Evaluation
and Assessment
General Principles
Assessment is “clear seeing, rich
understanding, respectful application.” 18
Assessment, in that sense, is
implicit in the whole Waldorf approach. Steiner Waldorf schools aim to manage
the education so that the development of the child takes place holistically, in
the round, and thus assessment is a means of gaining knowledge of, insight into
and understanding for the child: the more accurate and comprehensive the
observations, the richer the understanding, the better able staff are to
support and promote positive development.
Good practice occurs when the
self-reflective teacher assesses his or her own teaching and its results for
the children and shares their evaluation with colleagues on a regular basis. Thus
individual insights are tested collegially and flow back into the classroom. Where
this happens, the outcome of assessment is that meaningful help is offered and
new developmental opportunities are created. Good assessment can lead to transformation
in both teaching and learning.
Assessment serves two essential
functions: supporting learning (assessment for
learning) and providing evidence of attainment in order to monitor the quality
of education and the children’s response (assessment of learning). Assessment for
learning identifies areas that need attention, helps in setting appropriate
tasks for the pupil, focuses on improvement, and is most concerned with the
progress of the individual pupil with their peculiar strengths and weaknesses
(i.e. it is “formative”). Assessment of
learning is usually aimed at providing quantifiable data; it is retrospective
to a learning process, related to a pre-determined set of achievements, for
example through external tests or examinations, summing up a course of study or
period of instruction (i.e. it is summative). Both types of assessment have a
place, and either applied inappropriately, can be limiting: formative
assessment if it is overly intrusive or insufficiently personalised; summative
assessment by encouraging a “closed mindset”[i], avoidance of activities
that seem difficult or that require practice and fixation on “token” or grade,
rather than effort and progress.
Any form of assessment depends upon
the curriculum that underpins it and the developmental Steiner Waldorf curriculum
naturally takes formative assessment as its core focus, alongside “ipsative
assessment”, to which it closely relates and which is evaluation of the
progress of an individual pupil in their own terms, against a personal starting
point[ii] (for example, instead of
“I ran faster than x today”, “I ran faster than yesterday or the day before”). Formative
assessment is an expression of the essential ethos of the Kindergarten or class
teacher, who provides long-term continuity for the child’s development. Each
teacher works on the assumption that the child before them possesses greater
reserves of potential than can reveal themselves in the present. A child’s
entire biography is a path of progressive individualisation and realisation of
potential. This potential expresses itself in the way a child works through key
developmental stages, how a child learns and encounters the difficulties which
life presents. Observing this developmental path, and responding to it, is the
prime objective of ipsative and formative assessment.
Summative assessments, which include
standardised, or “normative” assessments, such as tests for “reading age” or
other attainment, act as staging posts along the path of the development of a
young person. Their role becomes more prominent as the time for external
examinations draws nearer. Ideally, of course, these would be acknowledgement
of achievement related to a wide multi-layered curriculum and of the resulting
enthusiasms, strengths and cumulative effort of the individual young person. In
that sense, assessment of learning could become a springboard for life-long learning.
Unfortunately, very few exam systems get close to providing that and “swot up
and forget afterwards” remains the commonplace in most. Proposals, such as
those for various types of “diploma”, along with assessment made continually
over time, are attempts to establish means to identify and give credit to a
wider range of attainment. In spite of frequent calls from organisations like
the Campaign for British Industry[iii] for more emphasis on
personal, creative and co-operative skills for school leavers, the trend from
the political side of education remains uneasy with concepts like ”soft
skills”, and uncomprehending of the concept of person-centred assessment.
Sweeping pronouncements about educational quality, and over-simplified truisms
appealing to competition and intellectual survival of the fittest, rule the
day. The failure of resulting policies, however, can hide itself behind
continuous & continuously more rapid reform and reorganisation.
While excessive and excessively bureaucratic
assessment stifles teacher initiative and intuition and turns results and
therefore pupils into the “fodder” of education as a system, too little of any assessment
carries the danger of subjectivity and arbitrariness. It is the duty of every
school to find ways to acknowledge and celebrate the active work, human
contribution and broad accomplishments of its students and to set them on a
path of what the psychologist Abram Maslow called, “self-actualisation” and
“self-transcendence”[iv].
