A Whole School Approach to Assessing Personal and Interdisciplinary Learning

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A Whole School Approach to Assessing Personal and
Interdisciplinary Learning

• Lets Get Essential Conference
• School Library Association of Victoria
• Jennifer Bryce

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VICTORIAN ESSENTIAL LEARNING STANDARDS

• Discipline based
• eg
• English
• LOTE
• Mathematics
• Science
• Humanities
• Arts

• Interdisciplinary and Social/ Personal
• eg
• Communication
• Thinking processes
• Interpersonal Development
• Personal Learning
• CROSS-CURRICULAR

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What do we mean by cross-curricular skills?

• Context independent
• not tied to a particular domain of knowledge
• independent of particular curriculum boundaries
• independent of skills specific to particular
  occupations or industries
• Learned and practised within particular contexts,
  but transferable from one context to another
• Complex combinations of cognitive and affective
  elements
• Mayer Committee combination of knowledge,
  skills and understanding
• not atomistic behaviours

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Example from the National Goals of Schooling

• Schooling should develop fully the talents and
  capacities of all students. In particular, when
  students leave schools they should
• have the capacity for, and skills in, analysis
  and problem solving and the ability to
  communicate ideas and information, to plan and
  organise activities and to collaborate with others

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Why is cross-curricular important these days?
Economic work-related (eg Mayer Key Competencies)
Information age knowledge-related (eg National
Goals of Schooling)
VELS (Interdisciplinary/ Social Personal)
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What are the main challenges posed by a
cross-curricular approach to learning?

• Secondary school teachers are not used to working
  outside their curriculum areas
• Interfaculty communication
• It makes you think about students in a different
  way.

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Some benefits mentioned by teachers

• Helps students with special learning needs to
  become independent learners
• It creates an opportunity to move in what is
  otherwise a very static picture
• Provides possibility of recognition for students
  regarded as failures in discipline areas.

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Development of cross-curricular skills encourages
a focus on the whole student (often lost in
secondary schools)

• a means of drawing together people with
  significant roles in students education
• a means of putting into practice some current
  beliefs about pedagogy eg the learning that
  takes place outside the classroom should be
  valued

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What is a whole school approach to assessment?

• Aims to produce a whole school or common view of
  a student in a single, integrated report
• Combines the views of teachers and, if
  appropriate, other personnel who are in a
  position to judge a students performance
• People other than classroom teachers may
  contribute to the assessment eg librarians,
  sports coaches, the school principal, employers
• May include student self assessment.

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Assessment for Working with Others

• Music teacher A
• Maths teacher B
• SOSE teacher D

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Assessment for Working with Others(using the
Whole School Assessment package)
Music 9
Maths 6
SOSE 5
Art 4
Employer 5
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What teachers have said about Whole School
Assessment

• It acknowledges teachers professional judgment
• Teachers make judgments most of the time they
  teach
• Know students have a gut feeling
• Contributing to an overall judgment not
  assessing in isolation

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OVERVIEW OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT PROCESS
ACER Software
Professional Development
Set up software Excel files to teachers
Teachers assess
Overall assessor
Reporting
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The program manager

• Sets up the data base and enters the main details
  
• Integrates teachers assessments (Excel files)
  into the data base
• Prints students reports
• Extracts analyses of the assessments to provide
  appropriate whole school data.

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The teachers

• Have a shared understanding of the
  cross-curricular skills to be assessed.
• Enter their assessments into an excel file with
  the names of students they are to assess,
  produced by the program manager.
• Assess each student on the agreed
  cross-curricular skills using a
• 9-point scale, making a global impression
  judgement, assisted, if they wish, by level
  descriptors.

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The overall assessor(s)

• Reviews the assessments of teachers, using the
  software.
• Establishes the final assessment for each student
  on each cross-curricular skill.

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Students reports

• provide a synthesis of teachers judgments
• indicate the amount of agreement about a
  students cross-curricular skills
• can show the group average and range of scores
  (but this is optional)

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Generic Skills Level 4 Level 4 Level 4 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 6 Level 6 Level 6
Codes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Written communication
Mean Range I I
Oral communication
Mean Range I I
Logical reasoning
Mean Range I I
Interpretive reasoning
Mean Range I I
Planning organising
Mean Range I I
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How might this process be applied to assessing
the VELS?

