I have come to the conclusion that the word assessment is not useful. Assessment for Learning, formative assessment, summative assessment are all just ways of moving learning forward. Anyway, I was inspired by this photo of Abi, a wonderful teacher in my department which I thought was a perfect image of real feedback so I set myself to try to think of a simile or metaphor to try and encapsulate different things which are all moving learning forward. This slide share is a first attempt. Comments welcome!
A simile for assessment
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Interesting topic to highlight the difference between feedback and AFL, so after reading your post I see it as feedback being given in the moment and AFL relating that feedback to the bigger picture & using it to move forward (more holistic view)
I had never thought to distinguish before anyway so thanks for making me think!
Posted by: Michelle Cairns | July 30, 2011 at 01:38 AM
Assessment has been tied in a knot for political purposes by people who do not want it to favour higher attainers, who they see as education's winners, against lower attainers, the losers. In fact it's quite straightforward to track progress in the process of teaching, provided we set up systems that don't require extra work. I think the languages ladder is clear enough as a framework, and can then be fleshed out with examples of what children can do.
Posted by: John Bald | November 09, 2011 at 05:53 PM