To this end, the AfL program is structured to facilitate the understanding and use of formative assessment by teachers and principals so that students are more actively engaged in their learning. Not surprisingly, this research is often cited as evidence that formative assessment improves student achievement. Due to the fact that formative assessment often remains an inaccurate concept for educators and researchers.
The training deals specifically with the use of formative assessment in the classroom context, effective feedback and expanding the student's role in the design and interpretation of results of formative assessments.
Background and Context: Assessment for Learning in JCPS
Following the introductory session, nine schools in the district self-selected for inclusion in the pilot phase of the initiative. Rick Stiggins presented an overview of formative assessment and the first steps in the AfL program. If the adoption of the AfL program spreads within the pilot buildings without this being necessary.
In addition, we reviewed Assessment for Learning materials and participated in the training sessions ourselves to gain first-hand knowledge of the program.
Project Design and Methodology
Due to the objectives of our project, as well as the timing of the project in relation to the AfL training sessions in September 2009, we chose to use a retrospective pretest design for the fall survey. After a low initial response rate of six percent (partly due to the timing of Thanksgiving), researchers sent follow-up emails to the principals of the pilot schools on November 30, 2009, encouraging participation in the study. The AfL-trained classroom teachers make up 15 percent of the pilot school population, but are responsible for 23 percent of the survey responses.
This discrepancy is not surprising given the increased interest of AfL-trained teachers in the project's topic.
Project Question 1 – What is the school culture concerning collaboration, specifically as it relates to
The AfL program requires a high level of partnership and collective reflection. Therefore, we were particularly interested in understanding the culture of collaboration in the AfL pilot schools. Our findings indicate that teacher collaboration occurred in the pilot schools before the 2009-2010 school year. These items are grouped into three composite variables: perception of collaboration last year, perception of collaboration this year, and perception of the extent to which data is used at school.
The results suggest that teaching staff in the pilot schools have a strong perception of intentional collaboration along the lines of what is suggested in the Assessment for Learning programme. Based on the survey responses from all pilot school staff, both trained and untrained, there appears to be strong agreement that collaboration is occurring in the pilot schools around the use of data to inform instructional decisions. The survey also shows that AfL training appears to encourage purposeful collaboration around the use of data.
In interviews with teachers and principals who attended a two-day AfL training session in September, the belief that AfL has a positive impact on a collaborative culture was widespread. Our interviews and survey results revealed that pilot schools regularly used data prior to AfL training. Another commented that he felt that after the AfL training there was “more awareness of good assessment design, which has led to changes in classroom assessment” (EL pilot director).
Given the district's intentionally unscripted approach to the AfL initiative, the pilot schools were free to begin with any of the seven AfL steps, or. Our findings from the survey and interviews indicate that in this first year of program adoption, pilot schools report widespread use of AfL program components by both AfL-trained and non-AfL-trained teachers.
Project Question 2 – How have pilot schools responded to the AfL program at the school and
Specifically, we wanted to understand how teachers and principals transformed their developing knowledge of the program into concrete strategies for adopting AfL. Trained staff recognize that the AfL program is a complex undertaking and will take several years to fully adopt. Finally, AfL-trained teachers and principals also point out that embedded PD time is a natural fit for AfL collaboration and development, but that finding sufficient time for program-related planning and reflection remains a barrier.
Creating a composite variable of the eight items that are integral to the AfL program shows the frequency of classroom practices and behaviors associated with adopting the program.
Project Question 3 – What influence has the As- sessment for Learning training had on instructional prac-
Project Question 4 – What institutional and indi- vidual obstacles do teachers face in adopting AfL at the
Discussion
Trustee support for the AfL initiative has important implications for sustaining support for the program in the pilot schools. Recognizing this, we designed an interview and survey to learn more about the collaborative culture in the pilot schools and how this influenced the adoption of the AfL program. Specifically, we wanted to learn whether and how teachers and principals in the pilot schools collaborate on core issues of instruction and student achievement.
