National Education Findings of Assess to Learn (AtoL) Report

Literature Review

Professional learning

Reviews completed by researchers such as Timperley, Wilson, Barrar and Fung (2007) have greatly influenced the way in which professional learning contracts are delivered. Timperley et al (2007) suggest there are seven important elements to professional learning. These elements are:

• extended time for opportunities to learn
• external expertise
• teachers’ engagement with the learning at some point (not necessarily from the beginning)
• challenges to the prevailing discourse
• participation in a learning community of practice
• consistency with wider trends in policy and research
• active school leadership.

No one element is sufficient on its own and they are all dependent on the prevailing culture and organisational structure of the school. For example, the way that release time is used is more important than the amount of release time for professional learning. Effective use of release time includes opportunities for teachers to:

• collaboratively share ideas and plan together with colleagues in a climate of trust and support
• team teach new approaches where possible
• follow up on opportunities to discuss lessons and samples of student work and to seek out resources (or experts) to support future strategies.

These opportunities enhance the seven elements of professional learning (Speck and Knipe, 2001; Hargreaves, Earl, Moore, and Manning, 2001). A combination of theory and support in implementing practical strategies is essential for effective professional development, because improving educators’ knowledge and skills is a prerequisite to improved student performance (Speck and Knipe, 2001).

Timperley et al (2007) further identify the following key factors to consider for the content of professional learning opportunities:

• the integration of various aspects: theory, practice, pedagogical content knowledge, assessment and knowledge of how children learn
• clear links between teaching and learning and/or student-teacher relationships
• assessment used to focus teaching and enhance self-regulation
• sustainability.

It is critical that there is alignment between the content and the activities that teachers engage with in a successful professional learning opportunity. Teachers require a variety of activities to embed new learning and to develop an inquiry based approach. These activities may include:

• opportunities to listen to or view others who have greater expertise modelling new approaches in the classroom
• being observed and receiving feedback
• sharing strategies and resources
• being coached or mentored to implement new approaches
• discussing beliefs, ideas and theories of practice and the implications for teaching, learning and assessment
• engaging with professional readings and discussing these with colleagues.

(Timperley et al, 2007; Hargreaves et al, 2001).

Current models of AtoL in schools suggest that facilitators use an inquiry based approach to develop a professional learning programme within each school or within the department of a secondary school. Schools are supported to identify their needs and a professional learning programme is tailored to assist the school and the teachers achieve their goals.

Formative assessment and professional development

Implementation

Black and Wiliam (2005) argue that talking about improving learning in classrooms is of high interest for teachers because it is central to their professional identities. Teachers want to be effective and to have a positive impact on student learning.

Our own review reported [24] studies, all of which showed that innovations which include strengthening the practice of formative assessment produced significant, and often substantial, learning gains. (Black and Wiliam, 2005, page 224)  

However, their research literature investigation showed that the actual implementation of formative assessment was limited. Implementation required changes in:

• perception of the teacher’s role
• students’ beliefs about themselves as learners and the learning process
• the nature of the classroom dialogue (questions asked, responses given)
• feedback given in relation to goal levels and actual levels
• use of specific feedback to guide improvement.

This evaluation report shows how AtoL supported teachers to implement formative assessment.

Feedback

Those studies showing the highest effect sizes involved students receiving information feedback about a task and how to do it more effectively. Lower effect sizes were related to praise, rewards and punishment. (Hattie and Timperley, 2007, page 84)

Feedback is most effective when it:

• is task-oriented
• provides scaffolded responses to student errors, rather than simply indicating whether an answer is right or wrong
• provides indications of progress towards desired learning outcomes
• conveys the understanding that mistakes are a part of learning.

Current understanding suggests that assessment, learning and teaching are integral processes.

Self and peer assessment

One means of facilitating the integration of assessment, learning and teaching is through student self and peer assessment. In self-assessment students have to understand the criteria or standards that will be used to assess their learning, make judgements about their work in relation to the criteria and use feedback from the teacher to work out future action.

By assessing others’ work, students have the opportunity to see different ways of tackling a task and during the feedback they need to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the effort. This embeds a deeper understanding of the learning. (Middlewood, Parker and Beere, 2005, page 147.

The role of professional development

An OECD¹ study (2005) argued the need to invest in ongoing professional development to enhance teachers’ capacities with formative assessment by:

• formulating supportive educational policy
• developing exemplars and assessment tools (such as the Curriculum Exemplars and asTTle V4) to help teachers incorporate information gathered during the teaching process into their practice
• fostering innovation by encouraging peer support and cooperation with researchers to develop new formative assessment strategies.

Understanding change processes

There is a vast literature on the processes and management of change, discussion of which is outside the scope of this report. There are, however, some fundamental principles about the processes of change that are mentioned here because they are relevant to professional development.

Deep or meaningful change takes time, generally considerably longer than anticipated (Smith, Hofer, Gillespie, Solomon and Rowe, 2006). It takes time for people to become convinced of the need to change and of the value of changing, and to feel sufficiently safe to change.

Fullan (1990) argued that there was an “implementation dip” when teachers tried new ideas before they fully understood it or integrated the practice into their teaching and that such periods were ones of stress and anxiety for teachers.
 

Senge, Kleiner, Roberts, Ross, Roth and Smith (1999) also argue that “learning, by definition, implies a willingness to be uncertain, and to figure things out as you go along” (page 250). Only in safety will people be willing to risk abandoning secure ways of doing things and learning new ways. A climate of trust and safety emerges when there are perceived opportunities for choice, openness and sharing of responsibility. Effective professional development needs a prevailing culture of trust, collegiality and risk-taking, all within a climate of support (Smith et al., 2006).

Change is not easy:

…individual teacher change sometimes leads to new challenges unless teachers and administrators work together to discuss consistency of goals and curriculum across the programme. (Smith et al., 2006, page 23)

Monitoring the effects of professional development on teachers and students

It is important to establish mechanisms for monitoring the effects of professional development on teachers and students for several reasons. First, as Senge et al (1999, page 47) point out, “People’s enthusiasm and willingness to commit themselves naturally increase when they realize personal results from a change initiative; this in turn reinforces their investment and leads to further learning.”

Secondly, continuous improvement in schools must involve an ongoing cycle of inquiry that looks at data and the professional development programme to determine if progress is being made. Inquiry into what is working or not working in the programme in a formative way encourages the process of ongoing feedback. Teachers who are supported to collect and analyse data in order to reflect on their practice are more likely to make improvements as they learn new skills and practice them in the classroom. Through the evaluation process, teachers learn to examine their teaching, reflect on practice, try new practices, and evaluate their results based on student achievement (Speck and Knipe, 2001, page 200). Thirdly, assurance is needed that the time and effort devoted to trying new ways of operating are resulting in improved outcomes for students. 

Footnote 

1. OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development