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2009 Day 2 FEEDBACK:
3. Learning objectives and success criteria
Foundation Stage/Year 1
Herts Teachers agreed that children understand that they are transferring skills across subjects. Children are learning and doing. Most teachers were using visualisers and children can discriminate between good or poor work and suggest improvements.
Doncaster Teachers had been sharing learning objectives with children (in Foundation Stage where appropriate) and were decontextualising learning objectives. Children were now more aware of the purpose of learning and more able to transfer skills to other areas of learning, leading to more consolidation of learning. Teachers had found it hard to get children to generate success criteria and there needed to be lots of adult modelling and visual aids. However, children were now becoming more able to generate more accurate criteria. Success criteria had enabled children to identify specific areas of difficulty. Children were also using success criteria to facilitate their explanations. One child left the carpet during a discussion about success criteria for one lesson. When asked where they were going, the child replied ‘I’ve missed one of them off!’
Kettering Teachers felt that it was difficult to work on this at the Foundation Stage as the free flow way of working makes it hard to ask children what they are learning. After talking to children some teachers found children could articulate the learning in general terms. Year 1 children were able to generate success criteria which were made into cards and used for checking and peer assessment. Teachers felt that discussions with children were more focused with children giving more constructive feedback. One teacher described the dramatic impact of children generating success criteria for art. Another teacher asked children in PE how they would know if they were doing it well which had a definite impact on quality.
Lincoln Reception teachers found it very successful to act as ‘Mrs Muddle’, demonstrating the success criteria being done wrong. Another teacher had a puppet called Benny who was shown to find things difficult. Children were asked ‘How can we help Benny?’ Eventually Benny improves as he follows the children’s instructions (the success criteria). Using a finished product as a means of children generating success criteria worked well with Year 1 and 2. They also feel inspired and aspirational when seeing previous pupil work. Teachers present/refer to success criteria verbally, on the white board, via photographs etc. and found it useful to ask, at the end, ‘How did the success criteria help us? Could they be improved to help us even more?’
Surrey Teachers enjoyed using the visualiser to demonstrate the success criteria ‘done wrong’. Children are engaged, talk together about the wrong things and then use the criteria as they are working. They remind each other about what is needed. Teachers are more aware of what is needed by the end of a session. In the SLD school, teacher have ‘The activity is….I am learning to……I need to remember…….’ Symbols are used to show criteria. Achievement is higher.
Year 1/2
Worthing Y1 Teachers agreed that this had had the biggest impact on learning in their classes, making learning very specific and highlighting teachers’ subject weaknesses: if you don’t know it – how will they? Teachers’ feedback had been sharpened by the success criteria. It was easier for children to generate success criteria in some subjects than others, e.g. art, English and PE. Teachers were sometimes finding it difficult to know what a transferable skill actually is. Overall, teachers felt that this had really moved on children’s learning, especially for higher achievers. It takes longer and the teacher needs to be one step ahead but the quality of learning is much higher and the greater use of oral feedback from children has enabled teachers to really know what pupils have learnt.
Y2 Three people agreed that this was their favourite aspect of formative assessment, and were able to see the impact on learning and the work. Children are able to transfer criteria. One teacher gives children slips in which they can fill in the learning objective and criteria. Four teachers had used the visualiser and interactive whiteboard to show contrasting examples of work as a prompt for children to generate the criteria. At first children found it difficult to get past commenting on secretarial skills. There was an issue that some lower achievers see the poor work as the focus because it shows something they know they can do. Most teachers use a marking strategy against the success criteria and have a ‘Things we always do’ list for writing. The impact of this has been that children are able to transfer skills across subjects and can self mark against the criteria. The success criteria are broad enough to encompass all children.
