QCAR Schools Enacting Rich Tasks

2. Questions people are asking How is the QCAR framework likely to impact on schools enacting Rich Tasks? Does QCAR threaten the nature of the work done in these schools? Is there work to be done? How well prepared are teachers in schools enacting Rich Tasks to meet the challenges of QCAR implementation?

3. What is the QCAR Framework? Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Framework a response to a range of challenges facing education in Queensland that was intended to draw on the work of the Assessment and New Basics Branch (see Qld State Education 2010) presents strategies to define essential learnings & set new standards for assessing and reporting student achievement in the early & middle years of schooling in Queensland

4. Aims of the QCAR Framework make clear statements about the essential learnings that must be taught in Queensland schools provide a common frame of reference and a shared language for communicating student achievement equip teachers with high-quality assessment tools for collecting evidence of student achievement introduce state-wide assessment of student learning in Years 4, 6 and 9

5. Aims of the Framework (2) provide more meaningful reports of student achievement promote teachers’ professional learning, focused on good assessment practices and judging the quality of student achievement against state-wide standards

6. How will QCAR address these? focusing learning and teaching on ‘the essentials’ aligning curriculum, assessment and reporting building capacity in terms of robust assessment practices referencing judgments about student work to performance standards facilitating comparability of reported results state-wide

7. How the Rich Tasks ‘measure up’ against these goals? Look at what the QCAR policy says

8. Focusing learning and teaching on ‘the essentials’ What QCAR says: Essential Learnings: “what students are expected to know and do at key points” not the whole curriculum schools will continue to organise curriculum in various ways

9. Challenges/areas for further attention Essential Learnings have been organised in terms of separate KLAs while the New Basics call upon broad, transdisciplinary practices. Schools enacting Rich Tasks will need to audit total curriculum against Essential Learnings and address any gaps. The Rich Tasks have been aligned to the Essential Learnings; this alternative Rich Task format will be available through the QCAR website

10. Building capacity for robust assessment practices What QCAR says: What is needed is an assessment bank high quality assessment tools for collecting valid and reliable evidence models of good assessment practice resources to enhance assessment knowledge and skills support consistency of teacher judgements

12. Referencing judgments about student work to standards What QCAR says: Standards based assessment connects essential learnings to assessment and reporting practices. There is a need for a common understanding of standards & a shared language for describing what is expected of students and the quality of student achievement.

13. What QCAR says: Specific descriptions as well as examples of student work with teacher comments will be used to illustrate each standard. Teachers will develop common interpretations of the standards by working together and sharing how they apply these standards. Referencing judgments about student work to standards

14. What QCAR says: Statewide information about achievement in essential learnings will be collected Yrs 4, 6 & 9 through Common Assessment Tasks. QSA will develop processes for state-wide validation of teacher judgments.

15. Reporting against standards What QCAR says: Common elements may include descriptions of what has been taught, the expected standards of student achievement, and how well the child has achieved compared with these standards. 5-point scale

16. How are schools enacting RTs positioned? Generally, well. ALL schools will have to implement the QCAR framework, not just those enacting Rich Tasks. QCAR goals relate to aligning curriculum, assessment and reporting … robust assessment practices using standards to reference teacher judgments comparability of reported results Much of the work that schools enacting Rich Tasks routinely do, relates strongly to the big picture goals of QCAR.