Diagnostic Assessment
Diagnostic assessment tools are used to gather evidence of student progress and to inform teaching and learning, as well as any highlight any differentiation that may be required to meet individual student needs.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessments are incorporated as a regular part of teaching and learning to track student progress and allow teachers to provide relevant and timely targeted feedback to individual students.
Summative Assessment
Teachers administer summative assessment for the purposes of reporting to parents/carers and to gather evidence of student learning against the relevant achievement standards. These assessment are mostly done at the end of a unit of work.
Reporting
At the end of first semester in 2008 we began reporting using OneSchool. This report card has been initiated in all Queensland schools as a means of communicating to parents about how their child is performing. These report cards indicate a student’s achievement using a five point scale. The report card details the areas being studied and the student’s achievement, behaviour and effort. It also gives parents a better idea of how their child is progressing by setting out student achievements for each learning area against what is expected for that time of the year, using the ratings A, B, C, D and E.
The A — E grading process won’t apply to students in years 1–3. Reports for these children will focus on their development rather than a grading. Their parents will receive a different report card with five ratings — 'Very High', 'High', 'Sound', 'Developing', and 'Support'.
The collecting of evidence by teachers to support the ratings of your child requires moderation against specific standards. Moderation requires teachers to take work samples and tests from each child and each class and compare these with other students and classes.
A child will receive a C or a 'Sound' if their work shows evidence that they are working at class level. This rating is what we expect most children to achieve. In order for a child to achieve above this they would need to have evidence in their assessment pieces that they are working above the expected class level. This is the point that distinguishes this reporting from all previous reporting and may vary from one semester to another or one year to another depending on what the child produces.
NAPLAN
The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual national assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. All students in these year levels are expected to participate in tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. All government and non-government education authorities have contributed to the development of NAPLAN materials.