Doncaster Teachers had linked objectives more to key skills, although they were all using learning objectives before. Success criteria are now more broken down and clearer and they have been made more progressive during a lesson, stopping to discuss etc. Mini plenaries are focusing on what children have achieved so far and what they need to focus on to achieve still more. Children can review each other’s work and know better how to improve. Generic success criteria are linking with previous learning, enabling children to transfer skills. By looking at previous examples of work, picking out good bits and saying how they could be improved, children have been able to generate success criteria and the quality of subsequent work has improved as a result. Children are more aware of expectations and how to improve. General understanding has improved as all children know what success looks like. Visualisers had particularly helped lower achievers, because a positive ethos had been produced by always focusing on the positive in projected work.
Kettering Some teachers were already decontextualising learning objectives. One teacher found that displaying learning objectives makes it easier to generate success criteria. Learning objectives are now being broken down and lessons are being linked more coherently together. Children have a better understanding, therefore, of the whole unit of work. They also better understand the vocabulary of the LO and there is more embedding of learning. One teacher showed a good and bad example of a trolley made for DT, which led to pupil generated success criteria. Children’s work was very focused and of a higher quality as a result. Another teacher displayed success criteria from another class which children improved very successfully. It also worked very well in mathematics giving incorrect examples of calculations to generate the right success criteria. Children’s learning was scaffolded and they could refer to the criteria while they were working. Even lower achievers found it achievable to compare good and bad writing examples and generate success criteria. Because they could see what it should look like, they were keen to identify what was wrong and what was right.
Lincoln Teachers had pupil generated success criteria for a range of subjects. They had an ‘every time we write’ board for secretarial criteria, with picture versions to help some children. The success criteria were really useful for self assessment and children can easily see their next steps. There has been a vast improvement in skills (basic skills as well as success criteria for each lesson which can be developed throughout the school. One school introduced ‘WAGOLL’ and ‘WABOLL’ characters (What a good one looks like and What a bad one looks like) to help generate success criteria (comparison of products). These strategies have led to higher quality work. Children are also more focused and know what their next steps are.
Surrey Most teachers had used finished excellent products in art and literacy to generate success criteria. This led to higher quality work as children work to match or better what they have seen. Children are challenged and achieve more than they think they would. A disadvantage is the time it takes initially. It definitely gets quicker. Teachers had changed the language of success criteria from ‘To be successful we need to’ to ‘Remember to… Some used ‘steps to success’ or ‘Reach for the stars’. This led to children being able to use the criteria to support the process of learning. Success criteria were being used for self and peer assessment. Transferrable skill success criteria were being saved and reused. Overall children and teachers are clearer about what is expected, children can work out their next steps and children are applying the criteria to their learning.
Year 3/4
Herts Teachers have introduced children to learning objectives by breaking them down. Children have been able to make connections and see how LOs fit the whole unit. The impact has been that children are much clearer about why they are learning. Teachers have found that they do not have to display the context any more as this is embedded as a concept. Success criteria are displayed and are referred to throughout lessons. Maths success criteria are kept on PowerPoint and retrieved when the same LO is revisited. Children quickly make connections with previous lessons so there is less reteaching. One strategy used was to have negotiable/non-negotiable success criteria. As children become more proficient, various success criteria for a learning objective move from negotiable to non-negotiable. Teachers said once children get used to generating success criteria, the process becomes quicker.
Worthing Teachers had had a lot of success with this although it was at first difficult to split the LO from the context. Children are being seen to transfer skills for previous lessons and remember success criteria. By using a visualiser to generate criteria children are now starting to focus first on the learning objectives rather than secretarial features of writing. Children are very clear about not being negative about someone’s analysed work, wanting others to succeed. Teachers felt that they needed to be confident with their subject knowledge to be able to use success criteria etc. It has been empowering for teachers to be able to break down the learning in a structured way.
