Rationale
Parents/carers have the right to expect comprehensive, accessible and accurate information on the achievements of their child. Staff at Campbell Primary School actively facilitate timely communication with parents throughout the school year through a range of appropriate assessment and reporting mechanisms. Our communication with parents is professional, honest, accurate and timely.
Campbell Primary School staff value the relationship between themselves and parents of students and believe that effective partnerships between parents and staff enhance the opportunities to improve student outcomes.
Assessment & Evaluation
Assessment is the central process in instruction. It is the bridge between teaching and learning. Assessment refers to the stage of gathering data. Evaluation is the stage of making judgements about the information gathered. Teachers draw conclusions about the progress of students and the effectiveness of teaching plans from the assessment data. The analysis of the data is essential because assessment without evaluation is meaningless.
Purpose of Assessment
The purpose of assessment is to be able to make judgements regarding student progress and the effectiveness of teaching and learning programs and whole school initiatives. Schools are expected to seek continuous improvement of student achievement and are accountable for their effectiveness in doing so. We employ a range of strategies to gather information to determine the standard of student achievement. School-based and systemic assessment data are used to inform whole school planning. Staff investigate the data and determine the direction of learning programs in subsequent years. Strategies are put in place through the Business Plan and Operational Plans to address areas of concern and processes for monitoring the effectiveness of the approach undertaken are described.
Guiding Principles of Assessment
Assessment should be an integral part of Teaching and Learning
Assessment opportunities should arise naturally out of the teaching and intended learning of the curriculum. Assessments should be carefully constructed to enable judgements to be made about students’ progress in ways that contribute to ongoing learning.
Assessment should be educative
Assessment practices should be educationally sound and contribute to learning. Assessment activities should:
- Encourage in-depth and long-term learning;
- Provide feedback that assists students in learning and informs teachers’ planning; and,
- Make explicit to students the assessment criteria to focus their attention on what they have to achieve and provide students with feedback about their progress.
Assessment needs to be comprehensive and balanced across various domains of learning. With support, students can learn to assess and evaluate their own learning in a way that further extends that learning.
Assessment should be fair
Assessment needs to take account of the diverse needs of students. They should provide valid information on the actual ideas, processes, products and values expected of students. A valid assessment is one that assesses what it is supposed to assess.
Assessments should be designed to meet their specific purposes
There are two purposes of assessment: summative assessment (assessment of learning) and formative assessment (assessment for learning). It is expected that teachers use a balance of summative and formative assessments to gather evidence of student achievement.
Summative assessment involves assessment procedures that aim to determine students’ learning at a particular time e.g. When reporting against the achievement standards, after completion of a unit of work, or at the end of a term or semester.
Formative assessment involves a range of formal and informal assessment procedures used by teachers during the learning process to improve student achievement and to inform subsequent teaching. It often involves qualitative feedback (rather than scores) that focuses on the details of specific knowledge and skills that are being learnt.
Assessment should lead to informative reporting
Reporting should provide an accurate summary of formative and summative assessment information collected for each student. The purpose of reporting is to provide feedback to students, parents and teachers. The information is also valuable for school and system-wide planning.
Assessment should lead to school-wide evaluation processes
Highly effective schools pay particular attention to teachers’ qualitative and quantitative data and standardised test data. Teachers and school leaders need to understand current and past student achievement levels, be explicit about targets for improvement and be explicit about how progress towards those targets will be monitored.
Assessment Strategies
The following strategies enable teachers to find out where students are in their learning:
- Observations
- Student work samples
- One-to-one conferencing
- Interviews
- Open-ended tasks
- Demonstrations by students
- Teacher-devised tests
- Standardised assessments e.g. NAPLAN
All the information teachers collect about their students should become an integral part of the planning of instructional activities. Teachers meet regularly in year level team meetings to discuss student achievement to ensure consistency in judgements and that students are attaining expected standards.
A range of tools are used throughout the school to gather information regarding whole school achievement. An overview of the Assessment Schedule within each year level is in Appendix A.
Procedures for Assessment and Reporting
- Staff will use the Western Australian Curriculum, Kindergarten Guidelines, Early Years Learning Framework, School Business Plan, School Based Operational Plans, Intervention Plans and overviews to guide teaching, assessment and reporting in line with School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA).
