What is assessment?

Assessment is a process/method used to measure a hidden trait – the knowledge, skills, attitudes or values that we want to learners to have. Assessment is important because it gives a teacher a vocabulary with which to describe their classroom.

What is assessment in the context of Schools2030

Assessment plays a key role across the three stages of the Schools2030 cycle. During the assess phase, assessment results are part of the Human Centred Design (HCD) process to define learning outcomes and determine learning levels to help teachers design prototypes for their classroom-based micro-innovations.

Assessments play a role across all stages of the Schools2030 Assess, Innovate, Showcase cycle

Teacher Implemented Tools

Standardised assessment tools developed at the national level and implemented by teachers at the beginning and end of each year

Teacher Generated Tools

Teachers generate their own formative assessments approaches to track and iterate their classroom solution

Teachers are supported by an assessment toolkit consisting of qualitative and quantitative tools developed for their context by national assessment partners, with support from three global assessment partners.

The toolkits include validated and reliable quantitative tools, national assessment instruments, vignettes, stimulus materials, tools for assessment within an integrated curriculum and teacher generated assessments. Teachers can use or build on items from their toolkits to assess learning outcomes.

During the innovate phase, teachers move through a four-stage cycle of design, test, reflect and iterate to create micro-innovations that address the learning needs of their classroom. Formative assessment tools play a key role in supporting this cycle by allowing teachers to continually test student learning levels and to iterate innovations accordingly.

At the showcase phase, end of year assessment results are used to demonstrate the impact of classroom innovations at national and global forums and to inspire systems-level change for improving quality learning at scale.

Architecture
of the Schools 2030 assessment work

The Schools2030 programme is a dynamic partnership between actors at the global, national and local levels. Overall, all Schools2030 assessment work is coordinated by the Global Learning Assessment Coordinating Partner (GLACP). Two additional Global Assessment Partners (GAPs) support national teams on the development of the early years assessment instruments and National Assessment Partners (NAPs) work in each Schools2030 country. This partnership
is at the heart of how assessments will be developed.

The Schools2030 programme has been designed based on the belief that for assessments to achieve their purpose they need to represent the realities and contexts of those who will be assessed, and those who will use the results of the assessments.
This means that teachers and schools have a key role to play, both in setting priorities for what is to be measured, and in delivering and analysing the results of assessment.

Global partners

Provide guidance, review tools, synthesise data, and facilitate learning across countries.
For pre-school, global partners develop tools to be adapted by national partners.

National partners

In each of the ten schools2030 countries facilitate the selection of domains, develop tools to measure the selected domains, and support teachers with implementing assessments.

Teachers and schools

Contribute to the selection of learning domains, implement assessment tools, and work with national partners to develop their own approaches to formative assessment.

Global partners

Provide guidance, review tools, synthesise data, and facilitate learning across countries.
For pre-school, global partners develop tools to be adapted by national partners.

National partners

In each of the ten schools2030 countries facilitate the selection of domains, develop tools to measure the selected domains, and support teachers with implementing assessments.

Teachers and schools

Contribute to the selection of learning domains, implement assessment tools, and work with national partners to develop their own approaches to formative assessment.

The architecture of the Schools2030 work has been designed to support the development of contextually driven assessment tools. Based on the domains chosen in each country, (1) NAPs work iteratively with the GLACP and GAPs to develop a set of tools to be used at the beginning and end of each school year (teacher implemented tools) and (2) NAPs, supported by GAPs, work with teachers to develop approaches to formative assessment during each year (teacher generated approaches).

Principles underpinning the approach to assessment

The overarching principles of the Schools2030 approach to assessment are aligned with the principles of the Schools2030 theoretical framework. Schools2030 assessment work is:

Collaborative and bottom up:

All assessments are co-developed by national actors who iterate with teachers so local stakeholders are central to developing and implementing assessments.

Driven by context and classroom realities, with support from global partners:

All assessments are codeveloped by national actors who iterate with teachers and local stakeholders. All assessments are born out of the contexts in which Schools2030 is operating in each country. Global assessment partners provide support by bringing international assessment best-practice to the process and building national assessment capacity.

Open source and publicly available:

All guidance materials, items, tools and their associated data will be open source to contribute to global public assessment goods.

What assessment products and tools will be generated by Schools2030 over the next year

The Global Learning Assessment Coordinating Partner (Oxford MeasurEd) works with National Assessment Partners and national teams to understand the types of guidance materials on assessment most needed across contexts. Guidance tools and materials are then developed and shared with national partners.

As teachers, NAPs and GAPs work iteratively to develop and/or adapt assessment items and tools, all new items that are created through this process will be made publicly available in an item bank.

In addition, the data collected will be shared within the partnership to continue the iterative assessment development process over the next ten years. The data will be used to respond to emergent research questions that arise in the years ahead.

Global public goods will be showcased on the national and global level. The uptake and use of these global goods will be supported by the range of Schools2030 partners. The lessons learned through using these global goods will also be amplified/showcased to the global stage.

Teacher Implemented Tools

The standardised assessment tools used at the beginning and end of the year focus on all five learning domains chosen for that age group

These will be developed by assessment partners in each country, supported by a global assessment partner

Teacher Developed Tools

The formative assessment tools developed by teachers to track their solutions during the year will only focus on the domains relevant to their solution

Support will be provided to teachers by the National Assessment Partners to adapt or develop their own assessment approaches

Step ONE:
ASSESS

Step two:
Innovate

Step Three:
Showcase