Assessment, Appraisement

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Assessment, Appraisement Ascertainment

• Presented by Michelle Aniftos
• for TEA4202/TEA3206
• Monday 19th August 2002

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Key Points

• 1 Policy accountabilities require informed
  decision-making effective learning and teaching
  methods including effective assessment,
  evaluation reporting.
• 2 Collaborative Processes - needs
  identification, IEP development, resource
  allocation, support allocation, placement
  transport issues, review and reporting
• involving District Office Staff School
  Administration Class Teacher Guidance Officers
  Specialist Staff Parents/Carers Statewide
  Representatives students.
• 3 Teacher role/responsibilities identification
  and assessment of needs engaging specialist
  support
• partnering with parents curriculum modification
  and IEP development and program implementation
  (including training for peers, parents  aide
  support).

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Assessment Reporting

• Assessment is the purposeful, systematic and
  ongoing collection of information as evidence for
  use in making judgments about student learning.
  Their purpose is to assist the improvement of
  student learning by
• allowing students to confirm what they have
  learned and find out where improvement may be
  needed
• informing teachers of areas where additional
  assistance is needed
• providing a basis for program evaluation and
  continuing curriculum improvement
• developing a sense of partnership in learning
  among parents, teachers and students.
• The school curriculum plan will describe
• the purposes of assessment
• what will be assessed
• the techniques and instruments to be used.

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Cont

• This purpose can only be realised when the cycle
  of teaching, learning, assessment and reporting
  includes reflection on past teaching and learning
  that shapes future work.
• At all levels, and particularly in the primary
  years, schools teach many of the key learning
  areas in an integrated way. Students may develop
  their literacy and numeracy skills while working
  on strands in several key learning areas
  simultaneously.
• Curriculum planning processes need to ensure
  that the approach to the eight key learning areas
  across the P-10 years is balanced and sequential.

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2002 Cusp of a new era

• The Years 1-10 Curriculum Framework for
  Education Queensland Schools announced the
  creation of a taskforce to produce a robust
  assessment and reporting framework that would
  build on the curriculum framework, respond to the
  emerging national agenda, and be agreeable to
  stakeholders. Taskforce Report.
• While acknowledging that there is a
  well-established assessment culture in Years 11
  and 12, the report concludes that no such culture
  is evident in Years 1-10.
• The Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study
  reached a similar conclusion and recommended that
  Education Queensland encourage the development of
  teachers assessment literacy, particularly in
  relation to the middle years of schooling.

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Assessment Process

• Assessment is a key element of professional
  practice informed teacher judgment is at its
  heart. Assessment builds from the curriculum
  assessment tasks come from, or are embedded in,
  curriculum tasks. (Taskforce Report)
• In the context of an outcomes approach to
  education, the assessment process involves
• providing students with opportunities to
  demonstrate core learning outcomes
• gathering and recording evidence about students'
  demonstrations of these core learning outcomes
• using this evidence as the basis for making
  overall judgments about students' demonstrations
  of core learning outcomes.

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Five elements of the assessment process

• 1. the assessment task (derived from the
  curriculum)
• 2. student performance (which is not always
  written)
• 3. a judgment of the performance with reference
  to a standard
• 4. feedback to the learner and the
  teacher/curriculum
• 5. moderation.
• The relative emphases of elements 4 and 5 depend
  on whether the assessment is primarily assessment
  for learning or assessment for reporting.

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High-quality assessment involves

• a range of task formats
• a range of response modes (providing
  opportunities for learners to show what they
  know, understand and can do in different ways
  an equity issue)
• clear criteria for assessment which are shared
  with the learner
• constructive (and realistic) feedback to the
  learner.
• Not all assessment is for reporting, or even
  recording. Where assessment is for reporting,
  however, there needs to be both a sound
  evidential base and comparability of judgment
  (across teachers and schools) to ensure
  confidence in the judgment.

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Techniques Instruments

• Techniques for gathering evidence include
  observation, consultation and focused analysis of
  student demonstrations of learning outcomes.
• Assessment instruments include, but are not
  restricted to, assignments, oral work,
  demonstrations, practical work and tests.
• Evaluation
• Having collected a range of assessment data, the
  findings are evaluated in relation to the child
  and context and curriculum in order to report on
  outcomes and to inform future planning.