- Staff will have evidence/work samples and student performance data to support on balance judgements which are consistent with the school’s assessment policy.
- Teachers will use the Student Information System (SIS) to report on student achievement in all learning areas as prescribed by Campbell Primary School ‘Reporting to Parents Schedule’.
- Teachers will use the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) which is completed in Year 3 and 5 in Term 2, Student Achievement Information System (SAIS), Educational Assessment Reporting System (EARS), school focused assessment tools: ACER and teacher judgement to plan for improved learning, inclusive of all students.
- Year level common assessment tasks are administered and teachers meet as a team to analyse and evaluate work samples. This ensures consistency in judging achievement and ensuring expected standards are maintained across the school.
- Judgements regarding achievement of the expected standards are made through reference to SCSA Judging Standards and exemplars.
- Teachers will engage in school based data collection and moderation processes to ensure consistent judgements relating to student achievement. Teachers make comparisons of student work samples to the A-E exemplars across the various learning areas.
- The reporting process will involve parents, students, teachers and the Department of Education.
- Parents/caregivers will be given opportunity to be involved and engaged in the reporting process.
In addition to the 2 formal end of semester reports for Kindergarten to Year 6, there will be a range of other formal and informal reporting that may include:
- Teacher contact early in Term 1 with families as an introduction and to gather valuable information about a child’s strengths, interests, learning needs and anything else that will support their planning – school closed for half a day;
- Parent/Carer –Teacher meetings;
- Formal interviews throughout the year as needed;
- Communication books and diaries as needed;
- Phone calls and/or email communications as needed;
- Case conferences for students with learning difficulties;
- Tests and Assessment Tasks;
- English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) Program: Students may receive specific EAL/D grades and comments;
- Informal reporting in the form of everyday evidence of student progress, which may include work samples, parent/teacher discussions, telephone calls or emails;
- Performance evenings;
- Parent Forums/Workshops to support Curriculum direction and implemented programs;
- NAPLAN reports in Years 3 and 5 sent home in September each year; and,
- Pre-Primary On-Entry Reports sent home at the end of Term 1.
- Staff will report to parents where it is identified that students are at risk and provide timely information regarding their learning program and progress. This will be attended to through the formal reporting process, Independent Educational Plans (IEP) using SEN planning for particular students if required and by teacher or parent request.
- A database of families that require two separate reports issued will be maintained at the school. The front office staff will facilitate emailing of the second report.
- Reports will not be issued prior to the due date of distribution.
Student feedback
Students are provided with feedback on their performance in a variety of ways:
- Individual conferencing with students during learning activities;
- Written feedback on work samples;
- Three-way interviews with parents when needed;
- Test results in various learning areas with comments from the teacher highlighting gaps and strengths;
- End of semester reports;
- NAPLAN reports; and,
- Merit Certificates.
Responsibilities
Teachers:
- Develop valid and reliable assessment practices that inform future planning.
- Mark/assess all student learning activities / tasks.
- Ensure that students understand and are involved in the assessment process.
- Provide specific and timely feedback to students to enhance future learning.
- Participate in professional collaboration to ensure consistency of judgement.
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date student assessment records.
- Reflect on and evaluate their teaching practices.
- Ensure that duplicate copies of reports are distributed.
Students:
- Contribute to discussions about assessments at appropriate developmental levels.
- Make constructive and honest assessments of their own and other’s learning using criteria.
- Develop goals to support ongoing improvement.
- Seek and act upon feedback.
Parents:
- Communicate relevant information and feedback that may affect their child’s ongoing learning.
- Work with their children to set goals for improvement.
Glossary of Terms
SCSA: School Curriculum and Standards Authority. Responsible for setting standards of student achievement and for the assessment and certification of student achievement according to those standards
SIS: Student Information System: Department software which teachers use to record progress, achievement, behaviour, attendance and student information.
NAPLAN: National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy, which are the Nation-wide assessments in English and Mathematics completed in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Reporting to Parents Schedule: School based guide to curriculum focus areas for each year.
SAER Reports: Students at Education Risk: Modified reports are developed specific to the student’s requirements and aligned to the Individual Education Plan designed for the student.
SEN: Students identified with special educational needs.
Assessment Schedule Appendix A