Reading Inside the Black Box

As I read through the Inside the Black Box reading for this course, I see the recurring issues as being:
http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/276160/course/section/44075/blackbox_article.pdf

Learning goals must be specific and communicated explicitly to the student.

Feedback is key

Formative assessment provides the basis for feedback

These ideas are mirrored in Marzano's ASOT framework.  I recently attended a professional development day for the Art and Science of Teaching framework during my prac.  I found the day extremely interesting and I was to see this theory advocated by Black and William (2001).

During the PD, the notion of assessment capable learners was explained this way:

1.  Feed Up: Clarify goal: "Where am I going?"
2.  Feed Back: Response: "How am I going?"
3.  Feed Forward: Modify instruction: "Where to next?"

Sadler (1989, as cited in Black & William, 2001, p. 7) notes the three elements of feedback as:

"the desired goal, the evidence about their present position and some understanding of a way to close the gap between the two."

The PD looked at ways to provide the learning goals to students, and suggested a visual display with the goal as a concise heading with a series of steps (rungs on the ladder) acting as the success criteria to get there.  There was some contention among the teachers in the room about how to show the student on this display (photos would not be allowed), with many noting that parents often dislike seeing their child 'ranked' with other students and see the display as a competition.  I believe this is such a shame, as the competitiveness factor should not be emphasized, only the 'this is where I am' evidence.  Perhaps if the point of the display was communicated sufficiently to students and parents alike, the display would then contribute to a supportive learning environment.

Other methods could be individual goal journals in students' desks etc. 

The point on the whole was that students need to be able to know where they are and predict what they will do next to get there.