This was a consistent engagement specific to AfL, which was evident in the interviews with the pilot schools as well as in the survey results. In a follow-up survey at the end of March, this principal stated that the sample unit had elicited a positive response from untrained teachers at the school. Furthermore, according to the principal's assessment, students appear to have benefited similarly from this common unit.
AfL trained staff in pilot schools describe students as more motivated and engaged in academic activities. It is clear in the literature that the role of the principal is vital in efforts to implement a professional development process such as AfL. Through our interviews, it became clear that trained AfL teachers in the pilot phase of the initiative often use this designated meeting time to specifically discuss challenges and promising practices related to the adoption of formative assessment in their schools and classrooms. relevant (personal interview, 2009).
While recognizing the important role that the two-day training had in advancing the understanding of formative assessment in general and the LFSH program in particular, in the interviews and survey results teachers and principals also consistently acknowledged the desire for continuous development of the skills of related to the LF. Coburn (2006) argues that high-quality professional development must go beyond changing superficial structures (change in materials, routines or activities) to changing teachers' beliefs and pedagogical principles embedded in the curriculum.
Recommendations and Conclusion
These recommendations reflect our best effort to consider feedback and insight provided by staff in the first round of AfL pilot schools as well as the literature that directly informs professional development initiatives, particularly those originating at the district level. Our second recommendation is to provide protected time for school-level AfL-related professional development along with continued district support. The literature on high quality professional development suggests that professional development that succeeds in increasing teacher knowledge and changing teaching practice is characterized by active learning opportunities and is sustained and supported over time (e.g. Birman et al., 2000; Garet et al. ., 2002).
This research found that sustained and intensive professional development is more likely to have an impact than shorter professional development. In addition, professional development that focuses on academic subject areas, offers teachers opportunities for interactive work and is integrated into the daily life of the school will be more likely to produce an increase in knowledge and skills (Garet et al., 2002). As the literature continues and our interview findings reaffirm, continuous improvement of professional development initiatives involves not only alignment and coherence, but also careful two-way communication with teachers and principals about district goals, standards, and assessments.
Professional development of teachers is a key element in efforts to improve student learning through increased. What's more, the school district's critical role in determining the context and climate for professional development. Thus, like many districts, JCPS faces a daunting challenge to make professional development meaningful, effective, and aligned with the state.
The potential for high-quality professional development to positively impact teaching and learning is clearly not lost on JCPS. As a district, they are to be commended for turning efforts and attention towards the adoption of a potentially valuable professional development initiative like AfL.
How do district management and implementation strategies relate to the quality of professional development districts provide to teachers? When you don't know what you don't know: Evaluating workshops and training using the retrospective pretest methods. Instructional Strategies of Classroom Teaching That Work: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
On the social psychology of the psychological experiment: With special reference to demand characteristics and their implications. Griffin (Eds.), Personnel development: 82nd yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education.
Appendices
Perceptions of Professional Development
Demographics
Perceptions of Teaching
Collaboration concerning
Changes in Beliefs and Practices
Assessment for Learning in JCPS
Good Excellent Did not attend If you attended the Assessment for Learning training program on 1/2 or 3/4 September, or were a resource teacher trained in the programme, how would you rate your confidence in applying key concepts of this training in your classroom. Are you still trying to use the Assessment for Learning (AfL) program in your school and/or classroom. What do you feel have been the biggest benefits of adopting this program in your school and/or classroom.
What have been the biggest challenges in adopting this program in your school and/or classroom. text box response). Are there currently barriers to implementing the seven AFL strategies in your classroom? Has your position on the rationale for using formative assessment changed since the AFL training?
Are there barriers that currently exist to implementing the seven strategies of AFL in your building? Are there barriers that currently exist around the issue of teacher collaboration in your building? Has your attitude about the reason for using formative assessments in your building changed since the AFL training?.
Are there barriers that currently exist to implementing AFL's seven strategies (pp. 42-45 in Stiggins' book) in your school(s)?. Have your views on the rationale for using formative assessment changed since the AFL training.
