Inside the Black Box

Article: Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment Author: Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam Article Reading Time: 30 minutes (13 pages) "Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons with other pupils." Summary The article starts by discussing how policy change affects (or does not affect) learning, and early on asserts that "Learning is driven by what teachers and pupils do in the classrooms". The authors describe this in terms of a black box, where policy often neglects to look at these features, and leave this most important aspect of learning entirely up to the teacher. The authors then go on to look specifically at formative assessment, and its role within the classroom. "Teachers need to know about their pupils' progress and difficulties with learning" Assessment is defined as "all those activities undertaken by teachers […] which provide information to be used as feedback to modify teaching and learning activities", which incorporates both summative and formative assessment. An assessment becomes formative when a teacher acts on the evidence collected to change teaching. Does formative assessment improve achievement? The short answer is yes, and in particular "improved formative assessment helps the (so-called) low attainers more than the rest, and so reduces the spread of attainment whilst also raising it overall". Is there evidence that we need to improve use of formative assessment? In short, again, the answer is yes. Some of the key points raised are:

• The tests used encourage superficial learning, even when teachers say they want to develop understanding;

• Marks and grades are used too much, whilst feedback for learning is not used enough;

• Comparing students creates an atmosphere of competition rather than learning;

• Data collection which does not inform teaching is a waste of time.

Can we improve formative assessment? Again, the answer is yes, and the authors look at several areas for development to help. "Where the classroom culture focuses on rewards, 'gold stars', grades or place-in-the-class ranking, then pupils look for ways to obtain the best marks rather than at the needs of their learning […] where they have any choice, pupils avoid difficult tasks. They also spend time and energy looking for clues to the 'right answer'. Many are reluctant to ask questions out of fear of failure. Pupils who encounter difficulties and poor results are led to believe they lack ability, and this belief leads them to attribute their difficulties to a defect in themselves about which they cannot do a great deal. […] Whilst the high-achievers can do well in such a culture, the overall result is to enhance the frequency and the extent of under-achievement." Using formative assessment we can address the holes in student learning, and teach our students that it is effort that leads to success, not innate ability. The next aspect is the importance of student self-assessment within their learning process. Students need to be trained how to do this effectively, to accurately ascertain what they do and don't know, and to ask for guidance on how to improve. This involves teachers giving student clear guidance on what is expected of them and what they are expected to attain. Classroom discussion is an important part of formative assessment, as it allows teachers to understand the misconceptions that students have. However, often teacher "direct the pupil towards giving the expected answer" which invalidates the assessment, as students try to guess what the teacher wants to hear. One way to help students actually think about the questions we pose is to ensure we give them problems that require thought (not just recall), but also give them the time necessary to think about the answer in silence before proceeding (open questioning and use of wait time). The authors then go on to talk about the benefit of tests, provided they are not high-stakes. "It is better to have frequent short tests than infrequent and longer ones. Any new learning should first be tested within about a week of first encounter." It is also no good to have tests after completing a given unit, since then it is too late for the teacher to act on the data generated (so it is not a formative assessment). Two aspects are raised as key to thinking about different approaches from teachers:

• The nature of each teacher's beliefs about learning (empty receptacles vs active participants)

• The beliefs that teachers hold about the potential to learn of all their pupils (growth vs fixed mindset)

Steps to implementation Finally the authors offer some tips towards implementing policy change that will make a difference. The first is to understand that change will only happen if it is made easy for teachers. Teachers are very busy, and things that require time for them to think about how to implement will not happen. Give concrete examples of them being used that teachers can use straight away. It will take time to disseminate the information throughout the whole staff, and starting with a small group is a good way to go. Getting rid of policies that stand in the way of teachers doing a good job is essential. The main one mentioned is high-stakes tests and grading. The authors are not saying these should be removed entirely, but focus shifted on the importance of them in comparison to learning through formative methods of assessment. My Reflections Inside the Black Box was a seminal work on Formative Assessment when it was published, and it still holds true today. The difference in 15 years is that most teachers have now heard of formative assessment, but it is still not being implemented well in a lot of situations. The importance placed on high-stakes tests leads teachers to focus attention on these. Many policies in schools still do not directly impact what happens inside the classroom, and if this is the case, they are often either irrelevant to the learning that happens, or possibly even counter-productive if they are imposing time pressures on teachers that take their focus from the classroom. One thing that has been playing on my mind for a little while is that Formative Assessment is not a box of tricks you can role out in a lesson. It is an integral part of every lesson we teach. In talking to a student we are making an assessment of their learning. In marking a homework, we are making an assessment of their progress. In students self-marking a quiz, they are assessing their own learning. In questioning all members of the class (perhaps through Cold Call or random names) we are assessing the understanding and knowledge of the class. We do this every day. What formative assessment means is acting on this information. If we ask those questions and then continue with the lesson plan, then we have missed a fantastic opportunity for improving our students learning. If we give a test, and just give students a grade afterwards, we have missed the chance to give them feedback on how to improve in future. Yes, there are guiding principles for effective formative assessment. Praise effort not ability, give comments not grades, involve students in their own learning, and have high expectations of what students can achieve. But mini-whiteboards, plenary dice, and even my beloved retrieval practice are not useful formative tools unless we adjust our teaching to the responses students give.