Skills for Life Assessment and Learning Guidance Essay Example

Skills for Life Assessment and Learning Guidance Essay Please note that this content is based on the Skills for Life Assessment and Learning guidance booklet Initial and diagnostic assessment a learner-centered process. The original booklet can be found at: http://sflip.excellencegateway.org.uk/assessment/assessmentguidence.aspx. This adapted version is part of the Being functional resource which builds on effective practice to support the planning and delivery of functional skills. For more information, go to www.excellencegateway.org.uk/beingfunctional. What is an initial and diagnostic assessment? Initial and diagnostic assessment begins the process of getting to know learners and building a relationship with them. Initial assessment happens at the time of a learnerâ„ ¢s transition into a new learning programme. It is a holistic process, during which you and the learner start to build up a picture of their achievements, skills, interests, previous learning experiences and goals, and the learning needs associated with those goals. This information is used as a basis for negotiating a course or programme. Diagnostic assessment helps to identify specific learning strengths and needs. It determines learning targets and appropriate teaching and learning strategies to achieve them. This is important because many learners have higher-level skills in some areas than in others. Diagnostic assessment happens initially at the beginning of a learning programme and subsequently when the need arises. It is related to specific skills needed for tasks. We will write a custom essay sample on Skills for Life Assessment and Learning Guidance specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Skills for Life Assessment and Learning Guidance specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Skills for Life Assessment and Learning Guidance specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The two processes are closely linked: diagnostic assessment adds to the information gathered from initial assessment. Together they help you and the learners to use this information in order to: * personalise learning; * develop individual learning plans; * begin the process of assessment for learning that will continue throughout the learnersâ„ ¢ programme; and * make links to progression routes and prepare for the next steps. A positive experience Initial and diagnostic assessment can be among learnersâ„ ¢ first experiences of your organisation and will influence their early impressions. If the experience is positive, active and involving, this will help to create a climate in which learners are able to negotiate and take responsibility for their learning. You can help make the experience positive for learners by: involving them â€Å" do the assessment with themâ„ ¢ not to themâ„ ¢; helping learners to take an active part will encourage motivation and independence; building their self-esteem and sense of self-worth; recognising their strengths and achievements, not just their weaknesses; linking initial and diagnostic assessment to their own aspirations, such as their career choices or aspects of their everyday lives; taking the opportunity to discuss issues such as cultural perceptions, learning difficulties or disabilities that might form barriers to success and lead to career stereotyping; using active listening skills to foster an atmosphere of mutual respect, build relationships with learners and make each learner feel valued; encouraging and establishing a level of trust so that issues for learning can be discussed openly, in context, and dealt with constructively; and making the assessment relevant to their specific context for learning, which will enhance their confidence and self-esteem. Initial and diagnostic assessment: methods and approaches Initial and diagnostic assessment should involve a range of methods and approaches, none of which is sufficient on its own. It is important to evaluate the quality of information obtained from particular methods. Once you have begun to get to know the learners and their learning preferences, you will be better able to select the appropriate assessment methods. The diagram below shows a range of possible methods. Adapted from The initial assessment toolkit (Key Skills Support Programme, 2007). Documents and records give evidence of achievements and include qualifications, records of achievement, references, non-academic certificates and awards. Self-assessment gives learners some idea of where their strengths and weaknesses lie. It is vital to take learnersâ„ ¢ own views into account and to make the most of this knowledge. Discussions and interviews allow teachers and learners to get to know each other. They also provide an excellent opportunity to feed back the results of other assessment methods and to probe more deeply. Assessment tools can play an important role in objective initial and diagnostic assessment of functional skills. Tools are also sometimes used to assess occupational skills and learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Structured group or individual activities during induction and early parts of the programme allow learners to apply specific skills. A free writing task, for example, gives a rounded picture of how someone actually writes. Such a task also helps to put learners at the centre of the assessment process because they can write about themselves and their interests. Observation gives a broader picture of the whole person and how they perform in a range of contexts. This will give insights into learnersâ„ ¢ strengths, how they work with others, how they think, how confident they are and how willing they are to ask for help. Try this: 1.Make the assessment relevant to learnersâ„ ¢ context and interests. This may mean planning activities or using assessment tools related to learnersâ„ ¢ vocational areas or everyday interests. Providing a context for the assessment helps the learners to see how skills can be transferred. 