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Example Assessment Methods

• Tests and assignments Students' knowledge,
  ability to solve problems or think logically.
• Projects Students' skills in collecting and
  analysing information and in writing reports.
• Portfolios Students' ability to apply their
  skills in a range of situations or to write for a
  range of audiences.
• Performance observations Students' skills in,
  for example, playing a musical instrument,
  speaking to an audience, participation in a group
  activity or manipulating equipment.
• Product observations Students' skills in, for
  example, preparing food, painting, drawing or
  model building.
• Student/teacher discussions Students'
  understanding of concepts and acquisition of
  skills.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

• DEETYA Consistency Project
• The project aimed to support teachers in
  developing processes to reach consistent
  judgements about levels of student performance on
  tasks in English, Science and Mathematics in
  middle years of schooling (y5 -8).
• Assessment Reporting In KLAs
• Assessment Reporting for Diversity

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To make reliable judgements about student
achievement, teachers should

• collect a variety of evidence of students
  demonstrating learning outcomes using a range of
  assessment strategies (classroom observations,
  tests, work folios, work products, projects,
  journals, reports, presentations, records of
  interviews, audio or video tape productions and
  student self assessments)
• make on-balance judgements about whether students
  havedemonstrated learning the outcomes,
  exercising their professional judgement about the
  relative weight of the evidence collected, and
  taking into account the range of contexts,
  frequency, consistency and degree of independence
  shown by the student in demonstrating the outcome
  
• make a summative judgement about each student's
  achievement in relation to the curriculum strands
  or modes and levels based on the outcomes
  demonstrated and taking into account the
  opportunities provided to demonstrate outcomes.

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SM-18 The Provision of Special Education
Programs and Services to Students with
Disabilities

• 1.1 Recommended placement refers to the school s
  authorised for the delivery of the special
  education program and/or services. This should be
  the school that(i) offers a program and/or
  services which addresses the ascertained
  educational needs of the student (ii) is as
  close to the student's home as possible.
• 1.2 Preferred placement refers to a special
  school, special education unit or special
  education class, primary or secondary school that
  is not the recommended placement, where a parent
  or caregiver seeks to enrol their child.
• 1.3 The ascertainment process is used to
  recommend levels of specialist educational
  support required for students with disabilities,
  based on the student's educational need arising
  from the disability.

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• 1.4 The Individual Education Plan (IEP) is
  negotiated and developed by a team that includes
  the student (if possible), parents/caregivers,
  teacher and other significant stakeholders. The
  plan documents the agreed learning outcomes for a
  student for the next six-month period.
• 1.5 Service refers to access to special education
  support provided to students with disabilities by
  a service provider - not based in that student's
  school.
• 1.6 Programs/Special Education Programs occur at
  approved schools as documented in The Directory
  of Special Services where high levels or
  different types of specialist educational support
  are provided.
• 1.7 Early Special Education Programs may be
  accessed by students with moderate to severe
  disabilities, aged from birth to six years. For
  children birth to three years, programs are
  primarily home based and for children three to
  six years, programs are provided at special
  education developmental units.

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SERVICE AND PROGRAM OPTIONS

• Education Queensland provides a range of
  educational programs and service options for
  students with disabilities in primary, secondary
  and special schools.
• Special education is additional to programs
  generally available in primary or secondary
  schools and may be delivered in a range of
  settings.

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ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Placement into a special education program (i.e.
  a special school, special education unit or
  class, special education development unit or
  centre) can only occur with the approval of the
  Manager, Education Services.
• A Program Group must be established to consider
  the specialist educational support needs of the
  student and to identify a school where a program
  or service can be delivered.

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Process for Recommended Placement

• A Program Group must be established for each
  student. A Program Group has the responsibility
  for matching the ascertained needs and
  specialised support requirements of the student
  to the program/service options available.
• The Program Group comprises the PEO(SS) or
  nominee as chair, and the students parents or
  caregiver, the principal of the school the
  student attends or nominee or,if not in a
  school, a teacher with disability specific
  knowledge. The group may also request advice from
  others whose opinions are considered relevant to
  the specific educational needs of the student.

