THE WHY OF DATA AND ASSESSMENT
BY : MATTHEW SAVAGE
3 . Are we putting fuel on the performativity fire ?
I am sure we would all agree that schools should encourage and foster a # growthmindset and encourage the individual pursuit of a ‘ personal best ’. However , an inaccurate application of Dweck ’ s theory , and a relentless expectation that we all perform at all times , is anathema to the # wellbeingfirst school . I believe that we should all be permitted , and permit ourselves , to believe that # iamenough . If a performative school culture and climate is a breeding ground for stress and anxiety , how do you actively seek to temper and avoid this ?
4 . Do we measure wellbeing ?
“‘ Why ?' is always the most difficult question to answer .” ~ Douglas Adams
As we begin a new academic year still burgeoning with possibility and bursting with unwritten pages , I want to encourage schools to reflect on their data , assessment policy , and practice . I invite you to ask yourselves the following questions by auditing what you do and , crucially , why you do it .
1 . What is success ?
What does ‘ success ’ mean to your school , and does it mean the same thing to every member of your community ? Too often , what a board regards to be ‘ successful ’ is poles apart from a Primary pupil ’ s interpretation when they talk about success . The version of success depicted in a school ’ s Guiding Statements is a world away from that lived and breathed within the classroom itself . And if we all disagree on what it means to achieve success , how can we assess it ?
2 . Does our assessment strategy wrestle with # deij ?
Does every child in your school , regardless of their identities and characteristics , have equal access to regular and visible success ? A school whose approach to assessment does not intersect strongly with its efforts to advance and celebrate diversity , equity , inclusion and justice will be a school where achievement is inequitable and exclusive . However , suppose we use all available data to highlight and address in-school variation in all its forms and wherever it lies . In that case , assessment can actually drive # deij , and I believe that is exactly what it should do .
If we accept that we need to put Maslow before Bloom , and believe that , first and foremost , we need to feel happy and safe in order to learn , then we need to measure what matters most . Schools across the world are exploring my ‘ Wellbeing Data Wheel ’ as a means to collect and use a rich jigsaw of wellbeing data on every single learner . And yet too many schools shine their assessment spotlight too brightly on attainment instead . Do you prioritise the assessment of wellbeing over the assessment of anything and everything else ?
5 . Do our students fear assessment ?
In my experience , too many children and young people feel that assessment is something that is done to them . However much we try to dress the summative in the guise of the formative , too many learners can fear the assessment we practise . If we go back to the principles of formative assessment and optimise and diversify feedback so that it is the fire in which learning is forged , students can engage with it as equals and as friends . In fact , assessment can become a force not of oppression but of liberation .
08 Term 1 Sep - Dec 2022
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