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ETP425 – Assessment and ReportingETP425 – Assessment and Reporting

By David ElveyBy David Elvey

AITSL Standard 3

• Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning

AITSL Standard 3.1“Set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students

of varying abilities and characteristics”

Evidence 1 – Lesson plan – “Computer lab”In this lesson, the students were required to create a PowerPoint presentation about themselves

using basic features in PowerPoint includes slides, images, text, animations and transitions. This lesson challenged students to create a personal presentation depending on their skill-level.

Some students created simple presentations which were focussed on the written content. Other students, however, used the design features in PowerPoint and downloaded images off the internet to create more visual presentations.

Refer lesson plan “Computer lab” (9 Sept)

Evidence 2 – Lesson plan – “Symmetrical name”In this lesson, the students learnt that some letters in the alphabet are symmetrical and others

are not. Most students were able to identify the lines of symmetry in their name (when spelt out in capitals) and there was also scope for more capable students to explore symmetry in lower-case letters or to experiment with rotation and translation.

Refer lesson plan “Symmetrical name” (29 Aug)

AITSL Standard 3.3“Include a range of teaching strategies”

Evidence 1 – Lesson plan – “Flower power”In this lesson, the students were required to explore flowers on the school grounds to learn about the

importance of flowers attracting bees and other pollinators. This 80-minute lesson involved a number of teaching strategies to engage the students including:

- a quick recap and discussion re the importance of flowers attracting bees for pollination- Modelling of the activity on the Jellybean table- Students working in pairs using iPods to photograph flowers and make observations- Students working independently to make a labelled diagram in their integrated studies book- Class discussion about the way flowers attract bees and the common features of flowers.Refer lesson plan “Flower power” (10 Sept)

Evidence 2 – Lesson plan – “Probability”In this lesson, the students were learnt about independent events in probability. This 90-minute lesson

involved:- A fun maths game called “Greedy Pig”- A class discussion regarding probability and independent events.- Modelling of the main activity on the Jellybean table- A fun activity called “Crazy animals” where students make their own crazy animal’s book.- A class discussion probability of crazy animals using a tree diagramRefer lesson plan “Probability” (4 Sept)

AITSL Standard 3.6“Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be used to

evaluate teaching programs to improve student learning”

Evidence 1 – Reflection - teacher collaborationThe grade 4 teachers at BPS are in constant communication/collaboration with

each other to discuss the efficacy of teaching programs. For example, following a recent maths test, the teachers’ identified that although the students’ may possess a particular skill set, as per the curriculum, they may have difficulty in answering a question if they’re unfamiliar with the way the question is posed. The teachers agreed that they need to design some tests with more varied or complex questioning structure to prepare students, for example, for the types of questions posed in a NAPLAN test.

Evidence 2 – Parent feedback Parent feedback is also sought by teachers to evaluate teaching programs and

discover ways to improve student learning. This can be done informally through teacher-parent discussion or more formally through parent-teacher interviews. Recently, the grade 4 teachers hosted a “Celebration of Learning” night which allowed parents the opportunity to comment on their child’s learning goals and achievements to date and identify any goals for next term.

AITSL Standard 5

• Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

AITSL Standard 5.1“Demonstrate understanding of assessment strategies, including

informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative approaches to assess student learning”

Evidence 1 – PROBE AssessmentThe PROBE tests are formal and involves close teacher-student interaction whereby the teacher

assesses the students’ oral reading and comprehension level. Overall, the test provides the teacher with a good understanding of how the students’ engage with text which can be used to match the individual students into the appropriate reading groups and ascertain the students’ progress throughout the year.

The analytical data is also used to inform the parents during report-writing and is passed on to the literacy co-ordinator at the end of the year to provide important intelligence re overall the reading and comprehension of students.

Refer “PROBE Assessment Sheet”

Evidence 2 – Diagnostic testingSome test are conducted at the beginning of a new unit of work to ascertain the students’ level of

understanding. For instance, prior to starting the unit on decimals, the students undertook a short-answer test to elicit what they already know and understand about fractions and decimals to the tenths and hundredths place value. Based on the results of the test, most students in the class recognised place value to the tenths but not hundredths

AITSL Standard 5.2“Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of providing timely and

appropriate feedback to students about their learning”

Evidence 1 – Reflection – Guided ReadingOn Friday 13th September, I facilitated a small reading circle where each student

would read out aloud a different chapter of the same non-fiction text. This gave me a good opportunity to assess the group, as a whole, and to work more closely with individual students to demonstrate the use of reading strategies that good readers use. For example, the use of scanning, analysing, inferring, predicting, and using context clues to find meaning in text.

