Additional questions and tasks for students are available here for further study.
Unit 5.2: Assessment and Learning: Summative Approaches
Summative assessment measures performance in relation to defined outcomes or objectives. At the start of the unit four objectives were stated. How would you assess your own understanding of the unit and what might a summative assessment of your knowledge look like?
How might your summative assessment be used formatively to help develop your understanding of this topic?
Imagine that the unit objectives were to be examined as part of a ‘high stakes summative test’. In what ways might this influence the way you read the unit and engage with its activities?
A new pupil is arriving in your class partway through the school year. Which summative assessments would you find most useful in helping you ensure they get off to a good start in the class? To what extent would you be using this information formatively?
Read Webb, R. and Vulliamy, G. (2006) ‘The impact of New Labour's education policy on teachers and teaching at Key Stage 2’, Forum, 48(2): 145–57.
Consider the reasons that might underpin why the introduction of a ‘testing regime’ increased some teachers' feelings of being seen as ‘professionals’.
(M level challenge): How might this feeling be influenced by changes in the regime, as in Scotland and Wales, and the increasing move towards teacher assessment?