4 Assessment for learning ideas

According to the NZC Key Competencies are capabilities for living and lifelong learning. The five key competencies identified in The New Zealand Curriculum are:

• • • thinking

    • using language, symbols, and texts

    • managing self

    • relating to others

    • participating and contributing.

Further, these competences are “more complex than skills, … drawing on knowledge, attitudes, and values in ways that lead to action. They are not separate or stand-alone. They are the key to learning in every learning area.” (NZC 2007:12)

The NZC states that the primary purpose of assessment is to improve students’ learning and teachers’ teaching as both student and teacher respond to the information that it provides. (NZC 2007:39)

It also states that “Teaching and learning programmes are developed through a wide range of experiences across all learning areas,  with a focus on literacy and numeracy along with the development of values and key competencies.” (NZC 2007:41) and that “students have opportunities to achieve to the best of their abilities across the breadth and depth of the NZC - values, key competencies, and learning areas - laying a foundation for living and for further learning.” (NZC 2007:41)

It is therefore important to include the key competencies when considering what and how we are going to assess in our classrooms.

In the following pages we look at some ideas on how to set goals and assess the key competencies.

Thinking

• • making sense of information, experiences, and ideas

    • Provide opportunities for your students to use alternative ways to demonstrate their knowledge or skills

      • SOLEs

    • learning to think about our thinking

      • SODA - Tony Ryan’s Thinkers Keys

      • Thinking Hats

      • Habits of mind

    • learning to ask questions

      • RMM

Using Language, symbols, and texts

• • understanding the different systems that represent and communicate information, experiences, and ideas

    • Ensure that Speaking, Presenting, Viewing, and Listening are not lost at the expense of Reading and Writing

      • Presentation tools

      • Movie making

      • Dance

    • Network, upskill, and use technology

      • Google apps/Hapara

        • Use Google docs

        • Create and Share Google doc

        • Use folders in google docs

        • Manage chrome extensions

Managing self

• • being able to set goals, make plans, manage their work, and set high standards for themselves

    • Create a self-organised learning culture

      • Individual timetables - daily/weekly

      • Independent rotations and break times

    • Honour progress over attainment at all times

      • Personal goals vs standardised goals

        • Right task/right time

        • Being prepared for the next task

    • The Evidence Space

Relating to others

• • interacting effectively with a wide range of people in different contexts

    • find ways for your traditional non-achievers to regularly succeed and your traditional achievers to be regularly challenged

    • Give your students rich, non-traditional, examples of work

      • spoken word poetry

      • dance

      • youtube

      • vimeo

Participating and contributing

• • being actively involved in communities

    • Encourage collaborative assessment within your class

      • eg., students working together as a group to assess their maths

    • Encourage your students to create rich, non-traditional, examples of work

      • spoken word poetry

      • dance

      • youtube

      • vimeo

    • Seek other ways to get your students formally recognised and authentically collaborating

    • eg., national and international challenges and competitions.