By being able to give timely and appropriate feedback to students as they worked meant that they had the opportunity to immediately seek any clarification and learn how to improve their reading.

Evidence 2 – Short-answer math testsA variety of math tests were conducted (at different times) to ascertain the

students’ learning/skills of place value/rounding, decimals, fractions, chance/probability, symmetry and transformation and multiplication.

Immediately after completing the test, the students discovered whether they understood the topic - completely, partially, or not yet. This immediately feedback enabled the student to reflect on their level of understanding/skill and discover any weaknesses that need attention.

AITSL Standard 5.3“Demonstrate understanding of assessment moderation and its application to

support consistent and comparable judgments of student learning”

Evidence 1 – Reflection - PlanningThe teachers operate as a team and share responsibility for the term and weekly planning. This ongoing

planning process involves constant assessment of the students’ learning against the curriculum objectives. During formal planning, the teachers reflect and evaluate whether the success criteria was met in order to identify future learning needs. For example, in a recent term planning meeting the results of a maths test on symmetry was discussed where the teachers agreed that a lesson is required in the next term so the students need to better understand angles and how learn how to measure angles with a protractor.

Evidence 2 – Reflection – PLT meetingsEvery fortnight the school holds an all-staff meeting where the teachers discuss any staff issues and

conduct workshops to enable the teachers to make consistent and comparable judgements of student learning and evaluate their teaching practice.

During an all-staff meeting on Monday, 9th September, a literacy workshop was held whereby teachers were required to give input into some teacher strategies aimed at improving student achievement in literacy. In the “Reading Circles” group, for example, the teachers talked about the importance of group/guided reading and discussed some of the issues affecting performance, for example, time constraints. In the “Inferential” group, the teachers discussed inferential comprehension and how it is used in their classroom. Discussion was also had concerning the use of technology by teachers to assist with learning, for example, Edmodo.

AITSL Standard 5.4“Demonstrate the capacity to interpret student assessment data to

evaluate student learning and modify teaching practice”

Evidence 1 – Reflection – lesson on “Possessive Nouns – revision”On Tuesday, 17th September, I gave a short lesson (revision) on possessive nouns. Most of the class

remembered the concept and participated in the questioning and answering during the lesson. At the end of the lesson, instead of wasting time by having the children undertake a workbook activity I

moved them onto another task - independent reading. However, there were a couple of children who approached me to say that were not very confident with their understanding of possessive nouns. I then formed a small group and walked them through the concept more slowly with a workbook activity at the end to further cement their understanding.

Evidence 2 – Reflection – “Mathletics”Homework is assigned to students every week and usually includes a reading task and some learning

activities in Mathletics. Some of the advantages of Mathletics is in the control and reporting that is available to the teacher. Here, the teacher can tailor assigned work to the individual needs of the class and progress student through to more challenging activities at higher levels. The student’s progress can also be monitored so that the teacher can identify any areas that require attention.

AITSL Standard 5.5“Demonstrate understanding of a range of strategies for reporting to students

and parents/carers and the purpose of keeping accurate and reliable records of student achievement”

Evidence 1 – “Evidence book”Every student has an evidence book which they use to present their learning journey. It

contains their best work and provides a summative assessment of the student’s learning of a particular unit of work. The evidence book is an effective way to demonstrate to the student, teacher and the parents what the student has learnt and their level of learning. It can be used at any formal parent-teacher interview or Learning Celebrations evening and the student takes it home at the end of the year as a record of achievement.

Refer “Evidence book example re Main Idea and Context Clues”; Celebration of Learning sheet

Evidence 2 – Transition documentsAs the children progress through the school levels, a student’s current teacher ensure that

there are transition documents to inform the student’s upcoming teacher about the learning needs of the children they are about to teach. Such documents can include the student’s school reports, any relevant test scores eg PAT or Stanine, any specific literacy or numeracy assessment material eg PROBE reading/comprehension.