Using formative assessment to improve teaching and learning

Darren Cooper has worked in education and assessment for more than twelve years.

He currently works on the development, production and operation of assessments for a range of high-stakes projects, such as national testing for Wales. He draws on his experience in developing a range of Ofqual regulated qualifications and assessments including diplomas and degree pathways in Computing and Cyber Security.

Priya Dutta has worked in education for over twenty years.

She provides assessment research and development services for clients across the project lifecycle. She draws on her experience as a deputy head and teacher, her background in academic publishing, and as a board member of the e-Assessment Association to bring practical insight into assessment, learning and the use of technology, including AI, in education.

Why choose AQA Global for your assessment training?

Schools need training they can trust. AQA Global combines the experience of the UK’s leading exam board, with expertise from across the AQA group. This course is delivered by our assessment experts and gives practical, classroom-relevant guidance.

The course content is grounded in key areas of assessment, from international best practice, including the use of formative assessment, assessment design, question types, feedback, and the use of assessment information to inform teaching.

You will get training that is:

• practical: focused on approaches teachers can apply in school. Including writing good assessment items, monitoring trends, and adapting learning to meet the needs of all students
• relevant: designed specifically for teachers across the Middle East, and not tied to one exam board
• expert-led: based on established assessment principles and real assessment practice
• useful beyond the course: designed to help teachers reflect on their own assessment approach and improve it over time.

Dealing with formative assessment challenges

Schools need assessments to do more than generate marks. Teachers need assessments that help them check understanding, identify gaps in knowledge and skills, and decide which gaps in understanding need to be addressed.

Formative assessment helps teachers and learners identify what the learner knows and can do. The results should be used to inform teaching and learning, so they assessments need to be valid and reliable.

This course helps you to address common challenges, including:

• using formative assessment consistently across classes
• choosing the right question type for the learning goal
• writing assessment tasks that are clear and fit for purpose
• giving feedback that learners can understand and act on
• using assessment evidence to identify strengths, weaknesses and next steps
• balancing quality, reliability and classroom manageability in assessment design.

We know that student progression is a priority. This course will help you to measure achievement consistently against curriculum standards and international benchmarks.

The course materials focus on using formative assessment to shape teaching, creating assessments that give useful evidence of learner performance, and using assessment data to identify strengths and weaknesses and inform support for learners.

Outcomes

The course is designed for all teachers and school leaders across the Middle East region who recognise that student progression is central to improving outcomes. It will help participants understand how formative assessment can be used to shape teaching practice and support learners in improving their performance.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• use formative assessment to shape teaching and support learner progress
• recognise what good assessment design looks like
• choose suitable question types for different purposes
• design valid and meaningful assessments
• write clearer assessment tasks and mark schemes
• give more useful feedback
• use assessment information to improve classroom practice and support learners more effectively.