21 October 2005 Park Hyatt, Melbourne

1. Assessment & Reporting Conference Margaret Forster - ACER Keynote Address 2 21 October 2005Park Hyatt, Melbourne

2. Assessment and ReportingWhat do we need to understand? Margaret Forster

3. understand for what purpose ? • to enrich teaching and learning experiences • to report effectively to parents

4. understand for what purpose? • to enrich teaching and learning experiences • to report effectively to parents • to better support learning

5. 1 the implications of research into learning

6. 1 the implications of research into learning What does the research into how children learn tell us? Bransford, Brown and Cocking (2000) How people learn: brain, mind, experience and school. National Academy Press.

7. 1 the implications of research into learning learning is enhanced when

8. 1 the implications of research into learning learning is enhanced when * teachers identify and work from individuals’ current knowledge, skills and beliefs

9. 1 the implications of research into learning learning is enhanced when * teachers identify and work from individuals’ current knowledge, skills and beliefs * it leads to deeper understandings of concepts and their applicability

10. 1 the implications of research into learning learning is enhanced when * teachers identify and work from individuals’ current knowledge, skills and beliefs * it leads to deeper understandings of concepts and their applicability * decision makers are able to monitor and act on feedback about learning

11. 1 the implications of research into learning 1 Learning is enhanced when teachers identify and work from individuals’ current knowledge, skills and beliefs.

12. 1 the implications of research into learning Implication for assessment & reporting? Assessment and reporting must provide information about where students are in their learning.

13. 1 the implications of research into learning  Assessment and reporting must be based on a clear understanding and circumscription of the area of learning against which achievement will be assessed and reported.

14. 1 the implications of research into learning  We need to define and clarify each of the domains/areas against which achievement will be reported.

17. 1 the implications of research into learning  We need to develop a research-based understanding of what it means to make progress within that area.

18. Civics

20. 1 the implications of research into learning 2 Learning is enhanced when it leads to the development of deeper understandings of concepts and their applicability.

21. 1 the implications of research into learning Implications for assessment & reporting? Assessment and reporting will be focused in part on the depth of a student’s understanding.

22. 1 the implications of research into learning Assessment and reporting is likely to draw on different and more sophisticated assessment approaches.

23. Lovely Mosquito Lovely mosquito, attacking my arm As quiet and still as a statue, Stay right where you are! I’ll do you no harm– I simply desire to pat you. Just puncture my veins and swallow your fill For nobody’s going to swot you. Now, lovely mosquito, stay perfectly still– A SWIPE! and a SPLAT! and I GOT YOU! Doug MacLeod — example: understanding layers of meaning

24. Does the writer think the mosquito is lovely?Explain your answer.

25. 1 the implications of research into learning 3 Learning is enhanced by the ability to monitor learning so that appropriate action can be identified.

26. 1 the implications of research into learning Implications for assessment & reporting? Assessmentfeedback and formal reporting must allow students teachers and parents to monitor learning over time and to be benchmarked against appropriate points of reference.

27. 1 the implications of research into learning What do we need to understand? We need to understand growth and recognise evidence of growth

28. 1 the implications of research into learning challenges What do teachers understand? ( UK example) What do students focus on? ( UK research, US and Canadian experience)

29. 2 the role of assessment methods

30. 2 the role of assessment methods Assessment is a vehicle for gathering evidence about student learning.

31. 2 the role of assessment methods assessment methods • Performances • Projects • Products • Paper and pen • Portfolios

32. External Teacher Student Peer (self) Performances XX Projects XX Products XX Paper & pen XX Portfolios XXXX

33. 3 the context of a standards frameworks

34. 3 the context of a standards framework content standards Content standards answer the question: What do we expect students to know, understand, and be able to do?

35. 3 the context of a standards framework Content standards describe learning ‘outcomes’: the things we watch for, the things we can observe, and the things we can collect evidence about to demonstrate what students know and can do as a result of their learning.

36. Descriptions of developing speaking ability

37. 3 the context of a standards framework performance standards Performance standards answer the question: How adequate at a particular age, grade or stage of schooling is a student’s performance?

40. 3 the context of a standards framework a standards framework • makes explicit what we value • defines the direction of growth • provides a frame of reference • for shared communication • against which achievement and progress can be mapped and monitored over time

41. 3 the context of a standards framework implications for teaching ? understanding the relationship between the framework and the curriculum

42. 3 the context of a standards framework implications for assessment? understanding the paradigm shift: a framework independent of the measuring instrument

43. 3 the context of a standards framework a simple idea instruments (provided they are adequately calibrated) are superficial interchangeable unimportant in themselves

44. 3 the context of a standards framework implications for reporting? understanding that reporting is based on an inferential process

45. 3 the context of a standards framework a challenge Do teachers understand how to draw an inference to a standards framework? -- confusing recording with reporting -- ‘beginning, consolidating, established’

46. 3 the context of a standards framework BCE judgements did not in themselves indicate where on the CSFII continuum a student was located. Most students who were rated ‘consolidating’ Level 4 would have been rated ‘established’ for Level 3, and ‘beginning’ Level 5.

47. 3 the context of a standards framework Beginning, Consolidating and Established were best thought of as ratings made in relation to each CSF level, and not as an indication of a student’s location on the underlying standards framework.

48. 4 student achievement

49. Year 3 Year 5 600 500 400 Reading 300 200 100