Harry Torrance

Developing Formative Assessment in the Classroom: Using Action Research To Explore and Modify Theory.

This article reports the outcomes of a research project designed to investigate and develop formative classroom assessment in primary schools. The project was a collaborative one, involving two university-based researchers and a team of teacher-researchers. The aims were to build on basic research already carried out by the university researchers by investigating the issues from a more practical and applied perspective; consider how a collaborative action research approach to the professional development of teachers might be used to bring about changes in classroom assessment practices; and provide a basis for the further development and refinement of theory on formative assessment. The article reports on changes in classroom practice, particularly involving the clarification and communication of assessment criteria to pupils, and on the processes by which this came about.

Assessment as learning? How the use of explicit learning objectives, assessment criteria and feedback in post‐secondary education and training can come to dominate learning. 1

The paper reports on the findings of a Learning and Skills Research Centre (LSRC) funded study investigating the impact of different modes and methods of assessment on achievement and progress in post‐secondary education and training. Data were collected across Advanced‐level academic and vocational preparation programmes in schools and colleges, work‐based training, and adult education settings. The paper reports that clarity in assessment procedures, processes and criteria has underpinned widespread use of coaching, practice and provision of formative feedback to boost achievement, but that such transparency encourages instrumentalism. It concludes that the practice of assessment has moved from assessment of learning, through assessment for learning, to assessment as learning, with assessment procedures and practices coming completely to dominate the learning experience and ‘criteria compliance’ replacing ‘learning’.

Triangulation, Respondent Validation, and Democratic Participation in Mixed Methods Research

Over the past 10 years or so the “Field” of “Mixed Methods Research” (MMR) has increasingly been exerting itself as something separate, novel, and significant, with some advocates claiming paradigmatic status. Triangulation is an important component of mixed methods designs. Triangulation has its origins in attempts to validate research findings by generating and comparing different sorts of data, and different respondents’ perspectives, on the topic under investigation. Respondent validation has sometimes been included in such processes, but it is an element that has not attracted significant attention from the MMR community. The article argues that attention to respondent validation is a significant issue for methodological debate and that it should be an important aspect of the development of democratic participation in MMR.

Formative Assessment: some theoretical problems and empirical questions

(1993). Formative Assessment: some theoretical problems and empirical questions. Cambridge Journal of Education: Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 333-343.

Formative Assessment at the Crossroads: Conformative, Deformative and Transformative Assessment.

The theory and practice of formative assessment seems to be at a crossroads, even an impasse. Different theoretical justifications for the development of formative assessment, and different empirical exemplifications, have been apparent for many years. Yet practice, while quite widespread, is often limited in terms of its scope and its utilisation of the full range of possible approaches associated with formative assessment. The paper reviews these issues and explores them in relation to the development of formative assessment in higher education. HE is taken as ‘test case’ of the paradoxical implementation of formative assessment, whereby the aim is, ostensibly, to develop independent and critical learners, while in practice highly conformative assessment procedures are being designed and developed. The paper argues that developers also need to attend to the divergent possibilities inherent in formative assessment, if their aspirations for a more transformative practice are to be realised.

Engaging science policy: from the side of the messy

Taylor and Francis CBSE_A_559345.sgm 10.1080/01425692.2011.559345 British Journal of Sociology of Education 0142-5692 (pri t)/1465-3346 (online) Rev ew Symposium 2 11 & Francis 3200002 1 LynYates l. at s@unimelb.edu.au Engaging science policy: from the side of the messy, by Patti Lather, New York, Peter Lang Publishers, 2010, 128 pp., US

The development and consequences of national curriculum assessment for primary education in England

89.95 (hardback), US

Notes: Combining Measurement-Driven Instruction With Authentic Assessment: Some Initial Observations of National Assessment in England and Wales

22.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-43-310328-5 (hardback), 978-1-43-310329-2 (paperback)

Qualitative Research Methods in Education

Background: In 2008 primary education in England reached, historically, another important phase in its development. Government reviewed the primary curriculum and some aspects of the national system of assessment. These government reviews coincided with an independent Primary Review based at the University of Cambridge to which the authors of this article contributed one of the research surveys. Purpose: The main aim of the article is to review research and other evidence about the development of national curriculum assessment in England since 1988. Some historical background is also provided about the period pre-1988. Sources of evidence: The main source of evidence is significant research studies that have shown the impact of national curriculum assessment on teachers and pupils. Main argument: The evidence shows that there were gains in national curriculum test scores up to 2000 but that they then plateaued. The research evidence reveals a number of negative consequences of the implementation of a ‘high stakes’ national assessment system in England. Conclusions: It is concluded that greater emphasis on appropriate formative assessment strategies would be of benefit to pupils. The replacement of a high stakes assessment system with a system of sampling in order to evaluate educational progress nationally is also recommended.

Teacher-pupil interaction in formative assessment: Assessing the work or protecting the child?

Recently assessment has been singled out as a key mechanism for monitoring and intervening in the educational process. In particular, claims are being made that new forms of assessment will be able to drive teaching and learning in more positive ways than was originally associated with narrower testing programs. This note reports on initial evidence from the National Assessment in England and Wales and highlights a number of problems in implementing new approaches to assessment in the context of national testing.