Teacher Assessment in Primary Science TAPS PSTT Belfast

Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) PSTT, Belfast June 2016 Sarah Earle @Pri. Sci. Earle s. earle@bathspa. ac. uk Working with teachers to develop a bank of examples and a supportive structure for a shared understanding of focused assessment.

Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) Funded by Primary Science Teaching Trust. Based at Bath Spa Institute for Education. Working with TAPS project schools, PSQM, PSTT college fellows. Aiming to develop support for a valid, reliable and manageable system of science assessment which will have a positive impact on children’s learning. . Practice into research Research into practice

TAPS so far • • Reports summarising of approaches Pyramid self-evaluation tool with examples Focused assessment plans Examples of children’s learning https: //pstt. org. uk/resources/curriculum-materials/assessment

What does this look like in practice? A Design. Based Research approach Nuffield Foundation (2012) Developing Policy, Principles and Practice in Primary School Science Assessment. London: Nuffield Foundation

Ongoing formative assessment can be summarised Whole sch processes Summarise ongoing formative assessment for different reporting purposes Principles and examples of Af. L = most impact on learning Summative reporting e. g. based on range of info Range of info/contexts supports validity (all areas e. g. WS) Shared understanding and moderation supports reliability (consistency) Focus, clear purpose and examples support manageability Monitoring e. g. manageable records, moderation Responsive teaching e. g. clear focus, Qs, feedback Active pupil involvement e. g. self/peer assessment Introducing the TAPS pyramid for school self-evaluation

How would you group these?

Pupils identify their existing ideas Pupils assess peers' ideas and work Pupils assess their own ideas Developing pupil active involvement

Teachers adapt pace and give pupils time to reflect Teachers plan opportunities to elicit through discussion Teachers involve pupils in discussing criteria for success SLT look for responsive teaching

‘We discussed assessments: we found tracking every child on every objective was unmanageable. ’ Moderation discussions ‘We tried a best fit model, but it was not really picking up the scientific thinking. We are now using Focused Assessments to look closely at one area of science at a time. ’ Moderation to support consistency/reliability

Shared understanding of progression Developing a shared understanding

Pyramid self-evaluation tool discussion What questions does this raise about professional development? What questions does this raise about assessment in schools? What is the picture for your school? https: //pstt. org. uk/resources/curriculum-materials/assessment

Try a focused assessment • What responses would you expect of your children? • What would you choose as a focus? A lesson where there are opportunities to assess a specific aspect of science Can be formative and summative

Focused recording is easier to assess Y 1/2 use their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions Thomas will win because he can whack it really strong Y 3/4 using results to draw simple conclusions, suggest improvements Y 5/6 report conclusions, causal relationships and explanations The bigger bottle has more air in it to push it up so it goes higher Focus is important – if have this then formative assessment can be summarised

We welcome feedback and further ideas • Let us know what you think Coming soon: • Database of focused assessment plans and work samples s. earle@bathspa. ac. uk @Pri. Sci. Earle