2.Gather information from activities that learners carry out in other parts of their programme. For example, you can: a.observe them on a work placement; b.use examples of their writing to assess their skills. 3.Select a blend of assessment methods to suit individual learners and their circumstances. Tools for assessing functional skills/Skills for Life Tools that have effectively supported the assessment of Skills for Life could be adapted to provide support for assessing functional English and functional mathematics and incorporate functional ICT. It is important that the following points are understood. Functional skills standards should be applied and adhered to. For more information on functional skills and the standards, go to www.qcda.gov.uk or the Ofqual website at www.ofqual.gov.uk/. It is important to recognise that the levelâ„ ¢ of a functional skill is determined by a combination of factors: familiarity of the situation or problem to the learners; independence of the learners in identifying and selecting the skills they will need, and in tackling the situation or problem; complexity of the situation or problem the learners are tackling; and technical demand of the skill required. Learners whose functional English, functional mathematics or functional ICT is being assessed should be able to: consider a problem or task; identify the functional skills (whether English, mathematics or ICT) that will help them to solve it; select from the range of skills in which they are competent (or know what help they need and who to ask); and apply their skills appropriately. Any terminology used should be consistent with that of functional skills (for example, LLNâ„ ¢ should be replaced with functional Englishâ„ ¢ and/or functional mathematicsâ„ ¢, as required). Assessment may highlight areas of individual support learners may need which could enable them to achieve goals and targets agreed as part of their individual learning plans. Initial assessment tools provide information about learnersâ„ ¢ current levels of functional skills, measured against national standards. They are useful in helping to match learners to an appropriate learning programme and in directing further, more in-depth, assessment. Diagnostic assessment materials assess all aspects of functional skills. There are also materials that can be used to explore whether learners would benefit from further assessment for specific learning difficulties (such as dyslexia). Specific diagnostic tasks should be selected and used at the start of a learning programme but also regularly throughout the programme to assess particular skills as further needs are identified. Diagnostic materials help you to discuss and agree with individual learners: learning targets for both consolidating existing skills and developing new ones; recommendations about how the learner will tackle new learning; and their own priorities: for example, skills needed at work. For details on functional skills standards and tools built specifically for the assessment of functional skills, see the Want to know moreâ„ ¢ section on page 8. Who carries out initial and diagnostic assessment What skills are needed Staff who carry out initial assessment are able to: understand the whole assessment process; present it to learners in a positive and constructive way; value and engage with learners; use a variety of approaches appropriate to individual learners and their context for learning; interpret results appropriately and give professional feedback to learners; recommend learning programmes; and refer learners for further expert assessment. In addition to the above, staff who carry out diagnostic assessment can also: use the outcomes to plan individual and group learning; and monitor progress. It is important that staff involved in initial and diagnostic assessment are well trained and able to use professional judgement. A team approach ensures consistency and reliability and increases staff confidence and skills. If tools are used as part of the assessment process, staff need to have training in using them effectively. Feedback from assessment Giving timely, constructive feedback to individuals is crucial to effective initial and diagnostic assessment. Try this: 1.Stress the positive. Always celebrate what learners have done well. This helps to build confidence. 2.Seek learnersâ„ ¢ views and value their contribution. This will help them to get better at assessing their own work, which is vital to their becoming independent learners. 3.Frame questions carefully and use prompts such as Would you like to say more about thatâ„ ¢. 