Module 4: Initial assessment

Module 4 focuses on Assessment for learning and the initial assessments used with students to determine their level of understanding. The purpose and validity of the assessments are important considerations. For an assessment to be purposeful, the information gained must be critical to the learning that follows.

Overview of Module

Validity is a property of inferences, not of assessments. “One validates, not a test, but an interpretation of data arising from a specified procedure.”

(Cronbach, 1971; emphasis in original)

(Wiliam, D., The relationship between curriculum and assessment, SSAT Conference on Principled curriculum design: Tools for schools)

http://www.redesigningschooling.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Dylan-Assessment-Presentation-Manchester.pdf

Assessment for learning and diagnostic assessments

Assessment for learning involves teachers using evidence about students' knowledge, understanding and skills to inform their teaching. Sometimes referred to as ‘formative assessment', it usually occurs throughout the teaching and learning process to clarify student learning and understanding.

BOSTES http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/assessment-for-as-and-of-learning/

Assessment for learning

Assessment for learning: • reflects a view of learning in which assessment helps students learn

better, rather than just achieve a better mark • involves formal and informal assessment activities as part of learning

and informs the planning of future learning • provides effective feedback that motivates the learner and can lead

to improvement • reflects a belief that all students can improve • involves teachers, students and parents reflecting on evidence • is inclusive of all learners

BOSTES http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/assessment-for-as-and-of-learning/

Assessment for learning

Source: Mathematics K-10 Syllabus

• Assessment is at the forefront of programming

• Can begin the planning cycle at any point

• When using assessment for learning and diagnostic tasks, we begin the cycle here

Assessment for learning

Programming flowchart from A process for programming a unit of learning Mathematics K-10 course https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/australiancurriculuminnsw/professional-learning/curriculum

Assessment for learning is any assessment for which the first priority in its design and practice is to serve the purpose of promoting students’ learning. It thus differs from assessment designed primarily to serve the purposes of accountability, or of ranking, or of certifying competence. An assessment activity can help learning if it provides information that teachers and their students can use as feedback in assessing themselves and one another and in modifying the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged. Such assessment becomes ‘‘formative assessment’’ when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet learning needs.

What the research says:

Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, and Wiliam, Studies in Educational Evaluation 37 (2011) 3–14 http://www.udir.no/PageFiles/Vurdering%20for%20laring/Dokumenter/Bibliotek/2/What%20is%20a

ssessment%20for%20learning%5B1%5D.pdf

Formative assessment - Dylan Wiliam http://www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk/videos/expertspeakers/formativeassessmentdylanwiliam.asp 1 69 Assessment for learning Dylan Wiliam Learning and teaching YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOHhJorBjwU Embedded Formative Assessment - Dylan Wiliam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3HRvFsZHoo

What the research says: Videos to view on formative assessment (optional)

Diagnostic assessment: Where are my students now?

‘new thinking about assessment is focussing on understanding where students are in their learning in order to identify

appropriate starting points for action and evaluate the effectiveness of such action…’

‘…assessment is moving to a more continuous, personalised and targeted process of identifying and addressing learning needs with a focus on students’ ongoing growth.’

Geoff Masters AO, ACER Chief Executive Professor

Diagnostic assessment: Where are my students now?

Diagnostic assessments that find starting points for action are distinct from other forms of assessment as they happen prior to instruction. It is important that diagnostic assessments include notes and annotations so they can be kept for later comparison and reference.

Diagnostic assessment: Where are my students now?

In this module you will be completing tasks involving a one-on-one interview style assessment (SENA). It is ideal to be able to assess all of your students to learn more about what each of your students already knows. In cases where this is not possible. Teachers can utilise Stage-based whole-class written assessments that have been developed to assist in determining target students to conduct the individual assessment with. (These can be found in the resource section of this module.)

Whole class assessments

Whole-class assessment can be used for all students. Analysis will show students that teachers are uncertain about in terms of skills and strategies, or who are using inefficient strategies. The individual SENA assessment should then be conducted to gather further information.

Whole class assessment

Further mathematics diagnostic tasks can also be access here http://numeracyskills.com.au/assessment-resources and there are also a number of

other assessment tasks in the DENS books (Developing efficient numeracy strategies)

SENA: Schedule for Early Number Assessment

View video SENA explained

SENA explained

SENA 1 The Kindergarten Best Start assessment includes most of the SENA 1 tasks so SENA 1 is recommended for students in Early Stage 1.

Selecting the appropriate SENA

Some Stage 1 students may also need to be assessed using SENA 1 as a starting point along with other groups of students such as; refugee students, new arrivals or students with additional needs.

SENA 2 A "rule of thumb" for when to use SENA 2 Once students are at the Counting-on-and-back stage, it can be assumed that most students would be better assessed using SENA 2.

Selecting the appropriate SENA

If a student counts-on or uses a facile counting strategy, then SENA 2 is the appropriate assessment schedule for that particular student.

