Straight talk

Only occasionally does a publication change national policy and practice, but that’s what happened with the publication in 1998 of Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam’s book Inside the black box. That short review of the nature and value of formative assessment, along with follow-up publications from the same authors, created a national agenda for assessment. Its impact can be seen in the assessment policies of most schools in the UK and in aspects of classroom practice such as ‘wait time’ and ‘no hands up’.

But what is formative assessment? A brief review of the literature reveals a variety of definitions. They vary in complexity and detail – some are useful, others less so. In the belief that simple is both helpful and less liable to misinterpretation, here’s my classroom-based description of formative assessment:

• There is a gap between where learners are and where we want them to be.
• Teachers cannot close the gap, only learners can close the gap.
• To do this they need to know where they are, where we want them to be and have some ideas about how to make the journey between the two.

Jo Moules considers methods and resources (linked to in the article) to support and stimulate productive talk