usual approach. In both data sets standards were developed in close collaboration with experienced primary-grade teachers, across the country. ICC analyses (time series as well as comparative analysis across contexts) demonstrate that a considerable increase in reliability develops over time, but simultaneously imply a number of remaining challenges and that further refinements will be needed in order to reach satisfactory levels.

Introducing teachers to new semiotic tools for writing instruction and writing assessment: consequences for students’ writing proficiency

Abstract This article reports consequences for student writing quality based on a long-term professional learning project. Project teachers, representing all school subjects in grades 3–7, were presented with a writing construct, ‘Wheel of Writing’, and norms of expectation for writing proficiency. Participating teachers used the writing construct and norms as a basis for writing instruction and writing assessment. The project was conducted in 24 schools across Norway. 3088 students from 20 project schools participated. Two hundred and thirty three students from 4 schools were used as a comparison group. The investigation showed that students in primary school improved their writing quality significantly. Students in lower secondary school did not. However, there was substantial variation in writing quality effects between schools, classes, and individual students. For instance at a number of schools, project students from lower secondary school improved their writing quality significantly. The article discusses potential explanations of the effects.