Assessment for learning

An Inaugural Professorial LectureRaising student achievement has benefits not only for the individual, but for society as well. In this lecture Dylan Wiliam argues that many efforts at reform have focused on things that are easy to change rather than those that would make the most difference. He shows that some investments in raising achievement are more cost-effective and more suitable for large-scale application than others. In particular, he argues, helping teachers make greater use of assessment for learning (AfL), would be the most effective way of raising student achievement. Professor Wiliam argues that, if we are to be successful as well as being clear about what we want teachers to do differently, we have to understand why changing teachers’ practice is so difficult, and this will require radical changes in the way we treat teachers’ professional development.

“So, who should read this book? Anyone who is involved in teaching will gain something, even if it is just an understanding of why it is so difficult to improve one's practice as a teacher. I would particularly recommend the booklet to those who have responsibility for CPD in a school or teacher education in a wider sense, because they are the ones who need to be implementing the ideas in this book.”

-- Jane Gabb Equals, the Journal of the Mathematical Association, Vol. 16, No.3
In a few pages he conveys how his two decades of experience has shaped an effective, scalable model for professional teacher development. It is a clear, concise and compelling read for anyone engaged in education for the professions. Whilst the primary audiences are teacher development professionals and policy makers the content is readily transferable to the wider Higher Education audience... In my institution we plan not only to buy copies for the library but to buy in bulk for resale direct to our post graduate medical education students. This is a little book with a big punch. -- Linda Jones, Principal Lecturer Clinical Education and Leadership, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Postgraduate Medical Education ESCalate - The Higher Education Academy Education Subject Centre

Dylan Wiliam is Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London.

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