# data[].attributes.body
Monitoring - Measuring - Reporting - Documenting

# data[].attributes.body
Monitoring, documenting and measuring conceptual understandings focus on how concepts are recalled,
explained, applied and transferred through a range of learning experiences. Skills are monitored and documented for growth over time; they manifest at different points in time and in different ways, are closely interconnected and are open to interpretation. It is, therefore, important that teachers allow for flexibility to monitor and document conceptual understandings over time.
Progress in conceptual understandings is evident when:
• the use of abstract concepts increases.
• connections are made between multiple concepts to explore the central idea.
• understandings are transferred to more complex contexts.
• actions are informed and taken based on existing and new understandings of the central idea.
Students increase their depth of understanding through adding to, expanding on, testing and adjusting their ideas. Strategies to support conceptual understandings include the following.
• Increase wait time strategy for students to answer questions so they can move beyond factual
understanding to make connections and discuss deeper understandings.
• Encourage students to use and add to concept maps to show connections and relationships between concepts.
• Use exit cards strategy for students to list their understandings of the concepts and questions they may still have.
• Use the bus stop strategy to post concepts around the learning space. Students individually or
collaboratively record, challenge, expand or add their ideas using symbols or words as they move
around the “bus stops”.
• Provide opportunities for students to think in pairs or small groups to encourage deeper discussions.
• Ask open-ended questions: For example, “What do you think?”, “How could you change the issue?”,
“What other alternatives are there?”
*(Sackstein 2016)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Changes to Queensland's senior assessment system are bringing new opportunities for schools to build on the Queensland strengths of informed professionalism and intelligent accountability . It also presents the challenge for schools to investigate, strengthen and argue for the validity of their assessment work. These materials have been developed as part of a 2016 State Government funded Horizon grant that funded a collaborative action research process with Year 11 English teachers in two senior schools that focused on strengthening

This site has links to resources and professional development materials that are designed to support teachers and schools as they strengthen the links between their assessment systems and student learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Changes to Queensland's senior assessment system are bringing new opportunities for schools to build on the Queensland strengths of informed professionalism and intelligent accountability . It also presents the challenge for schools to investigate, strengthen and argue for the validity of their assessment work.

# data[].attributes.body
In designing a holistic assessment, teachers consider the following questions.
1. What learning goals will be achieved?
2. How can I involve students in the assessment design?
3. How could students engage in dialogues with teachers about the development of learner profile
attributes?
4. What data or evidence should be gathered?
5. What tools or strategies should be used to gather data?
6. How will the evidence be monitored, documented and measured?
7. How could students be asked to evidence any additional learning?
8. How will the results be shared to feed back to the student?
9. How will the results be used to inform next steps in learning and teaching?
10. How will the results of the assessment be used to inform the learning community?
When monitoring and ocumenting student learning, the teacher considers:
• The nature of students’ inquiry over time—observing for depth and breadth.
• Students’ awareness that authentic challenges require solutions based on the integration of knowledge
that spans and connects different subjects.
• How students demonstrate and develop subject knowledge.
• How students apply their conceptual understandings to further their inquiries successfully.
• How students demonstrate and develop the approaches to learning
• ow students demonstrate both independence and an ability to learn collaboratively.

# data[].attributes.body
The assessment philosophy encourages teachers to design assessment by first identifying the desired knowledge, conceptual understandings and skills, followed by the design of the assessment, and finally planning learning activities to ensure acquisition of knowledge, conceptual understandings and skills.
In the PYP inquiry learning environment, the learning process is valued as much as the learning outcomes.
Designing assessment that are both backward by design and forward by design will ensure that knowledge,
conceptual understandings, skills and attributes of the IB Learner profile are monitored, supported and valued.

# data[].attributes.body
• making learning transparent to the teacher, the student and their families.
• building a shared understanding of what learning is to be achieved
• encouraging reflection and focused feedback.
• inviting students to take ownership of their own learning.

# data[].attributes.body
The purpose of assessment is to inform learning and teaching. It involves the gathering and analysis of information about student learning to inform teaching practice. It identifies what students know, understand and can do at different stages in the learning process.

# data[].attributes.body
Assessment for Learning

# data[].attributes.body
• Authentic: It supports making connections to the real world to promote student engagement.
• Clear and specific: This includes desired learning goals, success criteria and the process students
use to learn.
• Varied: It uses a wider range of tools and strategies that are fit for purpose in order to build a well rounded picture of student learning.
• Developmental: It focuses on an individual student’s progress rather than their performance in relation
to others.
• Collaborative: It engages both teachers and students in the assessment development and evaluation process.
• Interactive: Assessment encompasses ongoing and iterative dialogues about learning.
• Feedback to feedforward: It provides feedback on current learning to inform what is needed to support future learning (Hattie, Timperley 2007) and raises students’ motivation.

