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
| Barriers to learning | Within the scope of inclusion, this term is used to refer to difficulties for learners which arise from circumstances. These might include an inappropriate or poorly planned curriculum, a lack of appropriate scaffolding and teacher support, demotivating school experiences, or low status given to learning by family and peer group. |
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| Baseline audit | A means of establishing the starting point for development. Action plans based on some kind of initial self-evaluation, which allow staff and schools to evaluate at the end of a project the extent to which they have achieved success. The Assessment is for Learning Self-assessment Toolkit provides staff with a means of evaluating their current assessment practice. |
| Benchmarking | Setting a standard against which something can be measured. Benchmarking can be used to determine progress made through formative as well as summative assessments. Benchmarking could be, for example, the compilation of a folder of evidence exemplifying a range of levels for use in Assessment of Learning, or comparing current patterns of pupils' attainment with those in previous cohorts or in other schools. |
| Black and Wiliam | Academics at King's College London who carried out the major review of assessment in 1998 and summarised their findings in the booklet entitled 'Inside the Black Box' (King's College London, 1998). |
| Black Box | A metaphor for the classroom, coined by Black and Wiliam and used in the titles of a number of booklets on assessment, each dealing with assessment in different subject contexts. Borrowed from systems engineering, the term describes how inputs, such as pupils, teachers, resources, management processes, parents' expectations, tests and so on, may be transformed into outputs: hopefully knowledge and competence, better test results and teachers' job satisfaction. In the booklet 'Inside the Black Box', Black and Wiliam address the concept of formative assessment and how to make it more effective for learning. |
| Bloom's taxonomy | A hierarchical classification of educational objectives formulated by the American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and his associates. Bloom identified three 'domains' of educational activity in the learning process, in which the cognitive domain controls knowledge and intellect. Based on the premise that cognitive learning occurs on six levels, with comprehension and application at the lower end of the scale, and analysis, synthesis and evaluation at the higher end, specific behaviours were identified and used for writing instructional objectives. These can be used by teachers to structure effective questioning techniques. |
| Bolt-on activity | A well-designed summative assessment should not be a 'bolt-on' activity: it is integral to learning and teaching, in that it aims specifically to test that intended learning has occurred and ideally it will have been planned at the same time as the curriculum was planned. |
| Brainstorming | Also called brainshowering, a means of solving a problem, developing a strategy, or generating ideas by asking individuals or a group to get together and produce as many thoughts on a topic as they can in a short space of time. It works best with larger groups of people in a relaxed environment. A member of the group is usually nominated to summarise or focus ideas on a chalkboard, whiteboard or flipchart. |
PDF File: Assessment is for Learning - Glossary (4.3 MB)