Assessment for learning in practice
This resource provides detail on the six capabilities of assessment for learning and how these can be applied to your practice. This page is supported by the ‘Principles of assessment for learning’ page.
About this resource
This resource provides descriptions and examples of the six capabilities of assessment for learning. It highlights what the student and teachers will need to know and do in order to understand the capabilities of assessment for learning. This resource includes downloadable resources as well as school story examples to support teachers with assessment for learning pedagogy.
Please note that this page will be regularly reviewed and updated to align with Te Mātaiaho, the Common Practice Model and the Position Paper: Assessment refresh.
Assessment for learning in practice
Ākonga who understand and are involved in their learning will experience accelerated rates of achievement. They know:
- what they need to learn
- where they are with that learning
- what their next learning steps are.
These six capabilities explain how you can develop assessment for learning in your classroom.
- Capability 1: Clarity about the learning
- Capability 2: Developing learning-focused relationships
- Capability 3: Assessment literacy
- Capability 4: Effective feedback
- Capability 5: Self and peer assessment
- Capability 6: Reflection on the learning and next learning steps
Clarity about the learning
Ākonga make progress and develop responsibility for their learning when they have shared clarity about what is to be learnt and the steps towards progress.
"For students truly to be able to take responsibility for their learning, both teacher and students need to be very clear about what is being learnt, and how they should go about it. When learning and the path towards it are clear, research shows that there are a number of important shifts for students. Their motivation improves, they stay on-task, their behaviour improves, and they can take more responsibility for their learning." Absolum, M. (2006). Clarity in the Classroom.
The essential components of clarity are:
- clear learning intentions (also known as learning goals, aims, or outcomes)
- relevance to learning
- examples and modelling
- success criteria
- checking for understanding.
When there is shared clarity in the classroom, you and your learners can describe:
- what is to be learnt – using learning intentions (Know)
- how the learning intention relates to the big ideas (Understand)
- how the learning is relevant (Understand)
- how ākonga will go about the learning and know it has been learnt (Do).
When these are in place, a partnership is formed between kaiako and ākonga, where:
- planning reflects ākonga needs
- learning intentions and success criteria are jointly constructed
- learning intentions capture the depth of learning at each phase of learning
- you have sufficient understanding of learning progressions to identify next learning steps with ākonga.
Teaching ākonga about learning intentions and success criteria
The artefact (Importance of learning intentions) is an example of how to introduce the concept of learning intentions and success criteria to ākonga.
See Materials that come with this resource to download Importance of learning intentions (.pdf).
Literacy learning intentions and success criteria for junior classrooms
These two artefacts (Learning Intention - I am learning how to write a story and Learning Intention - I am learning how to come up with my own idea for story writing) are examples of ways to present junior literacy learning intentions and success criteria.
See Materials that come with this resource to download:
- Learning Intention - I am learning how to write a story (.doc)
- Learning Intention - I am learning how to come up with my own idea for story writing (.doc)
Planning for clarity
This artefact (Clarity Planner - conclusion to persuasive writing) shows how to provide clarity to ākonga about persuasive writing.
See Materials that come with this resource to download Clarity Planner - conclusion to persuasive writing (.doc).
Professional learning resource
Use these slides (Shared clarity about learning) for professional learning relating to shared clarity about learning.
See Materials that come with this resource to download Shared clarity about learning (.ppt).
St Josephs Catholic School – Independent learning for new entrant students
At St Josephs Catholic School in Orakei, teacher Rebecca McGarry noticed that a group of new entrant learners stopped writing their stories when they got stuck on a word. This kept them from writing fluently. She planned a lesson to help them through this.
Rebecca wrote a learning intention in the writing modelling book: "We are learning how to keep writing when we get stuck".
She told the group that she was going to write a story and planned her story with a quick labelled drawing. She then said out loud that she wanted her first sentence to say: "I went in a plane to see my Mum and Dad".
In the modelling book, Rebecca started to write the first sentence. She repeated it out loud a few times, wrote 'I' and then stopped and said, "I’m stuck. I don’t know how to write ‘went’. I’m not sure… I’m going to sound it out." After slowly sounding out ‘went’ several times, she said: "I’m listening to myself, and I hear the first sound. I think it is a ‘w’. So, I’m going to write ‘w’."
After writing the ‘w’, Rebecca asked the group "What did I do when I got stuck on that word?". With support, the learners identified that Rebecca that she had sounded out the first letter of the word. Rebecca wrote that in the modelling book as the first success criterion.