This can be represented in the
following way:
- Ipsative
level – biographical – development (a picture of the emerging “I” of the
young person)
- Formative level – exploratory/individualising – (qualitative and related to an aesthetic feeling for the craft of learning )
These provide context & meaning
as competence
- Summative level
– summing up progress made over a period of time (consolidating and
comparing according to criteria)
- Normative level
– comparison based on typical cohort (quantative) – (measurable/objective/”physical”)
These provide means to serve intention
specific skills
Record-keeping
Not all assessment can, or should, be
recorded. Record-keeping should support and inform teaching, not divert
attention from the reality of working with young learners towards exercises in
paper-work. Where records are made, they consist of two types: on-going
observations made by the teacher on a daily or weekly basis, which include, attendance/punctuality, completion of
classroom or homework tasks given, grades given (where appropriate),
behavioural evaluation, unusual occurrences (untypical behaviour, domestic or
social crises, illness/injury) and the child’s level of participation in
lessons. Such records may be kept in a variety of forms, electronic and
otherwise, but always with due diligence, in the recognition that this is
“sensitive data”. Depending on need and the nature of what is being recorded,
what is retained may be narrative/descriptive, in list form, or summarised as symbols
with or without notes as necessary. On a monthly or termly basis records are
kept on each child’s progress in subject-specific skills, numeracy, literacy,
gross and fine motor co-ordination and social skills.
Guidelines for attainment levels in
language, literacy and numeracy in the form of checklists are included in the
subject curricula in the following sections of this volume and some schools
have amended and developed these farther.
Records are expected to be kept on
the following in the pupil’s file:
• Early
Years Foundations Stage developmental records (profile)
·
summaries of child studies done in the
teachers’ meetings;
• school
doctor’s reports;
• learning
support reports
·
results of screening, or other normative
tests;
• record
of pupils “settling-in” periods;
• notes
on disciplinary situations and outcomes and reviews;
• pastoral
care reports;
• copies
of termly, annual reports, student profiles;
• copies
of documentation from previous schools, as relevant
It is essential that schools have a
clear policy and procedures for maintaining records, including having the form
of and access to such records.
Annual or other regular formal reports
are written for the parents (see below). In some schools Student Profiles are
written (see below).
Monitoring and tracking progress 19
Class teachers regularly monitor and
record the children’s progress in literacy, numeracy, co-ordination and social
skills, using checklists, records and screening.
Teachers plan their lessons and
record the performance of the children. These plans are shared and integrated
into the whole school curriculum through the regular teachers’ meetings.
Children’s on-going work is evaluated and reflected to the children and used as
a guide to lesson planning and for determining whether there is need for extra
support, additional work, or other intervention.
School Reports
A summary of these evaluations is
given to parents in the form of an annual school report, which is often
personalised by the teacher in style and design. This document normally
includes:
·
characterisation
of the student as a whole person, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses
·
evaluation
of participation (attention and engagement), progress and ability in the
various subjects (including comprehension, verbal and written attainments),
age-appropriate ability to work independently, social behaviour (listening,
working with others, co-operations and leadership), activity (presentation of
work, tidiness, completed tasks), level of involvement and affective-aesthetic response
·
brief
summary of the curriculum for the year
·
record
of attainments in all subjects
·
indication
of how the pupil might improve and way in which the parent might be able to
support that improvement
·
for
younger children, a part of the report may be addressed personally to them,
offering praise, guidance and challenges for the coming year
·
older
pupils at some schools may receive Student Profiles for each subject and
bi-annual reports
·
students
graduating from Steiner Waldorf schools may receive a detailed Leaver’s Report,
sometimes called a Record of Achievement, alongside a European Portfolio
Certificate, where relevant
Student Profiles
In some Upper Schools (ages 14-19)
Student Profiles are written at the end of each main-lesson block for each arts/crafts/life
skills course and termly for on-going subjects. These profiles summarise both
formative and summative aspects and include some element of student
self-evaluation. As well as a description of the course and outline of its
objectives, there usually follow two sections: one covering behaviour and engagement,
the other covering subject-specific attainments. Judgement according to these criteria
may be given in descriptively or through a grade, depending upon the age of the
students or other relevant considerations. Some schools make use versions of
the “taxonomy of learning domains” developed by psychologist, Benjamin Bloom[i] Each subject requires own
specific “success criteria”, which may older pupils may have had some hand in
designing, collectively or individually. The Profile concludes with a summary
by the teacher highlighting possible areas of future development.
