Assessment of Student Achievement and Progress Foundation to 10

Guidance

The following guidance is provided to support schools to develop and implement quality school-based assessment of students across Foundation to Level 10 (F–10).

VCAA guidance on assessment

To support schools to improve their formative assessment practices, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) has developed a series of online resources:

• Formative assessment – provides advice to teachers about how to develop formative assessment rubrics and put formative assessments into practice in the classroom.
• Insight Assessment Platform – a collection of online assessment tools aligned to the Victorian Curriculum F–10. The platform supports diagnostic and formative assessment practices and provides teachers with information they can use to target the learning needs of students as they progress. Assessments available to teachers include the English Online Interview (EOI), Mathematics Online Interview (MOI) and the Abilities Based Learning and Education Support (ABLES) tool.
• Digital Assessment Library (DAL) – a platform hosting over 270 free, online formative assessment tools to support teachers in identifying students’ strengths and areas for improvement, enabling more effective lesson planning.

Departmental guidance on assessment

The department provides guidance for teachers to support high-quality assessment practices and specific information to target the learning needs of students, see: Assessment, theory and practice within the teaching and learning cycle.

The department also provides guidance to schools on ways to strengthen assessment, as part of broader guidance on improving student outcomes.

Framework for Improving Student Outcomes 2.0

Under the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0), 'Assessment’ is identified as one of the 5 core elements that make the most difference to student outcomes.

Key dimensions of effective assessment are:

• systematic use of assessment strategies and measurement practices to obtain and provide feedback on student learning growth, attainment and wellbeing capabilities
• systematic use of data and evidence to drive the prioritisation and pace of teaching activities in schools and classrooms.

Schools are expected to align the design and delivery of school-based assessment to FISO 2.0. Online supports for effective assessment are available on the Guidance and Resources tabs of the FISO 2.0 policy.

Practice principles for excellence in teaching and learning

The practice principles for excellence in teaching and learning provide guidance for school leaders and teachers to deliver the curriculum and engage students. These include guidance on assessment approaches. Implementing the practice principles supports teachers to determine student learning needs and support students to demonstrate their level of understanding.

For example, the department’s ‘Practice Principle 6: Rigorous assessment practices and feedback inform teaching and learning’ outlined in the Professional Practice Note 6 (PDF) provides guidance for teachers and school leaders on formative assessment and how to build it into regular classroom practice. Professional Practice Note 6 recommends 4 actions:

• teachers design authentic, fit for purpose assessments to reflect the learning program and objectives
• teachers use assessment data to diagnose student learning needs and plan for learning
• teachers provide regular feedback to students on their progress against individual learning goals and curriculum standards
• teachers analyse student achievement data to improve their practice.

The Reflection Tools booklet and Essential Resources support schools to reflect on the use of the practice principles and evaluate their impact. These resources are available on the Practice principles for excellence in teaching and learning page.

To support teachers to evaluate their impact on student learning growth, the department provides a toolkit, Evaluate the impact of your teaching.

To support teachers and schools to reflect on and improve their assessment practices, Understand assessment design – the what, when and how of assessment offers guidance across the following 6 topics:

• Understand assessment design
• Assess the knowledge and understanding of your students
• Assess the capabilities and skills of your students
• Assess the attitudes, motivations and dispositions of your students
• How to interpret assessment data
• Understand your impact on student learning growth.

Formative assessment strategies

Formative assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning for both teachers and their students.

Effective formative assessment establishes students’ learning progression against the Victorian Curriculum F–10 achievement standards and helps a teacher understand what each student is ready to learn next. The results of formative assessment support teachers to set learning goals in the classroom and differentiate their teaching pace. Formative assessment can also support teachers to monitor the impact of their actions and adapt their practice.

Best practice formative assessment is embedded in the curriculum program and teachers’ units of work/learning sequences. It is rigorous and each step of the assessment process is carefully thought through. Key questions that formative assessment can answer or inform include:

• Where is the student currently along the Victorian Curriculum F–10 learning continuum for each curriculum area?
• What does the student need to do to achieve learning goals?
• How will the teacher and student know that the student has achieved learning goals?
• How can the assessment information be used to influence student goal setting and lesson planning for improved student learning outcomes?

For further information, examples and resources to support teachers and schools to strengthen formative assessment practices, refer to: Formative Assessment Strategies for Teaching and Learning (DOCX). The strategies described in this resource can be modified to suit different learning stages, curriculum areas and school types.

Teachers may want to focus on 2 to 4 strategies to monitor student progress and inform their teaching. Teachers can build a bank of formative assessment strategies over time that they can draw on to support their assessment practices and to support students to develop skills for self-assessment and peer-assessment.

Assessment of English as an Additional Language proficiency and progress

The English language proficiency of English as an Additional Language (EAL) students should be assessed using the Victorian Curriculum F–10 EAL achievement standards.

The length of time during which a student will be assessed against the EAL standards depends on many factors, such as the existing English language proficiency of the student, the number of years of schooling completed, level of literacy in their first language and background experiences.

If a teacher’s assessment of an EAL student against the English achievement standards places the student well below their peers, and the student still requires substantial support in learning English as an additional language, then teachers should continue to use the EAL standards.

The progress of students who have not yet reached an achievement standard can be reported using a departmental Reporting Resource. It will allow teachers and schools to use the Beginning (.1) and Consolidating (.2) proficiency levels for assessment and reporting purposes. These additional levels allow schools to assess whether EAL students are making satisfactory progress in learning English as an additional language before they reach the achievement standards described in the EAL curriculum.

It is not appropriate for an EAL student to be assessed against the English standards in one mode, such as Speaking and Listening, and the EAL standards in other modes. While the oral language proficiency of an EAL student may appear to correspond to that of their peers, the demands of the curriculum become more complex as students progress through the year levels, and these students can struggle to cope with the academic requirements of the English curriculum.

Once an EAL student has reached the end of their respective A, B or C pathway and achieved the standard in all 3 language modes of Speaking and Listening, Reading and Viewing, and Writing, they can be transferred to the Victorian Curriculum F–10 English for assessment and reporting purposes.

Sample progressions along the pathways of the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL are provided by the VCAA. The department has developed additional pathways and transitions resources that can support teachers' understanding of the typical language learning pathways of EAL learners.

Teachers should use a range of assessment data and strategies to inform their judgements of EAL students’ progress. For more information about the assessment of EAL students, refer to: Tools to Enhance Assessment Literacy for Teachers of English as an Additional Language.