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The Program Group must

• Consider parent/caregivers preference for a
  particular educational setting
• Consider the effect on the needs of other
  students
• Identify the nearest site to the students home
  which is coded to provide the special education
  program
• A review of the students placement must occur at
  least once every four years, in conjunction with
  the ascertainment process, or when requested by
  parents or school principal. (SM-15 section
  6.30)

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Related Policies

• CS-15 Principles of Inclusive Curriculum
• All educators must apply these principles of
  inclusive curriculum(a) in developing new
  curriculum documentation
• (b) in the composition of groups to plan,
  implement and evaluate curriculum practices and
  resources
• (c) as a checklist to plan and review teaching
  practices and learning experiences for the full
  range of social, cultural and ability groups
  and
• (d) as a basis for quality assurance reviews of
  curriculum provision for target groups.

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CS-13 Educational Provision for Students with
Learning Difficulties and Learning Disabilities

• Schools must assist students whose access to the
  curriculum is limited by learning difficulties or
  learning disabilities, to develop competencies in
  the areas of
• literacy (spoken and written language)
• numeracy (number, space and measurement)
  and/or
• learning how to learn.
• All areas of Education Queensland must implement
  a coordinated approach to providing educational
  services appropriate to the needs of all
  students.

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• Schools must(a) adopt a range of approaches to
  ensure the early identification of learning
  difficulties and disabilities across the years of
  schooling
• (b) respond to students' identified learning
  needs through effective learning and teaching
  practices
• (c) use inclusive curriculum practices which
  incorporate and capitalise on the diversity of
  knowledge, social and cultural experiences,
  beliefs and values of students
• (d) employ processes outlined in Ascertainment
  Guidelines for Students with Disabilities and
  Learning Difficulties when required so that
  appropriate specialist support and programs can
  be identified
• (e) provide a range of curriculum and program
  options designed to respond to the individual
  learning needs of these students and
• (f) employ processes which allow special
  considerations for assessment to be applied in
  order to facilitate appropriate support and
  actions when required by these students.

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SM-17 Students at Educational Risk

• The staff of Education Queensland will take all
  reasonable steps to(a) increase significantly
  the number of students completing a full twelve
  years of schooling or equivalent qualifications
  and
• (b) ensure that all students achieve educational
  outcomes to a level acceptable across the
  community, so that they are able, according to
  their potential, to participate in employment,
  lead fulfilling personal lives, and practice
  active citizenship in their communities local,
  national and global.

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Who is Appraised?

• The Appraisement process occurs when there is a
  concern about how a student is coping with one or
  more of the following literacy numeracy
  learning how to learn. (See Policy CS-13)
• School students with a hearing, vision or
  physical impairment may be involved in an
  ascertainment as well as an Appraisement. Both
  processes will occur (concurrently if possible)
  if it is believed that a student's difficulties
  with learning exceed what might be expected from
  their disability.
• Students in Education Queensland schools whose
  difficulties with learning are part of an
  intellectual impairment, speech-language
  impairment or autistic spectrum disorder will
  have their special education needs ascertained
  but not appraised.

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What is Appraisement?

• In general terms the Appraisement process
  involves
• identification of learning difficulty or learning
  disability
• collection of a range of information- to
  determine what the student knows and can do, what
  the student can do with support, and what the
  student needs to learn
• holding a team meeting to recommend a Program
  Type which meets the student's educational needs
• the collaboration of the student's class
  teacher/s and their support teacher to develop a
  Support Plan and uses the teacher's units of work
  to show how the student might be helped
  (modification to the strategies, resources and
  classroom learning environment which will enable
  the student to better access the classroom
  program).

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SM-15 Ascertainment Procedures for Students
with Disabilities

• Ascertainment is the process used to recommend
  the level of specialist educational support
  needed by students with disabilities. This
  educational support is provided by or accessed
  through specialist teaching personnel, and can be
  provided only after the ascertainment process has
  been initiated.

