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Formative and Summative Assessments

在文檔中 List of Tables (頁 96-100)

Chapter 5 Assessment

5.2 Formative and Summative Assessments

In the context of the English Language Education curriculum, assessment serves the principal aim of promoting learning by providing information about students’

achievements in relation to the learning targets and objectives, thereby helping students, teachers and parents understand students’ progress and enabling them to plan for further improvement. To match the learning targets, objectives and outcomes, different modes of assessment serving formative and/or summative purposes are encouraged in the English Language Education curriculum.

As shown in the diagram on the next page, formative and summative assessments are two common school assessment practices. Formative assessment focuses on the ongoing evaluation of students’ performance and abilities. It is often informal and carried out during the learning process. Formative assessment, which typically involves close attention to small “chunks” of learning, may take place on a daily basis. The main aim of formative assessment is to improve learning and teaching through:

• diagnosing students’ strengths and learning problems or difficulties;

• providing quick guidance, quality feedback, timely support and enrichment for students; and

• reviewing and improving teaching plans and strategies.

Summative assessment focuses on determining progress in learning and evaluating student performance and abilities. It is normally undertaken at the end of a period of instruction (e.g. end of a school term, a school year or a key stage of schooling) and reviews much larger “chunks” of learning. Its main purposes are to:

• provide a comprehensive summary of students’ learning achievements during the period and their performance at that particular point of time; and

• help teachers check whether the major aspects of the learning targets and objectives have been achieved.

A FRAMEWORK OF SCHOOL ASSESSMENT PRACTICES

and Teaching ocessInternal AssessmentsExternal Assessments

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT (informs learning and teaching)SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT (measures attainment) Leads to more successful results

(e.g. Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, Cambridge International Exam

inations for Other Languages)

Tests/examinations which are used to assign grades or levels (e.g. end of school term/year)

Recording - For tracking students’ learning progress Reporting - Qualitative feedback, reducing reliance on grades and marks (Adapted from Shirley Clarke)Feedback Loop

fective questioning (e.g. answers in whole fective feedback

self-• Diversity - Different modes of assessment (e.g. pen and paper tests, projects, portfolio, performance tasks, self-reflection) to match learning objectives and processes - Different parties (e.g. self/peer/ teachers/parents) - Different strategies to assess the

quality of learning (e.g. setting assessments that are both challenging and suitable for students’

competence other than reward and punishment) Tests which are used diagnostically to inform learning and teaching Opportunities for students to learn, reflect and correct rather than compare marks with others

A FRAMEWORK OF SCHOOL ASSESSMENT PRACTICES

and Teaching ProcessInternal AssessmentsExternal Assessments

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT (informs learning and teaching)SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT (measures attainment) Leads to more successful results

(e.g. Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, Cambridge International Exam

inations for Other Languages)

Tests/examinations which are used to assign grades or levels (e.g. end of school term/year)

Recording - For tracking students’ learning progress Reporting - Qualitative feedback, reducing reliance on grades and marks (Adapted from Shirley Clarke)Feedback Loop 83

fective questioning (e.g. answers in whole fective feedback

self-• Diversity - Different modes of assessment (e.g. pen and paper tests, projects, portfolio, performance tasks, self-reflection) to match learning objectives and processes - Different parties (e.g. self/peer/ teachers/parents) - Different strategies to assess the

quality of learning (e.g. setting assessments that are both challenging and suitable for students’

competence other than reward and punishment) Tests which are used diagnostically to inform learning and teaching Opportunities for students to learn, reflect and correct rather than compare marks with others

Summative assessment is closely related to “assessment of learning”, while formative assessment comprises “assessment for learning” and “assessment as learning”. The table below explains the three complementary assessment concepts, their relationship and the different purposes they serve.

Building on their existing strengths, schools are encouraged to extend formative assessment from “assessment for learning” to “assessment as learning”, which empowers students to reflect on their own learning and develop their habit of mind and skills to monitor and evaluate their own progress. Teachers are also advised to adopt more diversified modes of assessment and make the best use of assessment data to inform learning and teaching.

5.2.1 Promoting Formative Assessment in the School English Language Education Curriculum

There are good educational reasons why formative assessment should be given more attention and accorded a higher status than summative assessment, on which schools tended to place a greater emphasis in the past.

There is research evidence on the beneficial effects of formative assessment when used for refining instructional decision-making in teaching and generating feedback to improve

Assessment of Learning (AoL)

AoL describes the level students have attained in learning and shows what they know and can do over a period of time. It gives an overview of the previous learning of students and is mainly used for reporting purposes.

