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AssessmentAdvice

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Assessment Advice
TeacherSupportResources>AssessmentandReporting>AssessmentAdvice

Thissectioncontainsanassessmentdefinitionandpurposesofassessmentincluding:assessmentfor,asandoflearning.Assessment
principlesareoutlinedandPowerPointpresentationsandworkshopsrelatedtotheassessmentadviceareprovided.Thereisalinktothe
Reportingsectionofthewebsite.
>Assessmentdefinition(http://www.education.vic.gov.au#definition)
>Purposesofassessment(http://www.education.vic.gov.au#purpose)
>Principlesforassessment(http://www.education.vic.gov.au#principles)
>Reporting(http://www.education.vic.gov.au#reporting)
>Presentationsandworkshops(http://www.education.vic.gov.au#presentations)

Assessment definition
Assessmentistheongoingprocessofgathering,analysingandreflectingonevidencetomakeinformedandconsistentjudgementstoimprove
futurestudentlearning.

Purposes of assessment
Assessmentforimprovedstudentlearninganddeepunderstandingrequiresarangeofassessmentpracticestobeusedwiththree
overarchingpurposes:
>AssessmentFORlearningoccurswhenteachersuseinferencesaboutstudentprogresstoinformtheirteaching
>AssessmentASlearningoccurswhenstudentsreflectonandmonitortheirprogresstoinformtheirfuturelearninggoals
>AssessmentOFlearningoccurswhenteachersuseevidenceofstudentlearningtomakejudgementsonstudentachievementagainst
goalsandstandards.

Principles for assessment

Substantialresearchexistsonthecharacteristicsofgoodpracticeforassessingstudentlearning.Thisresearchissummarisedinthefollowing
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/Pages/advice.aspx

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setofprinciples.

>Theprimarypurposeofassessmentistoimprovestudentperformance
Goodassessmentisbasedonavisionofthekindsoflearningwemostvalueforstudentsandhowtheymightbestachievethese.Itsets
outtomeasurewhatmattersmost.

>Assessmentshouldbebasedonanunderstandingofhowstudentslearn
Assessmentismosteffectivewhenitreflectsthefactthatlearningisacomplexprocessthatismultidimensional,integratedandrevealed
instudentperformanceovertime.
>Assessmentshouldbeanintegralcomponentofcoursedesignandnotsomethingtoaddafterwards
Theteachingandlearningelementsofeachprogramshouldbedesignedinfullknowledgeofthesortsofassessmentstudentswill
undertake,andviceversa,sothatstudentscandemonstratewhattheyhavelearnedandseetheresultsoftheirefforts.
>Goodassessmentprovidesusefulinformationtoreportcrediblytoparentsonstudentachievement
Avarietyofassessmentmethodsprovideteacherswithevidenceofwhatstudentsknowandcando,andtheirparticularstrengthsand
weaknesses.Teacherscanthenreporttoparentsonhowfartheirchildhasprogressedduringtheyear,wheretheyarecomparedto
therelevantstandards,andwhatthestudent,theparentandtheteacherneeddotoimprovethestudent'sperformance.
>Goodassessmentrequiresclarityofpurpose,goals,standardsandcriteria
Assessmentworksbestwhenitisbasedonclearstatementsofpurposeandgoalsforthecourse,thestandardswhichstudentsare
expectedtoachieve,andthecriteriaagainstwhichwemeasuresuccess.Assessmentcriterianeedtobeunderstandableandexplicitso
studentsknowwhatisexpectedofthemfromeachassessmenttheyencounter.Staff,students,parentsandthecommunityshouldallbe
abletoseewhyassessmentisbeingused,andthereasonsforchoosingeachindividualformofassessmentinitsparticularcontext.