A “fully-fledged” system of pupil
profiling thus includes the entire range of student (holistic) assessment
recorded in the most appropriate way and with regard for data security. Such a
profile would include:
·
Child’s Name, DOB, family details (contact
&c) & essential medical information (serious allergies, or other)
Photograph
Significant relationships:
(include important pets, depending on age)
Items child might wish to
add about themselves: e.g. “I’m the best tree climber in the class” – things
important to child, similar to “One-Page Profiles”[ii]
·
Annual or periodic records including -
Achievements.....Challenges.....important
events in the life of the child......
Examples of best work:
(photographs or copies: free writing/maths/painting/book page – some chosen by
pupils, as appropriate)
·
Formative Profile including -
Record of key
observations/records as significant indicators...pencil grip (e.g. before &
after photo) & student response (Class 5 or 6 up?) bench-marked against on
success criteria and/or the individual pupil’s (ipsative) progress
·
A moderated view of expectations across time
carried out with the assistance of advisers or visiting colleagues (generational
cohorts)
·
Evaluation based on curriculum checklists
for this age/class and records of any tests conducted at the conclusion of a
lesson block (as appropriate)
·
Results of any normative screening: Reading
age, standardised attainments etc as relevant
Leaving
certificates
In addition to usual public
examinations and alongside Student Profiles or the Portfolio Certificate, some
Steiner Waldorf schools are adopting alternative forms for accrediting the
Class and child studies
Class studies are formatted reviews
of the progress, challenges and diversity of a whole group of children,
involving characterisation, examination of sample work across the ability range
and narrative examples of response to the curriculum and subject areas. These
enable the teaching team as a whole to “look through the window of a classroom”
over a period of time and for colleagues to refine their expectations and
maintain standards. Class studies can be especially helpful at nodal points
e.g. end of Classes 3, 6, 8, after a new teacher has taken on the class, or if
there is a consensus among subject teachers that a class is in need of a
specific focus of attention. Class studies can also focus on different aspects
such as levels of attainment or social dynamics. Major reviews are carried out
for a class entering the Upper School.
Child studies take the form of
development reviews of children who will be shortly entering the main school
from kindergarten, along with any new applicants. These review are informed by
the early years profile and, where possible by a school doctor. Other types of
child study are usually conducted for students in need of special consideration
e.g. learning or behavioural difficulties, exceptional qualities, or who typify
a condition. These studies involve all the teachers who teach the child and may
involve specialists such as a school doctor or therapist. Parental involvement
and support is important and their knowledge of the child helps to give a more
complete picture.
Observations are made of physical
constitution, movement, behaviour in class and outside (home), results of any
tests done, artistic work, social interaction with other children and adults,
work habits, home circumstances, school and homework, willingness, participation,
the child’s relation to different subjects and school activities. Staff members
involved exercise their imagination in trying the build a picture of the best
qualities and potential of the student.
[i] Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.; Furst, E. J.;
Hill, W. H.; Taxonomy
of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook
I: Cognitive domain. New York, 1956
[ii]
See, Erwin, L. Sanderson, H; One Page
Profiles with children and young people, http://www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk/media/38450/oppinschlguide.pdf
[i]
See Dweck, C.S.Self Theories, Their Role
in motivation, Personality and Development, Philadelphia 1999 and (same
author) Mindset, Random House, 2006.
Black, P. William, D. Inside the Black
Box, Nelson, 1999 and (same authors et al) B. Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice, OUP, 2003
[ii]
Hughes, G. Et al, Implementing Ipsative
Assessment, Institute of Education, 2011
[iii]
See for example: http://www.cbi.org.uk/business-issues/education-and-skills/in-focus/employability/
Employability covers a broad range of
non-academic or softer skills and abilities which are of value in the
workplace. It includes the ability to work in a team; a willingness to
demonstrate initiative and original thought; self-discipline in starting and
completing tasks to deadline.
[iv] See, e.g: Kolitko-Rivera, M. Rediscovering the later version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs:
Self-transcendence and opportunities for theory, research, and unification, http://www.academia.edu/3089048/Rediscovering_the_later_version_of_Maslows_hierarchy_of_needs_Self-transcendence_and_opportunities_for_theory_research_and_unification
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