Teach Primary Issue 18.6

58 | www.teachwire.net Leahy. So how can you implement these techniques successfully? 1. Clarify success criteria Plan and script learning intentions to describe pupils’ learning goals. Learning intentions should be supported by descriptive success criteria so that teachers and pupils can evaluate performance. Link learning intentions with anonymous samples of children’s work to help them see what ‘high-quality’ actually looks like. 2. Elicit evidence Eliciting evidence of what pupils can do is valuable for informed decision-making in the teaching process. Work with colleagues to plan effective questions that promote deep thinking. Implement no-hands-up approaches to get whole-class F ormative assessment is central to effective and responsive teaching. It involves the use of strategies aimed at gathering information about children’s progress so that teachers can adapt their teaching accordingly and guide pupils with clear steps for improvement. In Embedding Formative Assessment (2015), Wiliam and Leahy outline five key strategies that underpin the effective implementation of formative assessment. They offer a variety of practical tips and adaptations for each strategy, assisting teachers in making informed instructional choices on a daily and moment-to-moment basis. Table 1 outlines the roles teachers, peers and learners play in the formative assessment process as described by Wiliam and responses. For example, encourage active participation with cold-calling. 3. Feed back to improve the learner Wiliam and Leahy (2015) stress that ‘feedback should be more work for the recipient than the donor’. This implies that feedback should be clear, helpful and actionable, with the intention of improving the learner. Provide comment-only feedback on key pieces of work, and dedicate subsequent class time for pupils to respond. 4. Activate pupils as learning resources Offer opportunities for pupils to support each other through the learning process. Scaffolded peer feedback can be highly effective – for example, employing ‘two stars and Secrets of SUCCESS Jamie Clark outlines responsive strategies to move learners forward AS S E S SMENT S P E C I A L Jamie Clark is a lead practitioner specialising in pedagogy and digital learning. His book, Teaching One-Pagers , is out now. jamieleeclark.com/ teaching-one-pagers @XpatEducator “Help them see what ‘high- quality’ actually looks like” a wish’ criteria. Ensure individual accountability in group tasks by carefully assigning specific roles within the group. 5. Activate pupils as owners of their own learning Our ultimate objective is to nurture confident, lifelong learners who can flourish beyond the confines of the classroom. Equip pupils with a repertoire of metacognitive strategies such as reviewing their prior learning, stopping or slowing down to pick out important aspects of written information, and fitting ideas together. This will enable them to plan, monitor and evaluate their own learning. TP Table 1. Five ways to deliver effective formative assessment Where the learner is going Where the learner is now How the learner will get there Teacher 1. Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions and success criteria 2. Engineering effective discussions, tasks and activities that elicit evidence of learning 3. Providing feedback that moves learners forward Peer 4. Activating pupils as learning resources for one another Learner 5. Activating pupils as owners of their own learning