What and Why?
We can think of assessment in two main ways. The first is 'assessment of learning' which gives pupils a mark or grade in a test or a piece of work during the term which forms part of their final grade.
The second is 'assessment for learning' which takes place during the lesson. As you go round the class monitoring, helping and observing the pupils working, you will be able to see which pupils are having difficulty with certain parts of the lesson. Perhaps one child is struggling to spell some words or another hasn't grasped the new language point.
Practical ideas
- Assessment for learning: When you are preparing a lesson, think ahead to what may be difficult for some children. For example, perhaps some of them won't be able to do your planned writing task very well. Have ready an alternative support exercise or a different strategy for pupils who may struggle. You could put these pupils in one group and give them some extra help while others work on something else.
Make a note of which pupil struggles with which aspect of language learning. This will make it easier for you to have ready alternative strategies or teaching ideas.
Find out from other subject teachers whether the pupils have similar problems in their classes and work on a way of developing a collegial strategy.
- Assessment of learning: Most schools will require grades at the end of each term, semester or year to show pupils' progress. If possible, try to give grades for a range of different activities so that pupils have an opportunity to show their strengths. One pupil may be very good at acting out dialogues, for example, but much weaker at the traditional 'filling in the gap' type of test.
Give grades throughout the semester, so the assessment of learning can become included in the assessment for learning.
Make sure the pupils know what the test is testing: language, skills or understanding of the topic area.
Try to give some tests which test understanding as well as responding. Perhaps one part of the test could ask the pupils to produce questions about a text, rather than answers.
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