Challenge:
Formative Assessment

Developing the following skills:

TYPES OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
Use the different kinds of assessment precisely to measure students’ intended learning.

FUNCTIONS OF ASSESSMENT
Use the information obtained in the assessment to make decisions to improve the education process, students’ results and, if appropriate, families’ involvement.

ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Design, select and apply the suitable tools and techniques to obtain evidence of each student’s learning, for the purpose of giving precise opinions and taking decisions on the education processes.

Introduction:

The Training Assessment or authentic assessment is what is done throughout the education process to know what students have learnt. It is also a tool that enables critical reflection on the effectiveness of each of the elements of this process (objectives, content, learning activities, methodologies used, nature and validity of the assessment techniques used) to give feedback and suitably redirect the education process when it is necessary to improve it.

Through the Training Assessment Challenge you will learn to verify the level at which your students attain the planned objectives, beyond the results and marks shown in the report card provided by the centre.

Using marks as the only measure of the results of students’ learning has some consequences that can be counter-productive for learning. We know that the teacher’s intervention in the classroom is not neutral. It is well known that we interact more and do so in a more positive way with students we consider outstanding than with those who seem to be left behind in terms of the acquisition of learning. Another important effect is that of the marks on students’ formation of their own self-esteem and their professional and personal expectations. When these do not fit with what is expected of them as a student, there is a loss of confidence in their potential.

Hence the unavoidable need to promote education assessment through systematic observation of students, offering suitable information to the student and their family to obtain their commitment and involvement, as well as providing relevant information for the systematic improvement of the education process.

In short, the idea is to understand the assessment process less as the certification of irreversible achievements and more as a tool at the service of teachers and students. At the service of teachers because it has to offer them critical information as feedback on the education process in order to improve it. At the service of students because it has to let them know, as closely as possible, where they are on the path to achieving the education objectives.

Competency objectives:

The Training Assessment Challenge enables:

• Verification of the extent your students attain their planned learning objectives, beyond the result of the academic assessment.
• Strategies to be designed for systematic observation of students through the learning process.
• The creation of records that allow the evolution of each one’s learning to be followed, to know the learning they do.
• Use of the assessment as a critical tool for each of the elements of this education process (objectives, content, learning activities, methodologies used, nature and validity of the assessment techniques used) to redirect the education process to improve it.
• Assessment to be designed as a process for collecting information on students’ progress.
• Assessment to be understood as a process for improvement.

Methodology:

Through a personalised self-analysis, we will analyse and propose the course that best suits you, to first work on the skills you need most to develop your teaching competencies following your chosen Challenge.

We will propose:

• Practical case studies and different scenarios of educational practice
• Theory relating to the subject matter
• Proposal for application in your classroom or work environment
• Simulation
• Self-assessment
• Indications, suggestions and examples to implement real practice, gather evidence and share it with other colleagues.

Peer-to-peer tutoring:

TeachersPro is designed to develop teaching skills and competencies through interaction with other peers, expanding professional criteria through effective studying and sharing of practical situations in diverse contexts.

Our great commitment is that you can share your acquired knowledge and learning with the TeachersPro community comprising colleagues from different parts of the world, that you see yourself as a potential tutor for other teachers, and other participants as potential tutors for your own training.

You can ask for help through the TeachersPro community, as well as sharing your ideas and evidence of your practice, creating an exchange of knowledge that benefits everyone.

Personalised tutoring:

If needed, you can always turn to our team of expert tutors to give you constructive and rigorous feedback on your own evidence. You can sign up for this service on the Platform whenever you need it.

Community:

You will also have the chance to review the portfolios of other teachers with whom you share common interests and share evidence of your work on the TeachersPro Platform.

Certification:

TeachersPro certifies the knowledge you acquire through a badge system. If you wish, at the end of each Learning Challenge you can obtain a professional teaching certificate for the competency you have completed through a specific tutor, and recognition from Finland University (the most important consortium of public universities in Finland).