Questions interview Corinne Settle
1. Modelling: The programme is based on the five key strategies proposed by Dylan Wiliam. In the evaluation report on EFA, we read that each session started with learning intentions. Did you work with success criteria (performance standards) for each key strategy? If yes, How were the success criteria for each key strategy shared with the teachers (in terms of abstract standards and/or through video examples, or in other ways)?
2. Prior knowledge activation: Teachers with different subjects and different teaching experience could participate in the programme. Teachers often have different conceptions of what formative assessment is, and may also have different experiences with formative assessment. Did you assess the prior knowledge of the participating teachers? If yes, how?
3. Monitoring: How was the progress of teachers regarding formative assessment monitored by the teacher leader and/or others during the meeting? Was the monitoring conducted in reference to the standards of good formative assessment?
4. Differentiation: Teachers may have had different needs and wishes regarding the development of formative assessment. How did teacher leaders handle potential differences between teachers in prior knowledge and progress regarding formative assessment?
5. Retrieval practice: To solidify knowledge and skills, retrieval practice (deliberately recalling information) is beneficial. Was retrieval practice applied in the EFA programme? If yes, how often was this strategy applied?
6. Spaced practice: Another strategy that can be beneficial when developing a skill is spaced practice, which is spreading practice over time. How often were teachers asked to practice skills necessary for each key strategy?
7. Ratio instruction/practice: There was a total of 22.5 to 27 hours of meetings per teacher. In addition, each teacher had a total of 22 hours of preparation time between meetings (including preparing, observing a lesson of a peer, lesson and giving feedback to a peer). Is this a good estimation of the time of TPD received on instruction and on practice?
8. Representativeness of tasks: Teachers could decide for themselves what they wanted to focus on between sessions. How was it ensured that all FA strategies were learned by all teachers?
9. Class feedback: Teachers observed each other once between meetings for 35 minutes based on a feedback sheet. What did the feedback sheet look like (was it in reference to the established standards)?
10. Evaluation: We read that the pre-test took place in the summer of 2012, while the intervention started in 2015. What was the reason for this gap in time?
11. Teacher participation rate: We could not find info in the report about whether all teachers continued participating throughout the program. do you have an idea of the participation rate throughout the sessions? And, if teachers dropped-out, were they substituted? Do you have an idea of the number of teachers that dropped out and were replaced (or not)?