Focus on Learning
The process of assessment reveals where students are in their learning. The three stages of the assessment process are: gathering evidence, making judgments and giving feedback.
This section of the toolkit supports a whole-school approach to professional development and capacity building in developing effective, ongoing assessment practice which supports students’ learning.
The workshops are designed to be used in a flexible manner around four topics:
-
Learning intentions and success criteria
-
Effective questioning
-
Formative feedback
-
Students reflecting on their learning
You will find the
Facilitator’s Guide a useful starting point. We value your feedback/views on how you use these materials. Please take the time to complete this
short evaluation form and return it to the NCCA.
The material is intended to be used with a whole staff and aims to encourage reflection and discussion about how teachers can improve their practice in assessment. The workshops give teachers an opportunity to engage in their own learning. This approach is supported by research that teachers are much more likely to change their practice if they have genuine engagement with the process.
In this short video Dylan Wiliam explains 5 things teachers can do to improve student learning.
(6 mins 20)
There is successful practice in schools already, with teachers using a range of approaches to facilitate ongoing assessment in their classrooms. We hope these materials will help support continued assessment practices that support student learning.
This unit focuses on helping students take more responsibility for their learning. To do this, students need to know
• what they are going to learn
• how they will recognise when they have succeeded
• why they should learn it in the first place
This is why learning intentions and success criteria are important.
Workshop 1 Booklet: Pdf
Workshop 1: Slides
Facilitator's Notes
Introductory Video
Paul Black ‘Effective questioning’ (8 minutes)
This unit explores how developing student reflection can allow students to take more responsibility for their own learning and progress. It presents lots of strategies that you can use or adapt when helping students to reflect on their learning.
Workshop 04 Booklet: pdf
Workshop 04: slides
Facilitator's notes
Introductory Video
Professor Paul Black ‘Students reflecting on their learning’ (6 mins 46)