Assessment @ APS

At Albany Primary School, we are guided by clear assessment purpose, underpinned by Assessment for Learning practices. The primary purpose of assessment is to improve students’ learning and teachers’ teaching as both respond to the information it provides. Assessment for learning is an ongoing process that arises out of the interaction between teaching and learning. What makes assessment for learning effective is how well the information is used.

Assessment.mp3

Listen to Nullah (Y5) talking about our assessment ethos and sharing some examples of teacher-led assessment to help our teaching and learning progress.

Assessment 2.mp3

Here is Aanvi (Y5) describing what student-led assessment means for her as a learner at APS and how it directly feeds her next steps for learning.

Assessment by Y2.mp3

Listen to our Year Two teachers talk about their assessment pedagogies and use of assessment to inform their teaching and learning. At Albany Primary School, we are guided by clear assessment purpose, underpinned by Assessment for Learning practices. The primary purpose of assessment is to improve students’ learning and teachers’ teaching as both respond to the information it provides. Assessment for learning is an ongoing process that arises out of the interaction between teaching and learning. What makes assessment for learning effective is how well the information is used.

System improvement

Assessment can do more than simply diagnose and identify students’ learning needs; it can be used to assist improvements across the education system in a cycle of continuous improvement.

· Students and teachers can use the information gained from assessment to determine their next teaching and learning steps.

· Parents, families and whānau can be kept informed of next plans for teaching and learning and the progress being made, so they can play an active role in their learners’s learning.

· School leaders can use the information for school-wide planning, to support their teachers and determine professional development needs.

· Communities and Boards of Trustees can use assessment information to assist their governance role and their decisions about staffing and resourcing.

· The Education Review Office can use assessment information to inform their advice for school improvement.

· The Ministry of Education can use assessment information to undertake policy review and development at a national level, so that government funding and policy intervention is targeted appropriately to support improved student outcomes.

(Retrieved Feb 2021 assessment.TKI)

Using Assessment

To better inform teaching and learning, achievement data is critically analysed at syndicate and school level through professional dialogue so that teaching and learning is better informed. This information also identifies and tracks individuals, cohorts and school trends.

We utilise a variety of assessment methods (formative and summative) to ensure that the assessment information we collect is:

· timely

· meaningful

· informing teaching

· supporting students learning

Together learners and teachers share assessment information and this forms the basis for all learning conversations.

Assessment @ APS (student).mp4

Watch and hear some of our students talk about what they think assessment is and how it fits into their lives as an Albany learner.

The Stakeholders of assessment and learning

This diagram shows the different groups of people involved in supporting students’ learning and the purposes for which they need assessment information.

Stakeholders and their use of assessment at

Albany Primary

1. With and by Learners:

· To share where they are at in their learning journey and co-construct individualised learning pathways (which may include cross-curricula, social and learning competencies).

2. With and by Teachers and School Leadership:

· To inform teaching and learning.

· To identify individual and group areas of need for planning across all learning areas (which may include cross-curricula, social and learning competencies).

· To track progress of individuals, groups, targets and cohorts within a year, and from year to year on a school wide basis.

· To indicate areas that may require specific funding for resources and Professional Development.

3. With Parents:

· To inform parents of their child’s current achievement, progress, next steps - in relation to National Curriculum levels (National Standards) across the curriculum areas, including social and learning competencies.

4. Sharing with Board of Trustees and Community:

· To provide school wide information related to coverage and achievement in all curriculum areas, with particular focus on National Standards, school targets and national referenced data.

5. Albany Whanau Ki te Ako - Community of Learning (CoL)

· To gather, moderate, analyse and evaluate school wide information to map progress against the achievement challenges.

6. Reporting to the Ministry:

· To meet the requirement of NAG 2(a).

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