Assessment is for Learning
Glossary
This glossary explains terms used in AifL - Assessment is for Learning. It is not intended to be exhaustive in educational terms, nor does it include an explanation of every word used in the case study extracts. Instead, it seeks to clarify meanings in order to remove potential barriers to understanding and help the reader to appreciate the messages intended more fully.
Keyword search
| Accelerated learning | An approach to learning drawn from a wide range of fields such as neuroscience, psychology, and learning theory. The technique is grounded in an understanding of how learning takes place, rather than what is to be learned. The principle is that with the correct teaching and motivation, and a positive learning environment, learners are able to achieve beyond expectations. |
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| Achievement | Recognises individuals' strengths and progress, and takes into account more than just academic results, including success in activities outwith school. |
| Action plan | Defines and sets out what is needed to take ideas forward. A good action plan includes details of intended outcome, how this might be achieved, the resources that will be needed, and a method of evaluating success. |
| Alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) | A clinical practice that involves strategies or methods of communication which may be used to compensate or support speech and writing, when these are impaired. AAC is a two-way process involving cognition as well as expression. It may involve the use of signing, gesture, picture charts, electronic aids, or more sophisticated computer technology if appropriate. |
| Annotation/notes sheets | These record key points and decisions agreed by staff engaging in a local moderation exercise. They should indicate the learning objective and the nature of and context for the task, and indicate reasons for awarding a particular level or grade. The notes may be included in a folder of evidence, and are especially useful if they indicate next steps in learning and teaching. Annotation/notes sheets, attached to pupils' work, may also form folders exemplifying standards, to be used in future CPD. |
| ASG (Associated Schools Group) | Any group of practitioners collaborating and working across traditional boundaries with the aim of developing professional practice. Groups vary in size and may consist of teachers working across classes or departments within a school or establishment, across a cluster of schools in an area, or even across authorities in a national context. Working as part of the AifL programme, ASGs have received funding from the Scottish Government to take forward action research focused on assessment practices on the three sides of the AifL triangle. |
| ASN (Additional Support Needs) | Under the Additional Support for Learning Act it is the duty of education authorities to give extra help in school to children and young people with additional support needs. They may need this help because they have a difficulty with reading or writing; they may be disabled; or they may have difficult family or other circumstances, which are holding them back in school. Additional support needs can be short-term or long-term. |
| Assessment | The process of evaluating how effectively learning is occurring. This may be undertaken by teachers, by learners, by learners and teachers collaboratively, or by learners in collaboration with one another. A wide range of activities undertaken by teachers and learners can provide information on learning. |
| Attainment | Within the scope of achievement, this relates to the accomplishment of the planned aims of the curriculum, usually in terms of the 5-14 levels of attainment, or Standard Grade / National Qualifications results. |
| Attainment targets | Usually relating to academic rather than more general achievement, the term can be used to describe planned aims of the curriculum at different stages. The term has also been used in the context of school improvement when it refers to expectations of pupil performance. |
| Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) | A continuum of characteristics and disorders displayed by individuals with autism: a lifelong developmental disability affecting the social, communication and imagination skills of individuals. The 'triad' of impairments has different levels of severity and may occur in varying combinations; and there is a wide spectrum of intellectual ability amongst those affected, ranging from people with learning difficulties to those with above average intelligence. There is no known cure; however, early and appropriate intervention can help maximise skills and potential. |
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