Evaluation of Project 1 of the Assessment is for Learning Development Programme:
Support for Professional Practice in Formative Assessment
Final Report
14. Comparison between primary, special and secondary schools
The impact on pupils in primary, special and secondary schools was generally positive with reports of increased engagement with learning, enhanced motivation, and improved learning skills. Pupils were reported as being empowered and taking greater responsibility for their learning. There was also evidence of an improvement in the quality of work and in some cases excellent performance in summative assessment. There were particular benefits for low attainers although some high attainers reported boredom and frustration at the slower pace of working. While at primary level most of the strategies were viewed positively by pupils, at secondary level some pupils reported embarrassment in relation to the implementation of strategies where they were required to publicly answer questions or give explanations. The age of the pupils may have been important here, adolescents being particularly sensitive to what they perceived as public exposure of their weaknesses. Strategies which involved sharing criteria, peer assessment, comments on work, redrafting of work and oral feedback were met positively across both sectors. In the Special School pupils were seen to be learning in a way that had not previously been believed possible. While the focus within the school had always been on the child this was reinforced by the project.
The impact of the project on participating staff in primary, special and secondary schools was similar in that teachers were enthusiastic, well motivated, reported changes in their understanding of formative assessment and their pedagogical and assessment practices. They reported that the project had made a substantial contribution to their personal and professional development.
The visibility and impact of the project varied between primary, special and secondary schools. In primary and secondary schools the typical involvement of two members of staff with the active support of the head teacher represented active participation by a substantial proportion of the whole staff. The nature and effects of the project were therefore visible to the whole school. In secondary schools, the two or three teachers involved were usually managed by an assistant Head Teacher or Head of Department and represented a small proportion of the whole school staff, and in the large schools, a relatively small proportion within their department. The project was less visible than in primary and special schools and in the context of the whole school had less impact. This has implications for dissemination.
In primary, special and secondary schools professional dialogue about the project and its lessons was reported. In primary schools and the special school a considerable amount of in school dissemination had already taken place informally. Perhaps because of the organisation of primary schools and the special school and the structure of the curriculum, there was greater collaboration between the staff involved in projects than between secondary participants. In secondary schools there appeared to be a limited whole school impact and the project's successes were described in micro terms such as teaching techniques which were related to the individual and the department. At primary level and in the special school the impact was more likely to be at the level of the whole school, with staff coming to grips with the underpinning philosophy about assessment. There was also evidence that the project was having an impact on the schools' future development.