Assessment for Learning (AfL)

AfL integrates assessment into learning and teaching. It assists students to understand what they are learning, what they have attained, and what is expected of them, and helps teachers collect evidence of students’ learning so that teachers can provide students with timely feedback and refine their teaching strategies.

Assessment as Learning (AaL)

AaL engages students in reflecting on and monitoring their progress of learning through strengthening their roles and responsibilities in relation to their learning. Students are actively involved in regulating the learning process, evaluating their own performance against the learning goals, and planning for the next step in learning.

Summative Formative

learning. For this reason, the Curriculum Development Council (CDC) report Learning to Learn — The Way Forward in Curriculum Development (CDC, 2001) recommends that there should be a change in assessment practices, with schools placing due emphasis on formative assessment and making it an integral part of classroom teaching.

Various tools have been developed by the Education Bureau (EDB) to support schools in implementing AfL. These include the Learning Progression Framework (LPF) and the Student Assessment Repository (STAR) for English Language. These tools provide concrete descriptions of students’ attainment and useful statistical data, enabling teachers to guide students to understand and monitor their own learning performance, identify areas of strengths and weaknesses, and to draw up plans for progressing to the next level of achievement.

The LPF at http://www.edb.gov.hk/LPFenglish provides a common scale and language for teachers to describe students’ performance and progress in English Language learning. It consists of different levels of learning outcomes (LOs) and descriptors about the growth of students on a continuum as they work towards the learning targets and objectives set out in the English Language curriculum. The continuum is divided into eight attainment milestones (ATMs) for each of the four language skills (i.e.

listening, speaking, reading and writing) from the basic level (ATM 1) to the advanced level (ATM 8). While the ATMs are expressed in the form of outcome statements, which give general descriptions of students’ performance, pointers are specific examples of what students are able to do in demonstrating the LOs, which support the outcome statements. It should be noted that the pointers are meant to elucidate the LOs. They are neither prescriptive nor exhaustive, and must not be regarded as a checklist for English language development. As these ATMs can provide a clear focus and direction for learning, teaching and assessment throughout primary and secondary education, schools are encouraged to make reference to the LPF when they plan and review the school English Language curriculum and assessment, instead of relying solely on the Basic Competency Descriptors for the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA), which represent only part of the essential knowledge and skills to be acquired by students in relation to the learning targets and objectives for KS1 3.

The STAR is an online assessment platform developed by the EDB to enhance teachers’

assessment literacy and improve students’ learning by means of technology. The STAR platform provides a range of assessment items and online assessment data such as reports and qualitative descriptions about students’ performance to help schools

Formative assessment involves collecting evidence of student learning (e.g. through classroom observations, class activities, homework, quizzes), providing feedback and devising follow-up measures to promote better learning. However, formative assessment does not need to be conducted by teachers only. Students can also play an important role in it. To this end, peer review or evaluation, which is a valuable form of formative assessment, is encouraged as it enhances interaction and collaboration among students and enables them to understand each other’s points of view. Schools are also encouraged to extend AfL to AaL to allow greater involvement of students in the learning, teaching and assessment process. AaL can be promoted at an early stage of schooling.

Opportunities should be provided to develop young students’ learning strategies (e.g.

phonics skills, information skills, vocabulary building strategies) and awareness to reflect on their own learning through the use of appropriate guiding questions and teachers’ demonstration. Later on, students should be encouraged to set personalised learning goals, formulate plans to attain them, and monitor their own learning performance and strategies. When students engage in this ongoing metacognitive experience, they will develop a habit of mind to continually review their learning progress and make improvement. In this way, students gradually take ownership of, and responsibility for, their own learning. Example 25 illustrates how AaL can be practised to develop students’ reflection strategies and enhance their writing skills.

5.2.2 Different Modes of Formative Assessment

The following are some common modes of formative assessment which teachers are encouraged to use flexibly according to the school culture or policy, and the current educational context and practice. In addition to language knowledge and skills, other learning targets such as generic skills and values and attitudes should also be taken into consideration in formative assessment.

Learning Tasks and Activities

When carrying out well-designed learning tasks and activities, students demonstrate their progress towards the learning targets. Such tasks may include games, quizzes and oral presentations, which are commonly used in the learning and teaching process.

Evidence of learning collected should form the basis of feedback to promote further learning. It is not always necessary to record students’ performance formally.

在文檔中 List of Tables (頁 96-100)