Next, Rebecca modelled sounding out the word again and shared that she couldn’t figure out the rest of the sounds in the word. She said, "But I know something that might help me – the alphabet card. I’m going to have a look on my alphabet card for ‘went’ or the sounds in ‘went’". Rebecca did this and found that the alphabet card didn’t have the word 'went’. She asked the group, "What did I just do to try and write ‘went’?" The learners told her that she used the alphabet card, and Rebecca added this to the success criteria.
Example of modelling book showing the handwritten text: WALHT Keep writing when I get stuck. I w____ in a p____ to see my Mum and Dad. Remember to: Sound out the first letter. Put a line. Alphabet card.
Finally, Rebecca modelled the last success criterion. She said "I know ‘went’ starts with 'w' but I don’t know how to write the rest of the word. My alphabet card didn’t help this time. I am going to draw a line beside the w. The line shows me there are letters missing. Now I can carry on with the rest of my sentence – ‘I went in a …’. I know how to write ‘in’ and ‘a’ so I’m going to write them." Rebecca drew a line beside the w and then continued to write more of her sentence, ‘I w____ in a’.
She asked the group: "What did I do when I didn’t know what letters go after the w?" The learners told her that she put a line instead of letters. When asked why she used a line, they said the line showed that letters were missing. Rebecca then added this to the success criteria.
She went back over the success criteria with the word ‘plane’ later in the sentence – ‘I w___ in a p____ to see my mum and dad’. To check their understanding, Rebecca pointed to each success criterion and asked them to share with their buddy what to do if they get stuck on a word. She listened to their conversations and prompted them when they were unsure.
She then gave the learners time to talk about their own writing and do their drawing. When they were ready to write, she took them back to the modelling book and reminded them of the day’s learning intention and what to do when they got stuck on a word. While they were writing, she prompted them to use the success criteria.
"For new entrants, the learning needs to be accessible. If the learning intention is too broad, then they don’t understand what they are learning. I didn’t have that understanding before. I used to have learning intentions that were too big and made no sense to the children, like ‘we are learning to write a recount’. Over time, I’ve made the learning intentions smaller. For example, ‘we are learning how to sound out a word or we are learning how to make a plan for our writing’. It’s great to see the learning that’s come from that change. We go back to the bigger learning as we go, but the little chunks of learning get us there."
Excellere College – Clarity about the learning gives students confidence and NCEA success
At Excellere College, teacher Ben Keyte inquired into his own teaching practices to improve learning in physical education. Ben was supported by a facilitator as part of a Leadership and Assessment PLD contract.
Ben’s inquiry focused on year 12 ākonga at risk of not achieving level 2 NCEA level. He interviewed his learners to find possible reasons why they were not achieving to the standard he expected. Ākonga said that they were not clear about what they needed to learn, even though Ben was sharing learning intentions with the class. Ben used a matrix to self-assess his teaching capabilities, which led him to identify what new strategies could inform his teaching inquiry.
Ben concluded he was not making learning requirements clear enough, and without this clarity, ākonga would continue to be at risk.
"Although students would see the learning intentions on the board, they did not understand what they meant or why they were important to them."
Classroom observations and follow up conversations were carried out to assist Ben in developing an understanding of clarity. Over several months, Ben deepened his skills in using learning intentions and success criteria. Once ākonga understood how to use learning intentions, Ben began to co-construct success criteria with them.
"I found the co-construction of criteria for success to be perhaps the most important aspect of my teaching development this year. It was interesting that I had not picked up on this crucial teaching practice before."
Ben developed self- and peer-assessment practices with ongoing guidance and critical conversations with a facilitator. Ben worked with the facilitator over an extended period of time to improve his practice. He worked step by step and evaluated progress as he went along.
Ben’s teaching inquiry led to ākonga identifying what to do to improve their learning and reach the highest grade. The resulting achievement outcomes were outstanding. In a class of eight learners, four gained Excellence, two Merit and two Achieved.
One learner, who had not passed level one in physical education or literacy, achieved all 16 level two credits – nine with Merit. When Ben asked this learner what had enabled this result, he said he knew exactly what was expected of him. Understanding the success criteria and comparing his knowledge and skills against them, gave him a confidence boost. This helped him focus more and walk into the assessment knowing he had achieved the learning without stressing that he would encounter something he could not do.
These improved results show the importance of being clear about learning expectations. Both teachers and learners found a pathway to improving achievement.