LEARNING TO LEARN
intrinsic value in recording formative assessment
(assessment for learning); what matters is that formative
assessment is acted on by the teachers and students.
They suggest schools should eliminate duplication, and
consider whether valid data already exists and how data
can be collected to avoid excessive work to then present
information. Technology obviously has a role to play in
quicker and simpler data collection, and almost real-
time analysis and presentation. Several apps have been
developed to support schools with this. The group argue
teachers should be trusted to know whether their pupils
are on track rather than requiring elaborate assessment,
data generation and recording systems.
Reporting at
Sevenoaks School
Simon Hall, Teacher of Psychology
Within this project, I aimed to undertake a Literature
review of research into best practice concerning
reporting, audit current practice at Sevenoaks, and make
a series of recommendations for the future.
Literature review
Reporting, in this context, is defined as the formal
student reporting sent to parents or guardians at
pre-determined intervals throughout the year. These
formal reports may contain written comments and
grades on effort, achievement and exams from all
teachers of each student. Reporting is also understood
here to encompass what the literature refers to as
‘whole-school data drops’.
In 2014 the Department for Education launched the
Workload Challenge which aimed to reduce ineffective
tasks in the teaching profession. Data management was
identified as a problematic workload area, and the DfE
review group (2016) advised that data collection must
have a clear purpose, be efficient, and should only be
collected to support pupil outcomes. Schools should be
clear a) whether data collection aligns with the school
values and ethos b) what they want measured and why,
and c) what could not be decided without the data.
The review group suggest that while there may be a
reasonable purpose to including summative assessment
data (assessment of learning) in reports, there is no
In John Hattie’s book, Visible Learning, there are no
meta-analyses done directly on the effectiveness of
reporting. There are, however, many points which
are relevant. The first of these is that self-reported
grades have an effect size of d=1.44. Reporting could
potentially have a greater degree of self-assessment
and highlighting of students’ estimates of their
own performance and expectations of success. Low
expectations could then be addressed by teachers.
Self-concept has an effect size of d=0.43 suggesting
that reports which focus on building confidence and
self-efficacy would be effective. Goals has an effect
size of d=0.56 so reports should direct attention to the
relevant behaviours and outcomes and set goals that
are difficult and challenging (ties in with motivation
d=0.48). Parental involvement has an effect size of
d=0.51, but only when the involvement relates to their
aspirations for their child, and not monitoring progress
or supervising homework.
The most talked about effect size in Visible Learning is
for feedback (d=0.73) and reporting is undeniably one
form of feedback.
Hattie (2008) writes extensively about feedback, and
through his meta-analyses highlights that feedback is
most powerful when from the student to the teacher,
underlining what they know and understand, and where
they make errors and misconceptions. Feedback should
indicate what the gaps are in understanding and include
clear guidance on how to fill those gaps. Levels of
feedback include task feedback (acquire more/different/
correct information), process feedback (strategies to
use), self-regulation feedback (“you know how to do
X, so check Y”) and self-feedback (“well done”). Self-
feedback is the least effective form of feedback, and
Hattie reports a negative correlation between extrinsic
rewards such as praise and task performance as they
undermine a student’s intrinsic motivation.
John Hattie further suggests that the most important
part of feedback is that it is acted upon by students and
teachers. This goes against the idea of most reporting
practices in schools which see reports as a one-way
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