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.
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| Mean | In a set of test or examination results, the average score, calculated by adding all scores and then dividing the total by the number of participants. |
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| Median | In a set of test or examination results, the score that separates the upper 50 per cent from the lower 50 per cent of participants. |
| Merit stamps | Ink stamps or stickers awarded for effort, progress or success. They sometimes help to motivate otherwise uninterested learners. However, there is compelling evidence to confirm that the strong motivational effect of formative assessment helps pupils to develop confidence in their ability to learn. |
| Metacognition | The process of thinking about thinking, or the recognition on the part of the learner that learning has taken place, or is taking place. It involves understanding and appreciating the factors that make learning possible and one's own strategies and processes of learning. Black and Wiliam stressed that opportunities for self-assessment and reflection are crucial for improving learning and there is a range of research evidence indicating that metacognition tends to be associated with effective learning. |
| MIDYIS (Middle Years Information System) | Tests for forming a baseline for value-added measures in secondary schools. They are designed to be taken at entry to secondary school and are not curriculum-based. They are reported in four scales - vocabulary, maths, non-verbal skills and an overall score. |
| Mind Map® / Mind Mapping | A graphic technique developed by Tony Buzan in the late 1960s to help students learn by creating a visual representation of links between ideas, including the association of new ideas with existing knowledge and experience. This may involve the use of colour and images, as well as key words/phrases. |
| Mode | In a set of test or examination results, the particular score achieved by the largest number of participants. |
| Modelling | An analytic technique that involves demonstrating or representing something, or an activity, emphasising the stages of the process and the standard of work expected. |
| Moderation | The process of establishing comparability standards, in order to ensure that assessment is valid and reliable. In schools it involves groups of teachers looking at examples of work, discussing the extent to which these meet the expected standard and coming to agreement on the Level of attainment represented by each example. The group may be staff from different groups within an establishment or departments, from different schools or across authorities. The AifL programme has promoted collaborative communities of enquiry through staff working together in associated schools groups (ASGs). |
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