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Equally important in enabling students to achieve is that the criteria are flexible and broad enough
to assess every student in a meaningful way. Set criteria – or help your students to choose criteria
– that not only enable them to succeed and progress, but will also involve them having to struggle
to get there.
Assessment mode
When planning assessments, try to strike a balance between covering a full range of assessments
that will help to prepare students for the future and enabling them to follow their preferences and
show their skills and understanding in the best light. Cover all relevant assessment modes over
time, but also differentiate regularly by allowing choice of assessment mode so that students can
work in ways that will motivate them and thus maximize their learning.
Try this! Ipsative Assessment
Develop in your students the use of ipsative assessment, i.e. measuring their current performance
not against grades, average or their peers but against their own prior performance. How much
progress have they made in their learning during the lesson, during the last week or during the last
half-term?
Take it a step further by asking them to consider their potential performance – how they can make
further progress in the next lesson, week or half-term? How much do they think they could
improve?
Try this! Self-assessment and independence
Use self-assessment to give students some responsibility for differentiating their own learning.
Provide a bank of resources that will support improvement from one level to the next in each
assessment focus.
Examples of such self-assessments include on-line exercises using Edmodo app or multiple-choice
questions with suggested answer scheme and explanations provided.
Try this! Inviting Feedback
To check that the balance is right for your students, ask them to provide feedback when they have
completed an assessment.
Occasionally, invite students to ask questions about the current work, about their progress or about
any aspect of their learning where they feel unsure. Use their responses to refine your
differentiation in the coming lessons.
Encourage students to reflect more on their progress with just two questions:
1. What could you do to improve your learning?
2. What could I do that would help you to improve your learning?