Some people are dismissive of using a broad range of evidence of learning (formative assessment) in place of conventional marking practices (summative evaluation). Assessment OF Learning is based on research methodology from the social sciences, not intuition, to create a system of checks and balances that teachers can employ to identify students’ progress over time.

Triangulation of evidence and informed judgment of professionals form the foundation for a trustworthy interpretation of data, providing a much more comprehensive assessment of what a student learns than a set of limited assignments and tests can show. Our next newsletter will focus more on triangulation.

Consider exploring the roots of evidence... I always liked the way Lincoln and Guba wrote about it. In contrast to the kinds of procedures used in large-scale assessment, there are different precedents in any qualitative research project. Four issues of ‘trustworthiness’ that must be present are: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.

You can read more about this on the Leadership website below where there is a discussion about their findings on ‘trustworthiness’ :
www.omnivise.com/research/trustworthiness.htm


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“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
~ John Adams

To read the research that shows how classroom assessment increases student achievement, check out: www.annedavies.com/assessment_for_learning_arc.html