Cited by 1,323Student Assessment and FeedbackEducational and Psychological AssessmentsEvaluation of Teaching Practices

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 17 of the 17 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 20 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Working inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom

Open access
Black, Paul, Harrison, Christine, Lee, Clare, Marshall, Bethan, Wiliam, Dylan·2004·Phi Delta Kappan

Abstract

'Inside the Black Box' (Phi Delta Kappan, October 1998) summarized research evidence that showed that improving the quality of teachers' day-to-day classroom assessment could have substantial impact on students' learning. Here we report on one study that has attempted to put this into practice with 24 secondary school mathematics and science teachers in England. Through the use of improved questioning techniques, feedback focusing on how to improve rather than grading, and involving students in peer-assessment and self-assessment, teachers found that the motivation and attitudes of their students improved, and the students achieved higher scores on externally set tests and examinations than other students at the same schools.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/003172170408600105

Cites

17 of 17 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

61 Own interpretation · 23 No basis given · 14 No full text of the sources · 5 Own result · 3 Not checked yet · 1 Sources not found · 1 Own method

Show all 37 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 50
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 42
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
71 of 71
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The contexts of the KMOFAP project are sufficiently similar to other subjects, phases, and schools for its general findings to apply to all.

    “All of this makes us confident that our general findings will be of value to all, although some important details may differ between different age groups and different subjects.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The control classes and input ability measures adequately control for pre-existing differences, so the measured effect sizes reflect the project's impact.

    “Where the project and the control classes were not strictly parallel, we controlled for possible differences in EMBARGOED UNTIL JULY 2 nd © Please do not copy or circulate ability by the use of 'input' measures, such as scores on the NFER's Cognitive Abilities Test, or school test scores from the previous year.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The varied output measures used by teachers validly measure learning gains relevant to the project.

    “Each teacher decided what was to be the 'output' measure for their class.For year 11 classes this was generally the GCSE grades achieved, and for year 9 classes it was generally the score or level achieved in the national curriculum tests.For other classes, a variety of measures were used including end-of-module-test scores and marks on the school's end-of-year exams.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Teachers' self-reports, written pieces, and project observations reliably reflect classroom practice and its effects.

    “The findings presented here are based on the observations and records of visits to classrooms by the King's team, records of meetings of the whole group of teachers, interviews with and writing by the teachers themselves, and a few discussions with pupil groups.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Pupils will only invest effort in a task if they believe they can achieve something.

    “Pupils will only invest effort in a task if they believe that they can achieve something.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Many pupils acquire alternative conceptions in science outside school, and these are well documented.

    “However, outside school, many pupils acquire different ideas.”
    “Many of these 'alternative conceptions' can be anticipated for they have been well documented.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Mere presentation of the correct scientific view is ineffective.

    “What has also been documented is that mere presentation of the 'correct' view has been shown to be ineffective.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The experiences and reports from the KMOFAP project teachers are representative enough to support general conclusions about classroom practice.

    “Our experiences in the project all point to the need to re-think a teacher's core aimenhancing pupils' learning.”
8 of 8

Citations

Cites

Show all 14 references

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [1]1. Assessment Reform Group (1999) Assessment for Learning: Beyond the Black Box. Cambridge: University of Cambridge School of Education.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 1,101–1,200 of 1,321

Metadata

Authors
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D.
Affiliations
King's College London (GB)
Venue
Phi Delta Kappan
Published
2004-09
Volume
86
Issue
1
Pages
8-21
ISSN
  • 0031-7217 (ISSN-L)
  • 1940-6487
OpenAlex
W2136326226
Cited by
1,323
References
14
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 65 · 2020: 79 · 2019: 86 · 2018: 67 · 2017: 75 · 2016: 82 · 2015: 86 · 2014: 84 · 2013: 80 · 2012: 53
FWCI
188.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Phi Delta Kappan (publishedVersion)
  • Open Research Online (The Open University) (acceptedVersion)
  • IOE EPrints (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • OpenGrey (Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Open Research Online - ORO (The Open University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Nuffield Foundation
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational and Psychological Assessments
  • Social Sciences › Education › Evaluation of Teaching Practices
Keywords
assessment for learning, classroom assessment, questioning strategies, feedback, peer assessment, self-assessment, student motivation, student attitudes, high school mathematics, secondary school science, academic performance

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-09-28, under version 3 of the claim definition (prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-09-28 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review