University of Buckingham Virtual Learning Environment

Assessment in Schools

The module will introduce statistical and methodological concepts through a series of 'big questions' that we will aim to answer. These questions will include:

• Does it matter which school you attend?
• What are the short-run and long-run benefits to getting an education?
• Does early years education help close the attainment gap between children growing up in high and low-income households?
• Should we reduce class sizes?
• Are large-scale organisational reforms to school governance or organisation transformation?
• Should we pay students for working hard or parents for school attendance?
• Should we reward teachers for high quality instruction?

The Leading Teacher Development Module developed by David Weston and The Teacher Development Trust will provide a route into the evidence-informed leadership of teacher development. It will draw on expertise from across the sector and TDT’s work with hundreds of schools to help you ensure that the professional development you are planning is mapped to evidence and has a positive impact on pupil outcomes. You will have the opportunity to collaborate and share your reflections with like-minded professionals and course leaders throughout the course.

This module comprises four units that will draw on both practical experience and the use and application of professional research.  In the first unit, students will critically evaluate and synthesise relevant literature on teacher development design and leadership to inform subsequent module tasks. In the second unit, students will devise a work-based enquiry to explore the current effectiveness of teacher professional development in their setting. Students will then apply change management principles and flexible evaluation methods to design a teacher development project for the following academic year. In the final unit, students will critically reflect on their professional learning experience. Study in this module culminates in a 6,000-word professional portfolio which will be formally assessed. This module takes two terms to complete.

This module is developed in conjunction with highly regarded educator and author Doug Lemov. Its aim is to develop teachers’ knowledge and practice in building 'writing intensive classrooms' where writing is more prevalent and takes a wider variety of forms, especially 'low stakes' writing designed to develop students’ ability to and comfort with thinking in writing. As does much of Lemov's work, the module focuses on techniques derived from current practitioners, as well as the application of ideas from cognitive science.

Students of this module will study reviews into teaching strategies in a variety of countries and across age ranges and ability groups as well as contemporary authors regarding effective methodologies for teaching and supporting writing. These include syntactic control, grammar instruction, sentence expansion, formative and summative writing and the importance of revision versus editing.

It is designed to enable teachers to focus on their work as practitioners, embedding studied techniques, and to critically reflect on and evaluate their efficacy in the classroom and in relation to the research studied including a range of arguments and counter argument. It is assessed by means of submitted reflective writing on implementation and impact of studied techniques and by an assignment synthesising research and advocating for policy change as appropriate in school.

Welcome to Buckingham

Welcome to Buckingham