Questions interview Catarina Andersson
- Modelling: In this professional development programme, formative assessment was conceived of as a unity of integrated strategies, based on the model of Wiliam and Thompson (2008). A) Did you work with success criteria (performance standards) for each of these strategies? B) If so, how were the success criteria for each key strategy shared with the teachers (as abstract standards and/or through video examples, or in other ways)?
- Prior knowledge activation: All teachers with a year-4 mathematics class could join the intervention. Teachers often have different conceptions of what formative assessment is, and may also have different experiences and knowledge with/of formative assessment already. Did you assess the prior knowledge of the participating teachers? If so, how?
- Monitoring: Each meeting included the following (a) theory of formative assessment and preparing corresponding formative assessment activities, (b) group discussions about how to implement formative assessment activities in their lessons (contributing to the ‘big idea’ of formative assessment), and (c) discussions about the experiences gained during the previous week's implementation. The trainer could monitor and intervene during these discussions with suggestions. A) How was the progress of teachers regarding their progress with respect to formative assessment monitored by the trainer during the meetings? B) Was this monitoring in reference to standards of good formative assessment?
- Differentiation: Teachers may have had different needs and wishes regarding their development. In addition, teachers can have various misconceptions and negative beliefs regarding formative assessment, which can hinder teachers’ positive attitude necessary to improve their teaching practice. A) How did the trainer handle differences in teachers’ prior knowledge/prior experiences and in their progress in terms of the instruction about a new assessment strategy and the feedback on teacher practice? B) Was intervention time spent on developing a positive teacher attitude towards formative assessment
- Retrieval practice: To solidify knowledge and skills, retrieval practice (deliberately stimulating the recall of the training content learned) can be beneficial. A) Was retrieval practice applied in the PDP? B) If so, how and how often ?
- Spaced practice: Another instructional strategy that can be productive when developing a skill is spaced practice ( spreading practice over time). How often were teachers supposed to practice the skills necessary for each strategy?
- Representativeness of tasks: Between meetings, the teachers were supposed to put theory into practice by trying out the formative assessment activities that had been introduced and discussed. How was it ensured that all FA-strategies were learned by all teachers?
- Class feedback: In each session, teachers talked about their experiences regarding the try-out, and were supported in this process by the trainer. A) Did teachers also receive feedback in class on their practice based on observation? B) If so, what kind of feedback did teachers receive? C) Was this in reference to standards of good formative assessment?
- Ratio instruction/practice: There was a total of 144 hours of meetings (per teacher). In addition, each teacher had a total of 72 hours of preparation time between meetings. What is according to you a good estimation of PD received on instruction and PD received on practice?
- Teacher participation rate: We could not find in the publications about whether all teachers remained participating in the program (i.e., the attrition rate). A) Do you have an idea of the participation rate throughout the sessions? B) If teachers dropped-out, were they substituted?
- Study characteristics: We neither could find information in the papers about whether the students in the experimental group and control group were similar in terms of achievement and background characteristics. It is stated in one paper that the socio-economic and cultural backgrounds of the students were diverse. Could you tell us more about the comparability of the two groups of students regarding their achievement and background characteristics?