4.Pause for a few seconds after questions have been posed or responses have been given, to encourage learners to carefully consider and expand on what they say or have said. 5.Be specific. Avoid generalisations such as There are a lot of inaccuraciesâ„ ¢ and instead focus on individual points which you can discuss with the learners. This will enable them to set their own individual short-term targets with guidance from assessment as evidence. 6.Focus on things learners can change, and avoid overloading them with too much feedback at once. 7.Look for ways forward together. Share ideas and explore solutions rather than always putting forward your own suggestions. 8.Agree what you will both do as a result. This could include agreeing new targets or planning learning opportunities. Feedback is not a one-way process. Invite learners to comment on what you do as well. Using the data from initial and diagnostic assessment For you and the learners Information from the initial and diagnostic assessment process should be used to develop individual learning goals and targets and to inform appropriate teaching and learning strategies and use of resources. It should be recorded in the individual learning plans, session plans and schemes of work. Effective use of assessment data: makes sure that planned learning is grounded in the learnersâ„ ¢ needs and priorities; avoids learners wasting time by going over old ground unnecessarily; and reduces the risk of learners being frustrated by tasks that are beyond them. Data should be shared with all staff supporting the learners so that all learning can be differentiated to take account of their strengths and needs. It is important that where learners are following vocational pathways, vocational and functional skills staff work together to plan learning in response to the findings from initial and diagnostic assessment. This ensures that learners have opportunities to develop functional skills in their vocational context. For managers and the organisation Good initial and diagnostic assessment make a significant contribution to the overall quality of provision by: ensuring that learners are on the right course or programme; maintaining motivation; and improving learnersâ„ ¢ achievement and progression. Your organisation should require you to record assessment results on the Management Information System (MIS). Assessment data should be collated and analysed to ensure that programmes offered are appropriate for learnersâ„ ¢ skills profiles. Key messages from the assessment data relating to particular programmes should be fed back to curriculum teams to inform the development of appropriate teaching and learning strategies, so that all learners are provided with suitable opportunities to develop and progress. How initial and diagnostic assessment fit in with other assessment processes Want to know more To find out more about functional skills: www.qcda.gov.uk For support with functional skills: www.fssupport.org/ Rethinking induction (cross-curricular): http://tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/tlp/xcurricula/index.html Rethinking induction (Engineering): http://tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/tlp/eng/resource/rethinkinginduc/index.html Motivational dialogue: http://tlp.excellencegateway.org.uk/tlp/personalisation/md/resource/#content.php Top tips introduction If you are a manager or teacher with responsibility for teaching and learning, the curriculum or quality assurance, using these booklets will support you in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating high-quality assessment practices for functional skills provision. Just as in other programmes, your assessment practices for functional skills need to align themselves to the needs of learners and to help deliverers to provide the best possible advice and feedback, so that the learners are able to develop English, mathematics and ICT skills and become more aware of their skills and how they select and use these skills to achieve their educational, employment and life goals. Everything we know about good assessment can be transferred to assessing functional skills. In particular, the assessment for learning principles, which encourage learners to take a role in their assessment as a way to develop awareness and independence, are very useful to functional skills managers and practi tioners. This resource allows you to benefit from best practice in assessment using lessons from assessment for learning. The following practical tips can be used to address particular issues or development needs in your organisation. The booklets contain key messages, checklists and flowcharts that can be adapted for a wide range of audiences and purposes, such as staff/team development, working with learners, guidance notes or handouts. The booklets can be used together to support improvement at each stage and type of learner assessment: initial, diagnostic, formative and summative. The Top Tips leaflets listed below offer some practical suggestions for getting the most out of the information and guidance contained in the accompanying booklets. 