Doncaster Two teachers had asked children to predict what the learning objective might be, which had helped children to make links in their learning. Teachers had found it important to use child-friendly language. Decontextualised learning objectives were used in all curriculum areas. Success criteria were modelled first and then referred to throughout lessons. Generic criteria have been kept and reused, some written on cards kept on tables. Eventually these are no longer needed as children internalize them. One teacher modelled making a cake to get children to generate the criteria for instructions. One child said ‘This is a weird literacy lesson. I thought we just did reading and writing.’ The strategy of asking children to prove they know the criteria has been developed for peer assessment – children asking each other to prove they have met the success criteria. The impact of this work has been that children know what they are learning and what success looks like. Children are more motivated and confident. They have a structure to refer to which aids their learning. Lower achievers particularly like the structure. Children are using the success criteria to assess their own and each other’s work.
Kettering Three teachers had decontextualised their learning objectives and found that children can recognise transferable skills. It was found to be more difficult to decontextualise in science and numeracy. Two teachers said it was easier to get pupil generated success criteria from a given example of previous work. It was felt that criteria should always be positive – what to do rather than what not to do. Teachers had mainly used success criteria in Literacy with some PE and art. Children and teachers refer to them throughout lessons and four teachers have children tick them off when they think they have been successful. Children have developed their skills and understanding.
Lincoln Teachers had used one finished excellent product and two contrasting products, a visualiser and video to generate success criteria from children. Teachers had done a lot of modelling and more recently were letting children generate success criteria for themselves which has led to them now checking their own work voluntarily. They check off the success criteria so they can see what they still need to do or improve. Children can now articulate where they have been successful and what they need to do next.
Surrey Teachers had separated learning objectives from the context so learning was now more skills based. Children were now able to develop success criteria via different starting points such as the finished product and were now more confident and aware of what they were aiming for. Children are aware now that the skills are more important than the knowledge.
Year 5/6
Herts Teachers had previously given children success criteria but now got children to generate them. The context is given as ‘This time only’. Separating the context has meant that children are better able to generate the criteria. Children are now able to transfer skills and make cross curricular links.
Worthing Separating the context form the LO had allowed pupils to focus on transferable skills. Teachers have had pupil generated success criteria and some have differentiated the criteria by colour coding them, resulting in all children feeling they have achieved success. One child who would never want to share her work is now prepared to do this because she now feels she is achieving success, since the criteria are clear and specific. There was a concern that lower achievers use the vocabulary from the criteria without understanding it. One teacher used a Dictaphone for lower achievers, so that they could access the success criteria. Having success criteria displayed in the classroom has enabled children to focus more on progression and the development of skills. The visualiser for analysis of one random child’s work had had a great impact on self, peer and teacher marking. There has been a huge improvement in children’s ability to identify their successes etc. Quality discussions over good and poor work had really helped children to hone in on what excellence looks like.
Doncaster Teachers found that breaking the learning into a long term aim helped motivate children to understand their overall goal. Separating the learning from the context has helped children to understand processes better. Children can now transfer skills between and across subjects. Pupils can generate their own criteria; again increasing motivation and helping them understand processes better. Success criteria had helped peer assessment, and children were now able to generate their own 2 stars and a wish. Their comments were linked to the concept of a growth mindset in the language they used in classes in which the growth mindset had been discussed. Mini plenaries were successfully used to discuss children’s achievements so far and keep children on task. Children were asked in one class ‘What would you do if I took success criteria away?’ One child replied ‘I wouldn’t know what to do because I wouldn’t have the list of ingredients.’
Kettering Having decontextualised learning objectives helps children transfer skills and makes them more able to generate success criteria. Teachers felt they were focusing more now on key skills. Having a skill based LO creates a skills based learning ethos. One teacher had change from ‘To be able to…’ to ‘To use….’ To reinforce the skills focus. Comparing two pieces of work was very valuable in helping children create success criteria and in their understanding of quality, resulting in higher quality work. Children are also able to take constructive criticism better. One teacher described a lesson in which she talked about a ‘zone of relevance’. When asked for success criteria, the children could not come up with any, which made the teacher realise she had assumed their understanding. Success criteria take a long time to generate but have a positive impact on the lesson and raise the quality of work. Teachers had all tried comparing good and bad examples in order to get pupil generated success criteria and found the process very successful. One child at L3c is now nearly 4a as the impact has been so great. Children enjoyed being given incorrect calculations to put right in generating criteria. Teachers without visualisers felt at a disadvantage. Children enjoyed talking about each other’s work and the success criteria help them to self and peer assess.
