Key Findings

Programme delivery

The content, delivery and context (such as literacy, science) for assessment varied according to a specific school’s needs, however, the following model was commonly used in the primary schools participating in the AtoL project.

• A provider holds an initial meeting with the principal (and possibly a school-based professional development team) to discuss the desired outcomes of the AtoL project.
• A facilitator (from the provider organisation) meets with the staff and together they construct a list of the features of effective quality assessment practice (including the purposeful use of assessment tools).
• The facilitator and teachers then negotiate an aspect of practice (as discussed) to trial in the classroom. The facilitator and the teachers together plan the strategies they will use for implementation, and the facilitator observes the implementation in the classroom.
• This is followed with further facilitator-led individual or group meetings to discuss feedback from the classroom observations.
  

At AtoL staff meetings, teachers typically engage in professional reading, sharing of practical ideas, trialling of resources (for example, the layouts that other schools have used for learning intentions and success criteria, or the use of assessment tools) and future planning.

In secondary schools, the most commonly used approach was at departmental level with changes occurring in particular classes within a year group. Key change agents were typically the heads of departments (HODs) and specific teachers within their departments. Secondary schools rarely attempted school-wide assessment changes within the two-year timeframe of an AtoL project. Reasons for this were at least in part attributed to:

• the timeframe
• the number of teachers involved (often 70 to 100 teachers compared to 3 to 20 in many primary schools)
• the complexity of interpreting consistent assessment practices across a range of speciality subject areas
• the demands of NCEA¹ on teacher and student time.
  

These findings focus mostly on primary school data because although a considerable amount of data were collected at regional levels, there were gaps in some regions. This meant that meaningful interpretations were limited at a national level for secondary schools.

Commentary

The model used is similar to that of Joyce and Showers (1995) which demonstrated the effectiveness of professional development practices that incorporated five elements:

• presentation of theory
• demonstration
• practice
• feedback
• follow-up coaching in classrooms.
  

In addition, when Hall and Scott (2007) investigated the professional development and learning of history teachers, they found that professional development was most meaningful and effective when the content of teacher learning was strongly linked to the curriculum students were learning. Given the current national focus on literacy and numeracy, most schools incorporate AtoL into a literacy or numeracy context.

Footnote 

1. NCEA: National Certificate of Educational Achievement