Focus area 5.1 – Assess student learning
Demonstrate understanding of assessment strategies, including informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative approaches to assess student learning.
Focus area 5.3 – Make consistent and comparable judgements
Demonstrate understanding of assessment moderation and its application to support consistent and comparable judgements of student learning.
Focus area 5.5- Report on student achievement
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.
As part of the Literacy Learning in the Early Years course, I had to complete an assignment that required me to explicitly demonstrate my understanding of how student learning would be assessed through the incorporation of four different data collection tools during a whole-class co-construction of a multimodal text (5.1). Additionally, I had to exemplify how I would use assessment moderation to make consistent and comparable judgements (5.3) and suggest strategies for reporting to students and parents/carers (5.5).
To explicitly assess the reading and writing development of the class, I demonstrated my understanding of four different formative and summative assessment strategies to assess student learning and monitor progression (5.1). For example, I included in my assignment (Artefact 16) that I would incorporate the formative assessment strategy of anecdotal notes during morning literacy rotations to monitor and record the reading development of each student. I made the decision to implement anecdotal notes alongside teacher observations, as the two strategies work hand-in-hand to provide formative feedback, keep track of student progress, and ensure the teaching and learning is adapted to meet the students’ individual needs (Bates et al., 2019). To highlight my understanding of assessment moderation, I outlined in my assignment (Artefact 17) that I would implement the process before, during and after the summative assessment task to ensure I made consistent and comparable decisions based on evidence from the students’ learning (5.3). I chose to incorporate moderation throughout the co-construction process as it allowed me to create a peer-reviewed marking guide from the onset, make necessary adjustments throughout the learning, and supported the accuracy of my judgements when marking against the rubric (Department of Education, 2021). Finally, I suggested a number of effective strategies I would use to report to students and their parents/carers on their progress and academic achievement (Artefact 18) (5.5). For example, for the students I chose the feedback sandwich model rather than focusing purely on constructive feedback, as placing corrective feedback between two positive statements allows me to promote a positive growth mindset whereby students feel they can learn from their failures and mistakes (Prochazka et al., 2020).
The data collection tools and assessment strategies I included within my assignment allowed me to develop a greater understanding of how to assess, provide feedback and report on student learning (5.1). The clear and detailed explanation I provided on how moderated assessment would be used to interpret student data effectively demonstrated my ability to evaluate my students’ learning and inform my ongoing planning (5.3). Additionally, the strategies I suggested for reporting to students and parents/carers would enable me to develop positive and respectful student-teacher and teacher-parent relationships (5.5). Overall, these aspects resulted in my achievement of a high distinction, with the marker stating I had demonstrated “a strong understanding of assessment, moderation and feedback” (Artefact 19).
Whilst I was able to demonstrate my capacity to understand a range of strategies that can be used to report to students and parents/carers within my assignment, I have not had the opportunity to report on student achievement whilst on professional placement (5.5). Therefore, as I move towards the role of a graduate teacher, I will aim to apply the strategies I found to be the most effective from my research and test their overall performance within the classroom.
Artefacts
References
Bates, C., Schenck, S., & Hoover, H. (2019). Anecdotal records: Practical strategies for taking meaningful notes. YC Young Children. 74(3). 14-19. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340385517_Anecdotal_Records_Practical_Strategies_for_Taking_Meaningful_Notes
Department of Education. (2021). P-12 curriculum, assessment and reporting framework. Queensland Government. Retrieved on September 16, 2021, from https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculums/Documents/p-12-curriculum-assessment-reporting-framework.pdf
Prochazka, J., Ovcari, M., & Durinik, M. (2020). Sandwich feedback: The empirical evidence of its effectiveness. Learning and Motivation. 71. p.101649. https://doi-org.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/10.1016/j.lmot.2020.101649
