Book shelf: Making Good Progress? The future of Assessment for Learning
Book review
Making Good Progress? The future of Assessment for Learning – Daisy Christodoulou
This is a fascinating read, which I recommend every middle and more senior leader should read!
Starting with its forward by Dylan Wiliam the book sets out its tone; grounded in reflective practice and research.
Smartly structured chapters lead the reader through a review of what we do, how we do it and then how my can improve.
Retrieval practice shout out
Chapter 2 covers retrieval practice and the way learners use longterm / working memory to solve problems and the importance of thinking these through when designing the curriculum .
The book also makes good reference to staples of research in this field too, namely Inside the Black Box by Wiliam and Black (’98)
Stand out elements for me are the books coverage of descriptor and exam-based assessment, there is even a wonderfully useful chapter covering ‘life after levels’ and examines/discusses models for progression. “little work has been done here to effectively create a working model for assessment in the ‘life after levels’ world” one Headteacher recently told me < worrying, I’ll perhaps send them a copy of this book!
There is also a wonderful section in this chapter (6) which looks at research from high-performing educational systems where the subject text book is still king! < Making for a thought provoking pause point.
Build up to impact
The book leads the reader through research and reflection to improvements that can be made to assessment systems and it is in chapters 7-9 that readers will most likely go crazy with their highlighters!
Review
Five stars ! 5/5 – A solid research based book that’s a must for anyone involved in designing the assessment process of a school. Read with your notebook handy and highlighters to hand!
Grab a copy here: https://amzn.to/2Xnrz8X
