AFLA - Assessment for Learning in Africa: Improving Pedagogy and Assessment for Numeracy in Foundation Years.

数以百万计的贫困和边缘化学生，特别是发展中国家的贫困和边缘化学生的算术技能水平低下，引起了国际社会的关注。该项目的重点是通过在南非和坦桑尼亚极端贫困的城市地区发展教师和教师培训者的教学和评估技能来改善这些情况。将有18所学校和3所培训学院参加，我们的做法是编制小学算术教材，并将其作为讲习班和在每个地区发展教师学习社区的基础。工作坊将集中讨论如何利用形成性评估（“学习评估”）来提高算术的教与学的质量。其目的是提高教师自己的计算能力，以及他们对如何更有效地将计算能力传达给学生的理解。讲习班和教师学习社区将借鉴国际上实施"学习评估"所产生的广泛经验。参与者的一项任务是使这一经验适应贫民窟地区学校资源有限的情况（例如，班级人数多，材料少），项目小组包括在国际上实施形成性评估方面具有丰富经验的研究人员、算术专家和驻在这两个国家的熟悉当地情况的学者。这项工作将从2016年4月开始，为期三年，分四个阶段进行。第一个阶段是筹备阶段，确认参加者并向他们介绍情况，编写材料。进行基线测试。第二阶段（2017年1月至3月）将在两国举办讲习班，沿着教师访问学校，建立教师学习社区。这些工作将在第三阶段（2017年4月至12月）继续进行，同时沿着对研讨会的分析和第二轮测试。最后阶段（2018年1月至2019年3月）包括访谈、访问以及制作和传播调查结果。为了监测项目的影响，团队将开发各种工具。这些措施包括课堂观察时间表，监测的保真度的实施，上下文相关的SES措施，并在课堂上使用的算术测试。这些测试将提供实施前和实施后的数据，与对照学校相匹配，这将允许评估该项目对算术结果的影响。这些数据还将用于对其他测试的基准标准。该项目的更广泛影响将是在一个研究不足的领域提供新的知识和专门知识：如何在资源有限的情况下支持教学法和对在具有挑战性的领域工作的教师的评估。这包括制作能够在当地持续执行的材料。将为从业人员和教师教育工作者编写一本书。其他产出将包括课堂最佳实践的播客和为一系列媒体撰写的文章，以及采访和其他媒体露面。我们对算术教学和有效的学习评估有很好的了解。然而，这在很大程度上是基于资源充足的教育系统。该项目有意使自己置身于更具挑战性的环境中，以便在数百万学生所处的更边缘和更不利的环境中发展有助于教学和学习的方法。

The low level of numeracy skills of millions of poor and marginalised students, particularly in developing nations, is of international concern. This project focuses on improving these through developing teachers' and teacher trainers' pedagogical and assessment skills in extremely deprived urban areas in South Africa and Tanzania. Eighteen schools and three training colleges will be involved.Our approach is to develop classroom materials for primary school numeracy and use these as the basis for workshops and for the development of teacher learning communities in each area. The workshops will focus on how formative assessment ('Assessment for Learning') can be used to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning of numeracy. The aim is to improve teachers' own numeracy skills and their understanding of how numeracy can be more effectively communicated to their students. The workshops and teacher learning communities will draw on the extensive experience which has been generated by the implementation of Assessment for Learning internationally. One task for participants will be to adapt this experience to the limited resources of schools in slum areas (for example, large classes and few materials).The project team includes researchers with extensive experience of implementing formative assessment internationally, numeracy specialists and academics based in the two countries who are familiar with local conditions. The work will take place over three years beginning in April 2016 and has four phases. The first is a preparatory phase in which participants are confirmed and briefed and materials are developed. Baseline testing is conducted. The second phase (January to March 2017) sees the implementation of the workshops in both countries, the establishment of teacher learning communities along with visits to schools by mentors. These continue in the third phase (April - December 2017) along with the analysis of the workshops and a second round of tests. The final phase (January 2018 - March 2019) incorporates interviews, visits and the production and dissemination of findings.To monitor the impact of the project, the team will develop a variety of instruments. These include classroom observation schedules which monitor the fidelity of the implementation, contextually relevant SES measures, and numeracy tests for use in the classrooms. The tests will provide pre- and post- implementation data, matched to control schools, which will allow evaluation of the impact of the project on numeracy outcomes. The data will also be used to benchmark standards against other tests. Further analyses relating outcomes to demographic data will be conducted.The wider impact of the project will be in providing new knowledge and expertise in an under-researched area: how to support the pedagogy and assessment of teachers working in challenging areas with limited resources. This includes producing material which can sustain implementation locally. A book for practitioners and teacher educators will be written for practitioners and teacher educators. Other outputs will include podcasts of best practices in classrooms and writing for a range of media outlets as well as interviews and other media appearances.We know a good deal about the teaching of numeracy and productive Assessment for Learning. However this has been largely based on well resourced education systems. This project deliberately involves itself in far more challenging circumstances in order to develop ways of contributing to teaching and learning in the more marginal and disadvantaged circumstances in which millions of students find themselves.