Prep to Year 10 Assessment – Assessment Professional Learning Modules

analytic rubric

an analytic rubric has a row, or column, for each individual criterion and indicates the shades of quality, usually including 4 levels of satisfactory-or-above performance. Not all criteria need be equally weighted, they might be weighted according to how important they are completing the task.

assessment as learning

assessment of learning

assessment of learning occurs when teachers use evidence of student learning to make judgements on student achievement against goals and standards.

concept map

a graphic representation of key concepts and the links, or relationships, between them. There are usually lines drawn between the concepts indicating relationships, with directional arrows and words written along so that the relationship can be 'read' from the image.

consistent judgements

when teachers can consistently agree with each other  - and with themselves on another occasion - about their judgment of student performance on the learning standards.

criteria

the specific characteristics or features of quality performance on a task. This is what the teacher - or the student - is looking for in the work.

diagnostic assessment

assessment that deliberately seeks to identify where students’ prior, or current, understandings and competencies are, and to drive the actions of the student or teacher to move the student forward in their learning. (In some cases, moving forward requires first ‘unlearning’ previously learned ideas).

feedback

information that the student gives the teacher or the teacher gives the student about learning processes and progress towards learning goals. Feedback can help students shape their learning approaches, and help teachers shape their teaching programs.

formative assessment

assessment that is interwoven with, or conducted in parallel with, learning, where regular feedback is used to form, shape or guide students learning, and to shape the teaching program.

holistic rubric

an holistic rubric judges the work as a whole, without using specific rows for each individual criterion. There is still a progression of performance levels from lower quality to higher quality, in the overall task. They are sometimes called “rocket” rubrics, because they are often presented vertically with indicators of higher levels of performance at the top of the scaling, and lower overall quality indicators listed at the bottom.

moderation

a process through which teachers can make more consistent judgements on student learning by collaborating and reaching agreement on the quality and standard of student work. Consensus moderation means using samples of student work to discuss and reach agreement on where it meets the standards - at what level of performance.

peer assessment

assessment undertaken by peers of the person assessed. For example, an audience of students assesses a solo musical performance by a fellow student, perhaps using a prepared analytic rubric. Some teachers use “buddies” who are not friends to be the peer assessor. It is possible to give credit for peer assessment - and some research indicates that students take it more seriously then.

performance assessment

in performance assessment students either do something in front of an audience (often the whole class, but sometimes just the teacher) or make a product (such as a piece of artwork, a device that solves a problem, a working model, etc). There are, of course examples where both occur, such as when a student, or group of students, create(s) an original piece of music, or a poem, and also performs it for the class and the teacher. Embedded in the process of preparing for the performance, or producing the product, students engage in intellectual challenges, learn to work in new ways, perhaps using skills and tools that are new to them.

PMI

a table with three columns to help clarify thinking of the Pluses, Minuses and Interesting aspects of an issue (an Edward de Bono activity).
Some people re-label the columns as: Plus, Minus, Innovative ideas.

PoLT

Principles of Learning and Teaching - another Flagship Strategy 1 initiative.

portfolio assessment

in portfolio assessment, students make selections of their work over a period of time to demonstrate their learning of particular aspects that are the focus of the work. They are not collections of everything the student has done, but selections. Portfolios are usually required to match the parameters that the teacher has prescribed, such as: at least two pieces that show progression or improvement over time; at least one piece of extended writing, at least one… There are some situations where the portfolio is also an example of performance assessment, such as when students select a set of writing tasks or artwork, that demonstrate their skills across a range of styles.

reliability

reproducibility or consistency of assessment processes.

rubric

a scaled means of assessing student work and distinguishing between levels of quality in the work. See also analytic rubric and holistic rubric. It is considered that an optimum  number of levels reflecting satisfactory-and-above performance is 4 - for each criterion in an analytic rubric, or in the overall holistic rubric - as this reduces the likelihood of students and teachers  will select the middle ground -  but still allows a clear differentiation of work quality.

self assessment

assessment undertaken by the student herself or himself, on her or his own criteria, or using a shared rubric (this is technically co-assessment). For example, a student regularly makes reflective entries in a journal commenting on her or his progress through that stage of learning, developing new learning goals and making plans for achieving them.

summative assessment

assessment that is used at the end of a stage of learning to sum-up or summarise what the student has achieved to that point in time.

validity

a measure of the accuracy, appropriateness and trustworthiness of the assessment evidence.

VELS

Victorian Essential Learning Standards
See: http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/