Rationale

The rationale for the project derived from a pilot project into the development and implementation of the EPGs as a tool for promoting assessment for learning in the sector. The decision to commit wholeheartedly to the project derived from the College’s disappointing exam results from 2015/2016.

While attendance in maths and English sessions were improving and stable at 82-84%, this did not translate positively to high grade achievement rates for these learners. Rigorous college quality processes confirmed that the quality of teaching through classroom observations was firmly within the good and outstanding range, yet not enough learners were achieving high grades.

There was a strong feeling amongst teaching staff of learners merely being ‘there in body, but not in mind’ and not motivated to learn. The resultant deep professional reflection and questioning identified that we had been focussing on producing better teachers and that the returns on this approach were diminishing.

Ruling out increasing the costs of delivery we realised that where we needed to make further progress was with developing better learners. We needed to find a pedagogy which enabled this.

With the support of the OTLA project we embarked on a College wide approach to transforming the approach to assessment for learning with the emphasis on learners owning their progress via the transparency of assessment.

Project Activities and Outputs

Approach and Methdology

Kendal College established a cross-college team, comprised of teachers, learning support assistants, assessors, managers and senior managers. The project team planned and implemented a range of measures, aimed to focus on learners being participants in a transparent tracking of progress.

Theoretical understanding of behavioural science and metacognition, suggests that motivation is derived from their self-belief as learners. Our learners’ prior attainment and experience of the assessment system had a perception of failure and a natural instinct to avoid this failure by not engaging or limiting their involvement in tasks (Covington, 1997). We developed the use of an expectancy value test based on the work of Vroom (1964) that requires learners to measure their belief and motivation explicitly. This then became part of classroom discussion.

The focus for the first year was GCSE and FS maths. The maths team worked collaboratively to research and develop an individual learner plan. We provided CPD on assessment for learning, but with the emphasis and recognition that assessment as learning was a necessary aspect to incorporate into every lesson. As a result of a greater staff awareness of motivational theory, particular interest lay with the initial self-assessment of learners’ perceptions of their own ability to succeed and achieve and the value they attached to English and Maths when they first arrived in College.

We measured their motivational drivers and not their subject knowledge. This was done via a basic Expectancy Value questionnaire (Do you think you’ll succeed by achieving a ‘C’?/Do you want to succeed by achieving a ‘C’?). Whilst it is recognised that some learners may have paid lip service to the task 90% rated themselves and had the opportunity to add a narrative. Learners were encouraged to be truthful and that negativity would not be criticised.
From this point forward, the teams began an approach of using assessment for learning to make all progress visible to the learner. Having stripped initial and diagnostic assessment to the minimum (a teacher assessment after 6
weeks on programme) staff would ask learners to assess their progress on a weekly/sessional basis. Stripping away testing within the first few weeks reduced the negativity towards the English and maths experience for learners. The notion of working together to achieve was presented and the ownership and responsibility to achieve shared between learner and staff.

The primary mechanism for this was a Personal Progress Record (PPR) which supported the planned assessment journey. Learners were asked to set goals and then would RAG rate (Ratings according to traffic lights: red, amber and green) their progress in each session/topic. Interestingly, the complexities of having an online E- profile was found to be a hindrance, and we quickly adopted a paper-based format which was to be kept at the front of each learners’ maths folder. This made the PPR visible in each session. We introduced an audit check on these documents that was a check on engagement with the form. Students were not challenged for low goal setting or RAG ratings against them but were expected not to graffiti the document. Staff would make comments with feedforward to the student on a half termly basis.

Reflective time was embedded into every session with time allocated for learners to engage with the session content and their own personal achievement and progress within the session. This focused on emphasising the peer and self-assessments, working towards learning how to assess their own work correctly, recognising the success criteria and how they are performing against these. Explicit links were made to exam criteria so that the learners were better equipped to make an informed judgement and become able to take ownership of their own progress.

Ongoing learner self-monitoring was supported by a significantly increased emphasis on 1:1 work with learners. Because of the additional cost of this for the college, the team wanted to test their belief that motivation and confidence was enabled by learners taking ownership of the progress they were making, hence the importance of feedback and forward, and the visibility of this.

Professional Learning

Evidence of changes in teaching, learning and assessment practices.

The following AfL approaches have been adopted in the college’s maths classes:
• Learners respond to carefully-planned diagnostic questions on sheets that are inserted into their PPRs.
• Learners then identify how they feel about their responses to the questions, via RAG-rating (i.e. red = ‘I guessed! I’m totally stuck on this one’, amber = ‘I’m OK but not sure if I could do this again’, green = ‘I get this!’). This reflection is visible in the PPR and discussed during reviews.
• Learners agree with their tutor at these reviews what information will be sent to the college learner tracking systems, agreeing with their teacher a score from 1 – 4.

Changes in practice for maths teachers are evident in new tracking documents (PPRs) and procedures and in classroom assessment for learning practices. The English team have been more resistant to adopting new monitoring processes, expressing concerns about reducing English to sets of skills, even though project leaders argue that practices can be monitored by learners, and progress evaluated, without any reduction of these practices to ‘isolated skills’. This is a healthy debate and the project team now have evidence that the approaches used in maths classrooms make a significant difference to learners’ GCSE qualification outcomes. As such, the project will continue to shape and grow, with ongoing professional learning taking place.

Evidence of improved collaboration and changes in organisational practices

The college’s work-based learning lead, after a successful trial, is now working with her team of functional skills assessors to implement new AfL approaches.
As well as validating progress internally across college departments, and with the team doing a parallel project at NTCAL, Kendal’s project leaders shared their approaches with their local prison, HMP Haverigg. Dissemination of the EPG project outcomes there, via the prison’s head of reducing reoffending, has sparked an extension project involving all industries staff and maths and English teachers in the prison. The project is focussing on embedding maths and English in social enterprise projects (and also draws heavily on outcomes from an OTLA offender learning project at HMP Kirklevington). To further support this work, vocational trainers and industrial officers from HMP Haverigg and Kendal College will visit one another and share/ review AfL and other aspects of their practice.