Good morning from Paris.  
 
Yesterday, Maria wrote:   " You noted that in Finland, they use "random
sample evaluations of different subjects" - does this mean that they study
test data in subjects on an aggregate level and make determinations from
this?  If so, this would mean that accountability is spread more broadly, as
opposed to studying individual performance/test data and then linking success
or failure to either individuals (the student or the teacher) or smaller
entities (one school as opposed to a whole school system).  I would think
that such an approach would necessitate studying not only what is happening
in the classroom and school, but also what types of educational materials and
assessments are being used.  Would that be a correct assumption? "
 
You are correct in your assumptions - the test data are used to track general
trends in student learning, not as a mechanism for holding individual schools
accountable.  Schools being evaluated do receive their results, but the
results are not published more widely.  The Finnish National Board of
Education uses the results of the random evaluations for ongoing development
of the education system and core curricula.
 
 
Also, you discuss the use of guidelines for promoting formative assessment in
various countries/programs that you studied, and you do note that one set
from New Zealand is available for us to look at.  Are the other materials
from the countries you studied also accessible?  These guidelines, case
studies, and action plans would be extremely helpful in developing a focus on
the use of formative assessments in this country. 
 
Thanks to Susan Reid for providing the url for guidelines used in New
Zealand.  You will find a number of resources from other countries by
searching their sites for "formative assessment".  Sites from the
English-speaking countries will be easiest to follow, of course.
 
- The site for the UK is http://www.dfes.gov.uk <http://www.dfes.gov.uk> 
- Learning and Teaching Scotland has a number of resources at
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk
- The Ministry of Education in Canada will also link you to a number of
resources.  See http://www.edu.gov.on.ca <http://www.edu.gov.on.ca> 
-  For Queensland, Australia, consult http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au
<http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au> 
- And as Susan Reid mentioned, you may find resources used by New Zealand
teachers for asTTLE at htpp://www.tki.org.nz/r/asttle/index_e.php
<http://www.tki.org.nz/r/asttle/index_e.php> ; and other resources at
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/assessment/  
 
 Countries revise their strategies and update and improve materials, so it is
worth checking in from time to time. 
 
Maria wrote that "You note that many teachers described changes in their
behavior once they started to use formative assessments - in their
interactions with students, how they set up learning, in providing guidance
toward goals, and in how they think about student success.  I would be
extremely interested in hearing more about this - can you provide us with a
couple of examples of these types of teacher change?  Did the process of
going from random to systematic use of formative assessments begin with
professional development for the teachers, application of the learning, and
then reflecting on the results, or was it less deliberate?  In other words,
did the teachers in your case study already use this approach and just
realized it was successful so incorporated it further?  Or were these
teachers part of a process to get them to learn and use formative assessment
strategies? " 
 
The process of going from somewhat random, or haphazard to systematic use of
formative assessment varied in each of the sites we visited.  Very often the
schools featured in our study had been involved in special pilot projects,
partnerships with University-based research projects, or other innovations.
Participation in special projects signals that these are schools that are
more open to innovation and change, and is likely one of the reasons the
schools have come to the attention of researchers for our own study. Their
experiences also provide useful lessons for others on the process of change.
 
A couple of examples of how schools approached the process of integrating
formative assessment into regular teaching....At Rosehill College in
Auckland, New Zealand,  the school's involvement in the national "Assessment
for Better Learning" professional development programme as the development of
National Curriculum Exemplars helped place the focus on formative assessment.
The leadership team  at the school  also  started staff discussions on
formative assessment ,    shared  professional reading on formative
assessment ,  invited expert speakers and asked individual departments tihin
the school to work on their own ideas about how to implement formative
assessment within classrooms.
 
Each of the schools involved in the English case study were part of the
King's-Medway-Oxfordshire Formative Assessment Project initiated in January
1999 (KMOFAP -  refers to the partnership between Paul Black and Dylan
Wiliam's team at King's College and selected schools in Medway and
Oxfordshire).  The project, funded by the Nuffield foundation, introduced a
small group of teachers (usually department heads)  to the Black & Wiliam
research on formative assessment through a series of three one-day workshops
over a six-month period, and encouraged them to try out some innovations in
their practice, and to plan the innovations they wanted to implement with one
class in the following school year. These teachers, in turn, shared their
ideas with colleagues.   The process of translating research into practice
involved a close partnership between the University and the schools.   
 
Between 1985 and 1995 the Michelangelo School in Bari, Italy was among a
small number of schools selected by the Italian Ministry of Education to
participate in a project to revise the national valuation form (mentioned the
other day).  This school is unusual in having very low turnover, in fact,
several of the teachers involved in the pilot recall that the experience of
working together on this demonstration project was key to shaping their
strong working relationship.
 
These are just a few of examples.  
 
 
 And I also have a question for subscribers:  Janet notes that one example of
incorporating formative assessment into teaching would be finding new ways to
explain concepts when the student is struggling to understand.  I'm guessing
that this sounds super familiar to everyone out there - searching for new
ways to help the student when the old ways are not cutting it.   Can
subscribers talk about any formative assessment strategies they use and how
this improves classroom or program level practice 
 
Good discussion question.  I'd be very interested in hearing about this from
subscribers, as well.
	 
	 
	Thanks so much!!
	 
	Marie Cora
	 
	Marie Cora
	NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator
	marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com
	Coordinator, LINCS Assessment Special Collection
	http://literacy.kent.edu/Midwest/assessment/
	 
	 
	 
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