Summative assessment

Adult Literacy and Numeracy (ALN) Curriculum Framework for Scotlandpart2

Part Two: Practice

3.7 Summative assessment, review and evaluation

Summative assessment

Summative assessment is intended to show that learners have met their learning goals or completed a course of study and reached a certain standard of performance. Where the learner and tutor have been regularly reviewing progress against the learning goals, summative assessment will normally be a natural culmination of the learning process, rather than a separate "event".  Learner and tutor will agree - based on work produced by the learner - that the learning goals have now been met.

Even where the learner is aiming for certification, summative assessment may simply be a process in which the tutor reviews a portfolio of work produced by the learner to confirm that it meets the required learning outcomes. This would be the case for Core Skills Communication assessment, for example.

This opens up certain possibilities for learners who may not have wanted to seek certification at the outset of their learning programme but subsequently develop an interest in the idea.  In Appendices 6 and 7, there are examples of literacy and numeracy tasks completed by learners following an uncertificated learning programme that have been subsequently assessed against the Core Skills framework.

Many learners are interested solely in their own learning goals and regard certification as unnecessary. However, access to certification should be open to all those who want it at whatever stage they make that decision. The development in Scotland of a set of progress indicators supported by an extensive programme of staff development would enable tutors to help learners assess themselves against Core Skills outcomes and to consider whether they wished to present their work for certification.

Two FE colleges working together have developed a model of provision which aims to improve the assessing of three of the Core Skills ? Communication, Numeracy and IT - using the learners' full-time course as a source of evidence for assessments. The Core Skills specialists teach learners the underpinning knowledge of the Core Skills. Learners then gather evidence, in the form of a portfolio, from the work undertaken in the course units. The agreed assessment instruments can then be used in the context of the full-time course.
 
A learner on an NC Health Care course gives an oral presentation on a health promotion scheme; this is assessed in terms of oral communication; the written version is also assessed for communication; the written version is word processed to fulfil one of the IT assessments. Costing the health promotion scheme can provide assessment evidence for numeracy.
 
Learners on a jewellery production course present their designs to a panel (made up of fellow learners) for selection of the artefact for an exhibition. This covers oral communication (both individual and group). A written version of the presentation can cover written communication and IT assessments. Costing the making of the product can evidence numeracy.
 
The advantage of this method is that it gives more control of the assessment evidence to the learner. It also lessens the assessment load and promotes the core skills of communication, numeracy and IT by making the learners more aware of the transferability of these skills.

Exit reviews

Good exit reviewing offers learners an opportunity to leave provision with new goals and knowing where and how they can work towards them. If there is time, visits, open days and speakers might provide further information and boost the learner’s confidence to take the next steps. Recording these suggestions and contact details in their ILP creates a useful reference document for them for whenever they choose to take these steps.

M, a home help with the Council Social Work Department was coming to the end of a fifteen-week Starting Points workplace literacy course. In that group she had worked on the sort of writing and numeracy she needs for her work as well as researching dementia (a common problem for her clients). Doing this she had achieved SQA Core Skills Communication at Intermediate1. However, M told her tutor at their exit interview, she did not want to stop there. 
 
She knew she had to get her SVQ2 Care for her work with the council and wanted to find out how she could do this in work time. Starting Points had also introduced her to writing and researching with the computer and she wanted to go on with this. Finally, reading continued to frustrate M so she wanted advice on dyslexia- testing.
 
In response, the tutor invited the Social Work trainer to join the group to talk about the selection procedures for the work-based SVQ (an issue for them all) and give out information and application forms. M and the tutor studied the community information leaflet and found an evening "Computing for the Terrified" course at a community centre near her. The tutor made contact with the local college which provides SVQs and got details of the Student Support’s dyslexia services. All these details were noted on the "Next Steps" part of the ILP together with the provider’s own contact details. As M said, this was "Just in case!".

Moving on

Reviews should develop learners' confidence in transferring their learning to new roles and contexts by fostering a lifelong learning approach.  If learners wish to go on to do more learning it is also important that they know about the links with other learning opportunities and that there are good pathways for them that make the transfer easy.

Moving on might mean a variety of things:

  • moving  to a new learning environment in a different sector, to an FE course perhaps, or a family literacy group
  • moving from a formal learning environment to maintaining and using literacies in a community or activist group
  • moving the focus or domain of learning, for instance from the private to workplace learning by undertaking training at work
  • changing the mode of learning from one-to-one to a group or to self-study
  • moving from a dedicated literacies group to integrated literacies, using literacies in pursuit of other learning.  Or, vice versa, attending a dedicated literacies group to work on some particular  skill or knowledge
  • choosing to spend time acquiring accreditation for learning or exploring other options with, say, Careers Scotland or on an Options and Choices course
  • moving on to working on new (to them) forms of literacies like IT, numeracy, texting or multimedia.

Roll-on roll-off literacy provision has been common in Scotland.  This provides easy and prompt access for many learners but it can also allow them to stay, unchallenged, in long-term provision. Exit reviews that focus on outcomes can challenge long-term learners to move on with their learning.

Using ILPs to challenge learners
 
One provider carries out reviews with learners who have been attending for over two years. They discuss and record what they have been learning as for any ongoing review. But crucially they also talk about changes the learner can identify in the way they are using or wish to use literacies in their lives as a result of their learning. If they can identify no changes and appear to have no further learning goals, then the tutor will suggest that the learner's literacies learning might be complete for the moment. This suggestion is accompanied by an offer of opportunities for further literacies learning in future if the learner's circumstances change. Researching and recording   other appropriate opportunities become the focus of the final "Moving on" sessions.

Evaluation

The provider will also want to ask the learner's views on the provision.  For instance in the workplace provision they may want to discuss:

  • the appropriateness of the timing, venue and length of the course
  • their experience of the  arrangements for recruitment and release for the course
  • how a learner would describe the course to their workmates and what changes they would suggest
  • what they want to fed back to their employers and others about their learning.

College and community providers will have similar issues to discuss with their learners and will, no doubt, want to involve them in their organisation's quality and self-evaluation processes for the partnership.

When learners want to move on, their progress is documented in a "Moving On" form. This form documents positive changes, distance travelled and continuing learning and support needs. Using this, a learner can speak for him- or herself to a prospective college tutor or employer.

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