Prof. Icy Lee
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Implementing Assessment as Learning in Hong Kong Writing Classrooms
English language education has in recent years witnessed a paradigm shift from assessment of learning (AoL), which emphasizes the use of assessment information for certification and reporting purposes, to assessment for learning (AfL), which highlights the use of assessment information to improve students’ learning and teachers’ instruction (Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, & William, 2003; Black & Wiliam, 1998; 2009). While the teacher plays a dominant role in AoL, central to AfL is the role of the students, alongside that of the teacher and peers (Klenowski, 2009). During AfL teachers implement AfL strategies (e.g. clarifying learning goals and success criteria) and pass them on to students so that students engage with similar AfL practices to help themselves and their peers develop into self-regulated, self-monitoring, and autonomous learners. Such a student-centred dimension of AfL is referred to as assessment as learning (AaL), which emphasizes using assessment “as a process of developing and supporting meta-cognition for students” (Earl, 2013, p.3), as well as “the role of the student as the critical connector between assessment and their own learning” (Earl, 2013, p.3).
In Hong Kong writing classrooms, despite a growing interest in AfL in recent years, assessment still tends to focus on its summative functions more than its formative potential. AaL, that is, using assessment to promote students’ self-regulation in the writing classroom, has received scant attention. This presentation reports the findings of a study that investigates the implementation of AaL in four Hong Kong writing classrooms (two primary and two secondary). The purpose of the study is four-fold: (1) to explore how teachers implement AaL in the writing classroom; (2) to examine teachers’ development of writing assessment literacy through their attempts to implement AaL; (3) to find out the effects of AaL on student learning in the writing classroom, especially with regard to their ability to take charge of their own learning; (4) to investigate the challenges teachers face and the support they need in their attempts to implement AaL in the writing classrooms. Data of the study were collected from multiple sources over one school term, including teacher and student interviews, as well as classroom observations. In this presentation, I share part of the findings of the study, discuss their implications, and conclude with recommendations for further research.
References
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, Marshall, C., & Wiliam, D. (2003). Assessment for learning. New York: Open University Press.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7-74.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 5-31.
Earl, L. M. (2013). Assessment for learning; assessment as learning: Changing practices means changing beliefs. In Hong Kong Education Bureau (Ed.): Assessment and learning (Issue 2).
Klenowski, V. (2009). Assessment for learning revisited: An Asia-Pacific perspective. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 16(3), 263-268.
Bio:
Icy Lee is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she is currently serving as Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Her research interests are in second language writing and second language teacher education. Her publications have appeared in international journals such as TESOL Quarterly, Journal of Second Language Writing, Language Teaching, System, and ELT Journal.