• Assume that we have a Year 9 class and that we
  are looking at Thinking Processes
• Standards
• Reasoning, processing and inquiry, concerned with
  framing questions, gathering information and
  making judgements about the worth of the
  information
• Creativity, concerned with generating imaginative
  solutions to problems and
• Reflection, evaluation and metacognition which is
  concerned with thinking processes and tools.

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Start with professional development

• Shared understanding of standards?
• Teachers might look at an example of a Yr 9
  students imaginative solution to a problem and
  consider whether that student would be graded
  Level 4/5, 5/6 or 6.

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Teachers could use a schema like this(Thinking
Processes, Year 9) hypothetical
Standard Level 4/ 5 Below expected achievement Level 4/ 5 Below expected achievement Level 4/ 5 Below expected achievement Level 5/6 Expected achievement of Year 9 students Level 5/6 Expected achievement of Year 9 students Level 5/6 Expected achievement of Year 9 students Level 6 Above expected achievement Level 6 Above expected achievement Level 6 Above expected achievement
Codes 1 low 2 med 3high 4 low 5 med 6 high 7 low 8 med 9 high
Codes The student The student The student The student The student The student The student The student The student
Reasoning, processing inquiry is aware of different question types and can use a limited range of them is aware of different question types and can use a limited range of them is aware of different question types and can use a limited range of them uses a range of question types uses a range of question types uses a range of question types generates questions that explore a variety of perspectives generates questions that explore a variety of perspectives generates questions that explore a variety of perspectives
Reasoning, processing inquiry locates and selects information from a range of sources with guidance locates and selects information from a range of sources with guidance locates and selects information from a range of sources with guidance locates and selects relevant information from varied sources locates and selects relevant information from varied sources locates and selects relevant information from varied sources discriminates in the way they use a variety of sources discriminates in the way they use a variety of sources discriminates in the way they use a variety of sources
Reasoning, processing inquiry can distinguish fact from opinion and develop reasoned arguments supported by evidence can distinguish fact from opinion and develop reasoned arguments supported by evidence can distinguish fact from opinion and develop reasoned arguments supported by evidence can evaluate evidence, taking into account a range of points of view can evaluate evidence, taking into account a range of points of view can evaluate evidence, taking into account a range of points of view can make informed decisions based on their analysis of various perspectives and sometimes contradictory information can make informed decisions based on their analysis of various perspectives and sometimes contradictory information can make informed decisions based on their analysis of various perspectives and sometimes contradictory information
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Personal Learning, Year 6 hypothetical
Standard Level 3/4 Below expected achievement Level 3/4 Below expected achievement Level 3/4 Below expected achievement Level 4 Expected achievement of Year 9 students Level 4 Expected achievement of Year 9 students Level 4 Expected achievement of Year 9 students Level 4/5 Above expected achievement Level 4/5 Above expected achievement Level 4/5 Above expected achievement
Codes 1 low 2 med 3 high 4 low 5 med 6 high 7 low 8 med 9 high
Codes The student The student The student The student The student The student The student The student The student
The individual learner can identify strategies that will enhance their own learning can identify strategies that will enhance their own learning can identify strategies that will enhance their own learning has preferred learning styles and uses strategies that will promote their learning. has preferred learning styles and uses strategies that will promote their learning. has preferred learning styles and uses strategies that will promote their learning. uses an expanded repertoire of learning strategies appropriate to particular tasks uses an expanded repertoire of learning strategies appropriate to particular tasks uses an expanded repertoire of learning strategies appropriate to particular tasks
The individual learner is aware of their learning strengths and weaknesses is aware of their learning strengths and weaknesses is aware of their learning strengths and weaknesses can monitor and describe their progress in learning can monitor and describe their progress in learning can monitor and describe their progress in learning can identify their strengths and weaknesses and take action to address weaknesses. can identify their strengths and weaknesses and take action to address weaknesses. can identify their strengths and weaknesses and take action to address weaknesses.
The individual learner with assistance can set own learning goals with assistance can set own learning goals with assistance can set own learning goals can negotiate learning improvement goals and justify learning choices that they make can negotiate learning improvement goals and justify learning choices that they make can negotiate learning improvement goals and justify learning choices that they make seeks and responds to feedback from peers, teachers and other adults. seeks and responds to feedback from peers, teachers and other adults. seeks and responds to feedback from peers, teachers and other adults.
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A Whole School approach to assessment
IT teacher
Librarian
Maths teacher
STUDENT
Self assessment
English teacher
Employer