1.High-quality assessment processes â€Å" guidance for managers 2.Using skills checks 3.Initial and diagnostic assessment 4.Individual learning plans 5.Assessment for learning All the leaflets can be downloaded as Word documents and customised with your own logos and text to suit your individual purposes. Please note that in the resource Being functional, numbers 2, 3 and 5 accompany CPD activity 1: Assessment for learning and numbers 1 and 4 accompany CPD activity 3: Whole organisation approach. Initial and diagnostic assessment Top Tips â€Å" some practical suggestions For staff Use the leaflet as a staff development tool, together with the initial and diagnostic assessment checklist which can be downloaded from: http://sflip.excellencegateway.org.uk/assessment/assessmentresources.aspx Tailor this to your organisation to provide a focus on what is well-developed practice and practice that needs further development. The Feedback from assessmentâ„ ¢ section on page 5 provides an effective checklist for staff involved in assessing learners. This good-practice guidance applies to giving all feedback, and you could use it in staff training â€Å" perhaps using role play. Remember that functional skills focuses on how learners select and apply their skills in context. So ensure that your initial and diagnostic assessments look at how well, how confidently and how independently learners use their skills. Allow them to comment on their confidence and how well they feel they used their skills. For learners The information can be adapted for learners to explain the assessment processes that will happen, often during induction sessions. This will enable you to tailor the information to your own organisationâ„ ¢s assessment processes. For example, the information from page 1 may be adapted to speak directly to the learner: Initial and diagnostic assessment begin the process of getting to know you and working together. Initial assessment happens when you move onto a new learning programme and helps us to build up a picture of you and your skills, interests and achievements ¦ Ask learners to comment on their skills and confidence themselves, allowing you to note their speaking skills and self-awareness while promoting their ownership of their skills and of their learning. For managers You could adapt the Using the data from initial and diagnostic assessmentâ„ ¢ section on page 6 as a memo or notice to staff, particularly at key points during programmes. The information could be used to develop staff practice in effective information sharing and underline the importance of completing and reporting such data in an accurate and timely manner. It can also raise awareness of the importance of this information in enabling managers to make decisions and to monitor systems. The Information Mapping Action Plan, which can be downloaded from http://sflip.excellencegateway.org.uk/assessment/assessmentresources.aspx provides additional resources for identifying who needs what information from assessment processes and why. The visual representation of how initial and diagnostic assessment fit with other assessment processes (page 7) could be adapted to make a poster for display in staff workrooms and resource centres. Information For staff The text of the leaflet or relevant sections e.g. Initial and diagnostic assessment: methods and approachesâ„ ¢ on page 2, could be customised to your particular organisation so that staff involved in assessment have access to up-to-date and focused information about the processes in place. Changes to systems and processes (such as data collection or use of specific tools) can then be made easily and speedily. For learners Information about your vision to ensure a positive experience of assessment for learners could be adapted from the A positive experienceâ„ ¢ section on page 1. This could be used in course brochures and programme information for parents and learners to promote understanding and good practice. This could also be used in learner feedback, allowing you to judge how positive the experience has been for learners. For managers You could adapt information on approaches, tools and data management from the following sections: Initial and diagnostic assessment: methods and approachesâ„ ¢ (page 2); Tools for assessing functional skills/Skills for Life (page 3); and Using the data from initial and diagnostic assessmentâ„ ¢ (page 6). Use these sources to create a brief summary for managers to use with a range of audiences such as governors, inspectorate, programme funders and cross-organisation sharers of information (such as diploma consortia). Used together with information from other leaflets in the series, specifically High-quality assessment processes: guidance for managers, this could provide a comprehensive overview of assessment to support effective practice and disseminate these approaches more widely. Sections on Initial and diagnostic assessment: methods and approachesâ„ ¢(page 2) and Tools for assessing functional skills/Skills for Life (page 3) could be used to develop an audit and review process for assessment materials currently in use in your organisation. This could also include protocol for evaluating potential new materials and methods supported by a reflective cycle (which might include processes support by the IfL: www.ifl.ac.uk/cpd). Examples of key prompts: What Establish key definitions and main priorities. Agree on what this means to you and your organisation and identify both positives and negatives. So what Reflect on why this is important and the impact that it could have, both on your practice and, ultimately, on your learners. Now what Explore opportunities to improve and agree next steps. Record and reflect on the steps as you take them.