Reframing Assessment 1: The Delphic Approach

'Formative assessment cannot be fully understood except within the context of a theory of pedagogy.' 

Wiliam and Black, 2018

A growing hot topic of conversation in Welsh Edu-spheres is that of assessment. Now that, in our Curriculum for Wales journeys, we are becoming more confident in our curriculum design and understanding the what and why behind the content we teach, our lens has shifted to focus on progression. What should we assess? How? And why? Should we stick with what we have always done, or look at this as an opportunity to reframe our thinking when it comes to assessment? For me, I think this a great 'reset' opportunity in schools: to remind ourselves what assessment is for, and what it should do for us. 

The first 'tier' of assessment that I discuss when considering assessment is what I call the Delphic approach. Named after the famous ancient oracle, the purpose of this assessment approach is to anticipate successes and misunderstandings from learners, and to engage in learning conversation with them over the course of a lesson to elicit as much information about their thinking as possible. This is made possible through careful task design choice, confident management of the learning environment and finely honed questioning. 

But wait - does this even count as 'assessment'? No discernable data to put in a spreadsheet beyond a RAG rating, no tests being handed out...surely this can't be given that title? Surely this is just teaching?

Despite the relatively scant literature until recent years, assessment and pedagogy are intrinsically linked. In his 2004 paper Still no pedagogy? Principle, pragmatism and compliance in primary education, Alexander defines pedagogy as, 'the act and discourse of teaching', thereby explicitly including curriculum and assessment (Alexander in Black and Wiliam, 2018). A clear understanding of this relationship is key: curriculum defines the content, while pedagogy determines the most effective methods of instruction. Beyond this, pedagogical theory (cognitive science, memory and retention, learning strategies etc.) help to determine pacing, sequencing and development of a fully fledged curriculum, and regular, effective assessment strategies ensure that learners are matching the pace set. Assessment determines if we need to expand on, deviate or reinforce our curriculum intentions, and effective pedagogical knowledge ensures that the assessments are as valid as context allows. The reciprocal relationship between these areas cannot be ignored, and to maximise learning in the classroom they should be embraced and utilised as such.

Using pedagogical strategies as an assessment approach allows for near constant low stakes testing: 'taking the temperature' of the room and identifying sticking points. All of us do this without even thinking about it, as it constitutes good teaching in many respects. If we consider, then, that, 'an assessment is, at its heart, a procedure for making inferences: 'One validates, not a test, but an interpretation of data arising from a specified procedure' (Cronbach (1971) in Black and Wiliam 2018), we see that we are assessing by nature. Formalising this in a departmental or whole school strategy is another matter.

 Put simply, the accountability model we have operated under for a number of years has led to changes in our teaching behaviour. This 'washback' effect (Baird, Andrich, Hopfenbeck & Stobart 2017) means we ultimately teach to the test, to the detriment of quality formative feedback and learning-centric process. This high stakes testing mentality transfers to our learners, and we get the timeless question of 'miss, but is this in the test?', where learners prioritise test content and consider the test as the end goal, rather than the test being a measure of wider proficiency. The advent of a new curriculum model allows us to reset this narrative and to bring learning back to the centre of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. 

The Delphic approach is designed to do that. Backed by extensive evidence, it reminds us that assessment doesn't have to be extensive, solely written with written feedback, or a discrete lesson or task. Rather, it can be a near constant state in our classrooms. If we reframe our thinking to this, we can try to use pedagogy and assessment principles and apply them to our curriculum:

- Am I priming learners for success wherever possible?

- Have I made the learning intention clear so the learners know what we are aiming for? 

- Have I carefully designed my lesson tasks to build on each other, providing opportunity for teacher-learner dialogue that can check for understanding?

- Have I thought about my questioning carefully, considering differentiated need and challenge? (upgrading and refining your questioning practice, in my opinion, is one of the most transformative changes you can make to your teaching)

- Have I designed tasks and questions so I can easily identify misconceptions, issues and challenges at a granular level?

This approach exemplifies the symbiotic relationship of curriculum, assessment and pedagogy, because it is providing key assessment information regularly to the practitioner through carefully considered pedagogy and carefully sequenced and stepped curriculum and task design.

My one page guide to the Delphic approach is below, along with links to a few lessons which adopt some Delphic strategies in their design. These resources are not enough on their own, though. Extensive thought about questioning is just as valuable as the other task design. In addition, knowing your lesson content well enough to skillfully bring erroneous answers and comments back to the central intention is key (Berliner 1994).

I hope this provides some clarity and a starting point for those wishing to embed assessment as a constant in their classrooms. I've linked some resources I found useful below. Thanks for stopping by!

'What ultimately counts is the extent to which instruction requires students to think, not just to report someone else's thinking'

(Nystrand, Gamoran, Kachur, & Prendergast, 1997)

•Effective approaches to assessment that improve teaching and learning: ESTYN Guidance (October 2022)

• Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2018). Classroom assessment and pedagogy. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 25, 551 - 575.

 •Wynne Harlen (2005) Teachers' summative practices and assessment for learning – tensions and synergies, Curriculum Journal 16:2, 207-223 • 

What's changing in assessment? - Hwb (gov.wales) Curriculum for Wales Guidance (2022) 

•Jones, Kate (2021) Wiliam and Leahy's Five Formative Assessment Strategies in Action 

•Jo-Anne Baird, David Andrich, Therese N. Hopfenbeck & Gordon Stobart (2017) Assessment and learning: fields apart?, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 24:3, 317-350, DOI: 10.1080/0969594X.2017.1319337 

•Christodolou, Daisy (2017). Making Good Progress?: The Future of Assessment for Learning. Oxford University Press •Teacher_Feedback_to_Improve_Pupil_Learning.pdf (d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net) EEF Feedback Guidance Report (2021) 

•Wiliam and Black (1998), Inside the Black Box. King's College London 

 •Wiliam, Black, Harrison, Lee and Marshall (2002), Working Inside the Black Box. King's College London

 •Wiliam, Dylan (2014) Principled Assessment Design SSAT 

•Sherrington, Tom (2019). Rosenshine's Principles in Action. John Catt Educational Publishing 

•Chiles, Michael (2020). The CRAFT of Assessment. John Catt Educational Publishing 

• Robin Alexander (2004) Still no pedagogy? principle, pragmatism and compliance in primary education, Cambridge Journal of Education, 34:1, 7-33, DOI: 10.1080/0305764042000183106

•Donarski, Sarah and Bennett, Tom [Ed.] (2020) The ResearchED Guide to Assessment. John Catt Educational Publishing 

•Didau, David on Assessing English at KS3 Assessing English at KS3 – David Didau (learningspy.co.uk) 

•Andy @codexterous on whole class feedback strategies Defining Excellence: How I Use Whole Class Feedback – codexterous (home.blog)