Assessment & Levelling in ICT

 

Formative Assessment

The type of assessment that happens at the beginning or middle of a work module designed to inform the rest of the planning and aid the teacher as to lesson pitch and differentiation.

 

Formative assessment can be formal or informal. Formal assessment could take the form of a short test or task. Informal assessment could take the form of pupil teacher questioning, work observation during the module etc.

 

In my experience everyone says they do informal assessment but the standard varies immensely from class to class. A set of shared questions as part of an informal assessment can be a great aid to quality informal assessments.

For example, when assessing pupils use of a spreadsheet programme, simple questions about what is happening in a formula or what cell is interacting with what cell or what will happen to the formula/graph if we change the value in the cell.

Deciding on your questions beforehand can be very useful. Hampshire CC has a useful assessment document that includes some examples of key questions to ask in formative or summative assessments. Try and get a copy from the school you are placed in. I don’t think it is on the web yet. The following was adapted from it.

 

Formal formative assessments are best kept short lest they take over and distract from teaching new skills and understanding.

An example would be this word processing simple assessment test designed to help the teacher identify those with ICT special needs, either more or less able pupils. This has very little relevance to fitness of purpose but would quickly tell the teacher who has encountered certain skills. It is also a very quick test (most of my Year 3 pupils took less than 15 mins to complete it) and can be marked very quickly (less than 30 mins for 30 papers).

Another tool that can be used for formal formative purposes is the short online assessment. Question Tools allow you to download a free copy of their software which can be used for this purpose. Tests can either be posted online or written to a shared drive accessible by pupils or shared via floppy or data stick. They allow instant feedback and are good as formative tests. However they are limited in the responses that can be elicited, not allowing pupils to show their full range of ability. You can view some of mine here.

 

Summative Assessment

This type of assessment takes place at the end of a module. It typically assesses skills and understanding gained through the module either through

·        A test at the end of the module (Year 3 Desktop Publishing Assessment)

·        Assessing work produced throughout the module (Year 4 Desktop Publishing Assessment)

·        Assessing ICT use within other subjects after the module (Year 6 Spreadsheet Assessment)

It will often lead to report statements and ICT levels. (Year 4 Inspiration Report Statement)

It is always worth designing an assessment that has more than one purpose

·        Carrying out a worthwhile curricular activity

·        Informing pupils as to what they have achieved and what they still need to improve

·        Informing teachers of strengths and weaknesses in planning and curriculum

·        Levelling pupils work and understanding

·        Informing reports to parents

 

Summative Assessments can be informal. Within our logo module in Year 5 teachers question pupils and examine work to give a best fit level which feeds a report statement. This is informal but it is planned and gives good results.

 

Moderation

In a school with more than one class in a year group it is important to moderate assessments if they are to have any real value. Each teacher producing examples of low medium and high work and sharing it is the normal way. It is good if the ICT manager chairs these meetings to see how their subject is progressing in various year groups. In my experience a well managed year group will be able to carry this out easily and most teachers are willing to adapt marks/levels based on what the consensus is. Exact levelling is less important than consistency across the year group.

 

Levelling

Within Hampshire, schools are asked to voluntarily pass on ICT levelling results as the end of key stage 2. This is only as the number of pupils achieving level 2, 3, 4 or 5 split into boys and girls. At Abbotswood teachers use assessments to give a level to each module based on Hampshire’s interpretation of the National Curriculum and other more recent ICT good practise. At the end of each year teachers give an overall level based on the average of the levels achieved in the modules.

 

Directed Activity

Can you design an assessment for the database work in year 4 which could take place within the curriculum?

Year 4 study

·        Minibeasts in science

·        Romans in history

·        2d & 3d shapes in maths

·        Bridget Riley in Art

What criteria would a high medium and low achieving child meet? Use the Year 4 planning as a guide to what skills have been taught so far. How would you mix the ICT assessment with the needs of the discrete subject? Be prepared to verbally feed back to the rest of the group. I suggest you work in pairs. You have access to a suite of 30 computers throughout the work. Upload your assessment to the eps.