# data[].attributes.body
• Assessment is an ongoing process of gathering, analyzing, reflecting and acting on evidence of
student learning to inform teaching.
• Assessment involves teachers and students collaborating to monitor, document, measure, report
and adjust learning.
• Students actively engage in assessing and reflecting on their learning, acting on feedback from
peers and teachers to feed forward to next steps in learning.
• Fostering an assessment culture involves the development of assessment capability among all
members of the learning community.
• Learning goals and success criteria are co-constructed and clearly communicated
• Both learning outcomes and the learning process are assessed.
• Assessment design is both backward and forward looking.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Module 1 Definition of Formative Assessment

# data[].attributes.headline
Co-constructing learning goals and success criteria

# data[].attributes.subject
Co-constructing learning goals and success criteria

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Classroom Management Tips For Middle School Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Classroom of Choice: The Class Constitution

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Involving students in the creation of a Class Constitution shows the students that the teacher trusts them to be responsible for their own behavior and learning. It allows students and teachers to work together for a common goal developing a shared vision to create a productive and orderly classroom.

# data[].attributes.headline
The power of assessment from self- assessing t to self- adjusting

# data[].attributes.subject
The power of assessment from self- assessing t to self- adjusting

# data[].attributes.body
Assessment is a powerful tool to support students in becoming self-adjusting learners. As they reflect on their progress and set goals for future learning, they may consider the following questions.
• What do I need to know?
• What knowledge and skills do I need to develop in order to answer my questions?
• What steps do I need to take to ensure that my learning exemplifies quality?
• What further possibilities do I see?
• How do I incorporate feedback to achieve my learning goals?

# data[].attributes.body
Early years teachers observe how students monitor and adjust their own behaviour, especially at play, in
order to:
• build a clear picture of the student and their interests.
• identify what and how the student is thinking and learning.
• assess the effectiveness of the learning environment on the student’s learning.
• plan learning engagements for individuals and small groups.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Authentic Assessment Examples & Overview

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers in a learning community ask the following questions.
• What awareness and understanding do we have of student learning?
• What is the evidence of what students can do, say, write, create and demonstrate?
• How do we support students to understand what constitutes quality?
• What other contexts can we provide for students to practise their skills?
• What action needs to be taken to develop the learning further?
• How will we know that we have sufficiently supported student learning?
• What further learning possibilities can support? How can we identify progression in learning across
multiple contexts or units of inquiry?
• How do we use evidence of learning to plan the next learning steps with students?

# data[].attributes.headline
Effective teachers know they need to keep their eyes on three aspects of instruction: the product, the process, and assessment. In other words, what they teach, how they teach it, and how they know whether or not students learn and understand. They design specific and unique methods of instruction depending on several factors, including student needs and curriculum objectives. They also develop differing assessments, tests, quizzes, observations, and other methods of determining what a student knows. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Effective teachers know they need to keep their eyes on three aspects of instruction: the product, the process, and assessment. In other words, what they teach, how they teach it, and how they know whether or not students learn and understand. They design specific and unique methods of instruction depending on several factors, including student needs and curriculum objectives. They also develop differing assessments, tests, quizzes, observations, and other methods of determining what a student knows. 

# data[].attributes.body
• partnering with teachers to design their learning goals and success criteria.
• being able to self-assess and discuss their progress towards achieving learning goals
• selecting evidence, such as samples of their learning, that best demonstrate the intended learning goals.
• developing the metacognitive skills to reflect on their learning and to plan next steps.
• drawing on feedback and multiple strategies to adjust their learning and identify where and when to
make improvements.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In schools where assessment is being used in the service of learning we are seeing devolution of power. Responsibility for learning is being shared with learners. Creating the conditions that enable students to take shared responsibility for their learning is important because students who are immersed in highly-structured learning environments dominated by direct instruction and summative assessments often find it difficult to engage in ongoing learning.

Highly structured teaching that breaks learning into tiny pieces is a bit like paint by numbers. Some of you may have been given a paint by numbers set when you were young. There was a nice scene on the lid of the box and inside the box there was a white piece of paper covered in lots of small numbered shapes. The instructions said "paint all the 1s blue, all the 2s red" and so on. Essentially your task was to neatly put the right colours in the right places, without being messy and without painting over the lines.

Paint by numbers over-simplified teaching is not respectful towards students, teachers or important learning concepts. If students are taught in formulaic ways the learning process disappears. Contrast this that with the Stonefields School approach shown in the following video clip. I would argue that at Stonefields School assessment is clearly being used in the service of learning. Have a look and see if you can see why I say that.

To ensure a high performing system, the excellent practice illustrated in the video needs to be mirrored across the whole system. Everybody in the system needs to be learners. Why would anyone want a system where only some people are learners? Teachers set conditions for students to learn, so in the same way leaders should set conditions for teachers to learn and administrators and policy makers should set conditions for schools and school leaders to learn.

