Obsessed with Assessment

Our conversation with Dr Mick Walker takes a turn towards CPD as we consider ways in which teachers should be judged, what we need to do to make a lesson observation a positive experience and how to go about spreading knowledge and sharing best practice. Mick is as engaging as ever in this thought-provoking chat. Afterwards, hosts Sam Denno and Emma Rose-McHale reflect on the key takeaways.

Subscribe to the podcast to get notifications of new episodes as soon as they drop. You can email the show at [email protected]. Find Sam Denno, Twinkl's National Assessment Lead on LinkedIn and BlueSky. Dr MIck Walker is the president of the Chartered Institute of Education Assessors, who run a series of courses on educational assessment.

Assessment specialist Dr Mick Walker of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors joins us again to talk about creating effective assessments. Via an insightful anecdote, Mick brings to light the importance of language in our questioning and discusses why we need to always have our pupils in mind when designing our tests. After the conversation, Sam Denno and Emma Rose-McHale debrief and suggest some key takeaways that educators could embed in their practice.

As we await a spring-time report on the Curriculum and Assessment Review and the progress that Becky Francis and her panel are making, Sam Denno sits down with Dr Mick Walker of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors to discuss his experience of working on curriculum design in the past, and how he feels about the current process. Mick articulates both pessimism and hope as he reflects upon the challenges of aligning educational requirements with governmental limitations, and considers the role that assessment plays in the whole conversation.

Sam and Emma dig into Ofsted's 3rd February press release, in which they launched brand new information about their incoming framework proposals and, in particular, their much talked about school report cards. What is Sam enthusiastic about, and what does Emma make faces at?

Sam Denno of Obsessed with Assessment caught up with Dr Mick Walker to conduct a fascinating conversation on numerous aspects of educational assessment. In the first of a collection of episodes, we explore Mick's experiences of working at the cutting edge of curriculum and assessment design via his roles with the National Curriculum Council and the QCA. Mick's insights are invaluable as a window into the England education system at the highest levels and as pedagogical guidance for teachers and school leaders.

The National Reference Test (NRT) is a mandatory annual test administered by Ofqual and the NFER, that is delivered to a random sample of Y11 pupils. The format of the NRT is a fascinating departure from the GCSE formula, meaning that the resulting data offers the government some compelling considerations. The thing is, very few people know about the NRT! It's almost like it's being deliberately kept a secret (it's not!), which is why, in this episode of Obsessed with Assessment podcast, Sam and Emma have to don their very best sleuthing gear in order to get to the bottom of the mysteries of the National Reference Test and shine a light on it for all listeners. Prepare to have your eyes opened! Or, if your school has been one of the selected few in the past, email us at [email protected] and tell us all about your experiences.

Obsessed with Assessment podcast is produced by the team at Twinkl and led by assessment thought leader, Sam Denno. You can find Sam on BlueSky and LinkedIn.

Follow our fascinating discussion as we dissect Daisy Christodoulou's blog on the purposes of assessments. Are we trying to do too much when we attempt to achieve formative, summative, accountability and national standards functions all within the same tests? Naturally, the answer is yes, but what can classroom teachers do to address this in the day-to-day? You can read Christodoulou's blog here: https://substack.nomoremarking.com/p/designing-the-perfect-assessment

Sam and Emma get to work distinguishing their relative grading from their absolute grading and ponder where scaled scoring fits within all of that, in this concept-almanac of an Obsessed with Assessment episode. But, which one is the most effective?

In their third and final episode on Denmark, Finland and Norway, Sam and Emma consider the advantages and disadvantages of these Nordic education systems, as compared with English education. Could we adopt their methods wholesale, and would we actually want to? There are lots of questions to answer and Sam and Emma do their level best to approach them in a balanced manner, although some strong feelings do spill out occasionally! There is no associated blog with this episode, but if you want to go back and look at our Denmark and Finland blogs you can find them at their respective links.

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In the second of three podcasts in which Sam and Emma explore assessment in a collection of Nordic countries, they turn their attention to Finland, considering its education system, before comparing the differences to testing in England. These episodes are a response to the mention of Denmark, Finland and Norway on the Labour government's Breaking Down the Barrier to Opportunity manifesto. These Nordic countries are mentioned in relation to intergenerational pay gap persistence. You can find more details in the associated blog on the Twinkl website: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/blog/obsessed-with-assessment-what-can-we-learn-from-finland

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