Lincoln Teachers were now standing back more and asking themselves, ‘What do I really want the children to learn?’ They were avoiding mentioning the context, but recalling them, maybe weeks later to help children make connections. Changing ‘I can…’ objectives to ‘I am learning to…’ had raised expectations. Finished criteria were being printed and placed on tables as an aide memoir, which has led to self-assessment during lessons. Teachers are collecting examples of children’s work to discuss and to inspire children. Children know now that quality is more important than quantity and know next steps. They also focus on specific criteria rather than secretarial features. Using a visualiser to demonstrate the success criteria which children then identify had had immediate impact on the quality of subsequent work. Also indentifying what was good about some work and what would make it even better had led to more refined success criteria. One teacher gave children a task with no success criteria for the objective ‘To cooperate as a group’. Once criteria had been generated the task was redone, this time much more successfully and quicker. Changing the language to ‘We are learning to…’ had been more successful than ‘I can…’ with the message that everyone can achieve. Children are better motivated. Children are now clear about what they are learning, they have higher self-esteem, they know their next steps and their ability to self evaluate and review has improved.
Surrey Most teachers had visualisers and found them really effective in showing children’s work and relating it to the success criteria. Children were finding it tricky in some classes to write the success criteria. Old pieces of work were particularly effective in helping children generate success criteria and led to higher quality work. Success criteria dovetailed with talk partners, because at the end of the lesson they could swap work and see if the criteria had been included in their partner’s work. Teachers found it harder to get children to generate criteria for mathematics as they need to be familiar with the procedures involved. Success criteria are referred to throughout lessons, allowing a more specific focus. Overall children were more focused, looked for evidence that they had included criteria and were more involved in their learning.
Secondary
Herts Teachers are using old examples of work to get students to generate success criteria, asking them to identify and highlight the key features. Criteria are used for self assessment and students are not afraid to red pen their work. Peer assessment is now very common and teachers remarked that students don’t need rewards any more. Students are confident now in recognising which skills are needed.
Special One teacher described a literacy group making greetings cards. They chose four elements of a good card then made their own. They subsequently assessed these against their criteria and were able to say what they would need to do to meet the criteria (e.g. improve spelling). Their work included going to visit a shop to look at greetings cards. Students were finally asked to make their own greetings card without any prompts or success criteria. The impact was that children had learnt a vital life skill and were anchored by knowing the end result and the criteria for success. The success criteria facilitated their success. The skill of creating success criteria became transferable, evidenced by then being able to generate criteria for drawing a face soon afterwards. They were also able to transfer the process of evaluating and improving. Finally, students had learnt to compare their original and final pieces of work and recognise and appreciate the difference. A PE teacher used videos to show the success criteria in action. The success criteria helped to create the skills needed to achieve the objective.
Worthing Teachers had been decontextualising the learning objectives, focusing on skills, which had helped students to be more motivated and appreciate the relevance of their learning. It was felt that there was a danger of the teacher having too many teacher/school generated elements to focus on (e.g. PLTs, SEAL, APP etc) and the main focus should be the pupil generated criteria. Using a visualiser to get students to generate criteria by looking at old work had been very powerful, resulting in improved quality of work and the ability of students to critically evaluate their own work. One student said ‘If I am stuck I can go to the success criteria for help.’ One teacher described a lesson in which she had to cover, at short notice, an English lesson. The students felt that they couldn’t do the task that the teacher had set for them. The teacher asked the students to decide what ‘good’ would look like and listed these as success criteria. The student outcomes were very positive. With guidance, pupils had been able to identify the transferable skills required for that particular lesson, drawing on their knowledge and understanding from previous units.
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