We therefore need to think about what good "assessment in the service of learning" looks like not only for students, but for teachers, leaders, administrators and policy makers. So what might we be likely to see in a system where assessment operated in the service of learning? I propose five areas for discussion. I will illustrate each point at classroom level, but each of these points is equally applicable to teacher, leader and policy maker levels.

The first thing I would expect to see if assessment was being used in the se rvic e o f le arning would be udents and for all who support their learning - teachers, parents and wider community. learning pathways that are visible to all. There would be clarity and agreement on the most valuable things all children should know and be able to do by the time they leave school and visible and understandable learning pathways would be readily available and accessible for st

The pathways might be expressed as concept maps, progressions, standards, rubrics or exemplars. However they are expressed, the point is that everyone would know what good progress looked like, and the pathways would be used in ways that support student agency. Students would use the pathways as a source of information to help them notice, recognise and respond to the question- how am I going with my learning and what might I focus on next?

The second thing I would expect to see if a system was using assessment in the service of learning is that every learner would be working towards explicit and appropriately challenging improvement goals or targets. Every learner would have something tangible to aim for. Every learner would clearly understand what she is learning, what it will mean for her when they have learnt it and what her next learning focus might be. If students don't know why they are doing something, they won't be effective learners.

When learners really understand what they are aiming for they will initiate their assessments, rather than the teacher. Learners will be saying things like - I think I've achieved my goal now, and I would like an assessment to check. Learners would get the results of their assessments immediately and they would use them to inform what they needed to learn next.

The third thing is something I would not expect to see. I would not expect to see students waiting for a teacher to tell them what to do next.

If assessment is being used in the service of learning each student will have a growth mindset. They will believe that learning takes time and effort and that if they invest time and effort they will improve. Teachers' feedback will help strengthen students' growth mindset.

For example, if a child completed some maths tasks quickly and easily- you would not hear a teacher say good boy or clever girl, they would be more likely to say, "Oh I'm sorry I've wasted your time by giving you a task that was too easy for you, let's find something more challenging."

I would also expect to see students working with their peers and other people. They would be learning through and with a broad personal learning network that was both physical and virtual. Recent studies all point in the same direction - peers working together in small and collaborative groups outperform even the most highly motivated individuals. As Vygotsky pointed out all those years ago, we all construct our own meaning, but what we can learn on our own is limited when compared to what we can learn with someone else.

My fourth point is that in a system where assessment is being used in the service of learning teachers would be sitting with students, eliciting students' ideas and deliberately building on them. When engaging with students' ideas teachers will understand that students have many different reference points.

A teacher's skilful discussion with a student could elicit:

information about students' interests and goals,

their views about what the teacher expects,

the level of support they give to and receive from other students, and

how they see themselves as learners.

My fifth and final point is that that where assessment is being used in the service of learning students will deeply understand their role as a learner and their teacher's role as a teacher. Teachers and students will be engaged in learning-focused relationships where they monitor each other. They will provide encouragement to each other when times are tough for learning or teaching, and they will provide recognition and celebration for each other when it has gone well.

Teachers will know when all of their students see themselves as learners because even the students who currently try to stay invisible will be relaxed about advocating for their own needs when they need to. They may ask other students to work more quietly, or they may ask the teacher to explain something again.

I've talked about five points with a focus on students. I suggest that if assessment is really being used in the service of learning we will see these points being modelled and enacted at all levels:

1. There will be clear learning pathways for students, teachers, leaders and policy makers and these will be visible to all

2. Every learner (students, teachers, leaders and policy makers) will be working towards explicit and appropriately challenging improvement goals or targets.

3. Teachers will be eliciting students' ideas and deliberately building on them, leaders will be listening to teachers' ideas and policy makers will be listening to leaders', teachers' and students' ideas.

4. Students will not be waiting for a teacher to tell them what to do next and in the same way teachers, leaders and policy makers will exhibit agency in their daily work.

5. Students will deeply understand their roles as learners and their teachers' roles as teachers; in the same way teachers, leaders and policy makers will deeply understand their own and each other's roles in using assessment to support students' learning.
Contact us today to learn how we can help your school or kura

Tags: assessmentforlearning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mary Chamberlain reports from the International Symposium on Classroom Assessment 2014. In schools where assessment is being used in the service of learning we are seeing devolution of power. Responsibility for learning is being shared with learners.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT MODELING What does INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT MODELING mean

# data[].attributes.body
There are no year level expectations in a series of achievement standards. No one is at, on, above or below expectations. Every student is simply at a level of
development defined by what learning is developmentally appropriate. (Griffin 2009)
Assessment in the PYP has generally followed the “backwards by design” process.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tech Tips From Teachers Formative Assessment Apps

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Documenting and assessing childrens learning - Sneak peek