SENA 3 In SENA 3 both fractions and decimals and assessed, therefore this assessment is mostly appropriate for students in Stage 2 or beyond. For SENA 3, students need to be already using a variety of non-count-by-one strategies for place value tasks.

Selecting the appropriate SENA

Students should already be able to mentally add and subtract two-digit and three-digit numbers. Note that some of the initial place value, counting tasks and fractions tasks may be able to be undertaken by later Stage 1 students.

SENA 4 Is most appropriate for students who are already using a range of strategies to solve tasks with the four operations. Students in later Stage 2, Stage 3 and Stage 4 are the focus for this assessment as it addresses the latter part of Aspects 4, 5 and 6.

Selecting the appropriate SENA

SENA 4 has a greater emphasis on decimal place value, multiplicative thinking and multiplicative partitioning of fractions.

Viewing a student completing a SENA (1,2,3 or 4) • Choose one of the following students to view

• Download the appropriate SENA recording sheet to annotate as you view the video

• There is a folder of additional videos you can access for future PL

Activity 1: Viewing a SENA

SENA 1 SENA 2 SENA 3 SENA 4

End Kindergarten student Eimi

End Year 2 student Noah

End Year 6 student Faraz

End Year 6 student Bachio

• Use the SENA recording sheet to record the strategies the student is using while viewing student responses

• Analyse the student’s results and highlight the responses and level the student is at for each task

• These levels link to the Numeracy continuum K-10, look at the numeracy continuum from Module 3 (with levels labelled) for reference while completing this activity

Activity 1: Viewing a SENA

For individuals • Compare your SENA analysis with the annotated example

SENA recording sheets For groups • Discuss the analysis with colleagues, referencing the levels

of the Numeracy continuum K-10, for validity of teacher judgement

Reflection on Activity 1

• Decide which SENA to use to assess 2-3 students • Print a copy of the SENA recording sheet for each student

and the blackline masters needed to administer the SENA • It is recommended to read through the guidelines before

administering the SENA • Practise the SENA with a student or colleague if possible

before administering the tasks to the students

Activity 2: Administering the SENA

Do provide wait time Do allow students to use their fingers Do ask students to put their hands on the desk so that you can see how they are working out the answers Do prompt to clarify student’s thinking Do adjust the language if necessary to ensure students are not disadvantaged Do observe how the task is solved Do move on when task is too difficult Do look and listen for strategies that students use Don’t teach during the assessment Don’t indicate right or wrong answers Don’t count the counters out in front of the students

Dos and Don’ts of administering SENA

• Administer the SENA assessment with your 2-3 students

• While asking the students the questions and they are responding, take notes on the SENA recording sheet

Activity 2: Administering the SENA

• It is often helpful to be able to video or voice record the students while completing the SENA

• Videos become an excellent resource for later professional development and sharing sessions as they provide an excellent way of identifying both the verbal and non-verbal cues students use when solving problems

Activity 2: Administering the SENA

After completing the SENA assessments with 2-3 students: • highlight the students’ responses and levels (as before

with the SENA recording sheet while viewing the example student)

• if a student gave a different response, reference back to the Numeracy continuum K-10 to assist with levelling

Note: This information could be recorded in Planning for Literacy And Numeracy PLAN Software (for DoE schools) or on a numeracy class analysis sheet

Activity 3: Analysing the SENA

• Use the highlighted SENA recording sheet to assist in writing one or two personal learning goals for the students assessed.

• Print the student learning goals recording sheets to complete this activity

• Plan learning goals for Aspect 2 and/or 4* • There is a SENA ‘Teaching Points’ sheet

that may assist in this activity

Activity 3: Analysing the SENA

*This data will be used for the activity in Module 5

• Students do not need to be able to do ‘all’ of the dot points from a previous level to be placed on a higher level

• Once a student begins to show higher strategies, place the student at their most efficient strategy and continue to consolidate skills and strategies for both levels

The assessment data needs to guide the content now planned in answering Where to next? in the teaching and learning cycle for students.

Notes on Analysing the SENA

Often students are naturally more capable with addition than subtraction. If a student is able to count-on but not count-back from a number they would still be placed at Level 3 (EAS) and activities would be planned to continue to develop their counting-back strategies

• Think of it like other developmental progressions. When a child is beginning to walk they stumble. They are not ‘left’ labelled as crawlers but are referred to as walkers, possibly unsteady, but walkers

Notes on Analysing the SENA

End of Module 4: Initial assessment For accreditation please ensure all activities for this module have been

completed. All activities in Module 4 require participants to download additional documents from the resource section and need to be attached as additional documents as part of the course deliverables. This is Module 4 of 5, all five modules must be completed to receive the 12 hours of registered professional learning. Once all five modules are completed, the principal/delegate will sign off on the deliverables and the participant’s completion in the MyPL@Edu event that was scheduled by the school.