>Goodassessmentrequiresavarietyofmeasures
Ingeneral,asingleassessmentinstrumentwillnottellusallweneedtoknowaboutstudentachievementandhowitcanbeimproved.
Therefore,weneedtobefamiliarwithavarietyofassessmenttoolssowecanmatchthemcloselytothetypeofinformationweseek.
>Assessmentmethodsusedshouldbevalid,reliableandconsistent
Assessmentinstrumentsandprocessesshouldbechosenwhichdirectlymeasurewhattheyareintendedtomeasure.Theyshould
includethepossibilityofmoderationbetweenteacherswherepracticalandappropriatetoenhanceobjectivityandcontributetoashared
understandingofthejudgmentsthataremade.
>Assessmentrequiresattentiontooutcomesandprocesses
Informationabouttheoutcomesstudentshaveachievedisveryimportanttoknowwhereeachstudentendsup,butsotooisknowing
abouttheirexperiencesalongthewayand,inparticular,thekindofeffortthatledtotheseoutcomes.

>Assessmentworksbestwhenitisongoingratherthanepisodic
Studentlearningisbestfosteredwhenassessmentinvolvesalinkedseriesofactivitiesundertakenovertime,sothatprogressis
monitoredtowardstheintendedcoursegoalsandtheachievementofrelevantstandards.
>Assessmentforimprovedperformanceinvolvesfeedbackandreflection
Allassessmentmethodsshouldallowstudentstoreceivefeedbackontheirlearningandperformancesoassessmentservesasa
developmentalactivityaimedatimprovingstudentlearning.Assessmentshouldalsoprovidestudentsandstaffwithopportunitiesto
reflectonboththeirpracticeandtheirlearningoverall.

Reporting
Reportingistheprocessbywhichassessmentinformationiscommunicatedtohelpstudents,parents,teachersandthesystemtomake
decisionsbyprovidinginformationaboutwhatstudentsknowandcando,togetherwithrecommendationsfortheirfuturelearning.
SeetheStudentreportswebsite(http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/Pages/studentreports.aspx)forfurtherdetails.

Presentations and workshops

Assessmentpresentation(PPT1,005Kb)(ppt1,022.5kb)
(http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/support/assessmentpres.ppt)

Thispresentationoutlinesthekeyconceptsunderlyingeffectiveassessment.PrincipalsandleadershipteamscanpresentthePowerPoint
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/Pages/advice.aspx

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slideshowstostafftofamiliarisethemwiththeconceptsofassessmentfor,asandoflearning.Itincludesquestionsandactivitiesaswellas
speakernotes.

Assessment Advice workshop

ThisworkshopfamiliarisesanddeepensunderstandingoftheDepartmentsAssessmentAdviceinrelationtocurriculumplanning.The
workshoptakesapproximately90minutestocompleteandcanbedeliveredinsections.ThisworkshopconsistsofaPowerPointpresentation
andtwoworksheets.
TheAssessmentAdvicepresentation(PPT621Kb)(ppt640.5kb)
(http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/support/assessmentadvice.ppt)outlinesthekeyconceptsunderlyingeffective

assessment.PrincipalsandleadershipteamscanpresentthePowerPointslideshowstostafftofamiliarisethemwiththeconceptsof
assessmentfor,asandoflearning.Itincludesquestionsandactivitiesaswellasspeakernotes.
NotesfortheAssessmentAdvicePowerPointpresentation(Word57Kb)(doc77.5kb)
(http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/support/asstadvicepptnotes.doc)provideacompletesetofthenotesoneachofthe
slidesinthispresentation.
Worksheet1(Word28Kb)(doc46.5kb) (http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/support/asstdefworksheet1.doc)assists
teacherstocomparetheircurrentunderstandingofassessmentwiththeVictorianDepartmentofEducationsAssessmentAdviceandsupports
Slide5oftheAssessmentAdvicePowerPointpresentation.
Worksheet2(Word26Kb)(doc45.5kb) (http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/support/effectiveasstworksheet2.doc)is
aYCharttobeusedonslideson11,15and2024.Thistoolallowsteacherstolistassessmentapproachesforeachtypeofassessment,
assessmentforlearning,assessmentaslearningandassessmentoflearning.

Discussion Starters
Thesediscussionstarters(http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/Pages/discussstart.aspx)areforuseinastaffmeetingor
asaprofessionaldevelopmentactivity.Theyareextractsfromrecentresearchintoassessmentandhaveanumberofquestionstoencourage
thinkinganddiscussiononassessmentfor,asandoflearning.Thequestionsareastarteronlyandmorecanbeadded.

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