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The Ascertainment process consists of

• identifying and referring students with
  disabilities who may need specialist educational
  support
• recommending the support needed
• identifying types of program which can support
  this need
• reviewing the recommended level of specialist
  educational support.

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A collaborative decision-making process which
recognises the value of

• provision of quality programs to students
• assessment of students needs
• consultation with relevant professionals
• involvement of parents and caregivers in the
  process
• consideration of full range of available program
  options.
• effective utilisation of existing resources.

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What is an IEP?INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLAN

• The IEP is both a process and a product.
• The process is a sequence of steps undertaken by
  a designated team which results in the
  development, implementation and evaluation of the
  individual education plan for a six month period.
• The product is the individual education plan for
  a student with a disability.
• The IEP forms part of the students file which
  should accompany the student when transferring to
  another school.
• Some team members may be heavily involved in
  program design or development while others, e.g.,
  audiologist or ophthalmologist, may provide
  specific information only.

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The process

• The IEP process brings parents, professionals and
  the student (where appropriate) together to
  consider the students current level of
  performance and to determine needs and learning
  priorities for the next 6 months.
• The IEP process promotes
• shared responsibility for decision making and
  programming
• consensus about educational goals for the student
  
• collective accountability for outcomes, and
• a communication channel.

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The plan

• The product of the IEP process is a plan which
  provides prioritized educational goals which are
  specific for each student with a disability. It
  is not a plan of total instruction for students
  with disabilities.
• There is no set format for the IEP document.
  Schools may develop their own or select from the
  proformas suggested (checklists and sample
  proformas.)The plan must include key information.
  (Refer to checklist).

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Writing the goals

• Goal statements are the most critical elements of
  the IEP document. These statements describe what
  the student is expected to achieve by the end of
  the six month period.
• Goals need to
• identify the students targeted learning outcome,
  e.g., skill, activity, knowledge
• outline those conditions where the student will
  demonstrate the learning outcome, e.g., which
  specialized equipment will be used, activity,
  environment
• set criterion or standard which will demonstrate
  that the learning outcome has been achieved,
  e.g., the number correct, the level of accuracy,
  the period of time, the amount of support
  required.
• Goal Targeted learning outcome Condition
  Criterion

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Sample 1

• Goal Using picture recipe cards to independently
  prepare three different snacks in home economics
  class. Targeted learning outcome to prepare
  three different snacksCondition using picture
  recipe cards in home economics classCriterion
  independently.
• In some instances, goals will specify only the
  targeted learning outcome and criterion level, as
  there will be no specific conditions
• (e.g. equipment, environment) required.

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Sample 2

• In other instances, goals for students with
  sensory or physical impairment will specify only
  the targeted learning outcome and the condition,
  as the criterion may mirror that of their
  non-disabled peers.
• Goal Using signed English to access unfamiliar
  information in the classroom.Targeted learning
  outcome to access unfamiliar information in the
  classroomCondition using signed
  EnglishCriterion (it is understood that this
  would be at the same level as that of their
  non-disabled peers)
• To ensure goals are measurable they need to
  describe observable behavior. Terms describing
  physical actions allow goal achievement to be
  more precisely measured (e.g., to point to, to
  write, to demonstrate). Goals containing words
  such as appreciate and improve are difficult
  to measure. (Refer to web for examples of goal
  statements in specific disability areas.)

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Saying it simply

• Basically, what we have is an education system
  which has accountabilities to the clients (tax
  payers) to produce improved learning outcomes and
  accountabililites to the public purse to
  produce a balanced budget etc.
• Assessment must be purposeful and effective for
  identifying needs and informing practices and for
  reporting to others and essentially for improving
  life long learning outcomes.

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Now, getting to the heart of it all

• Teaching is often said to be the noblest
  profession in the world. It is certainly one of
  the most personally challenging and has the
  potential to be the most rewarding.
• Apart from the knowledge and skills you have
  developed through your study and practice to date
  and the future professional development you will
  experience, attitudinal development and
  self-efficacy are essential yet less tangible
  tools for teachers.

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What is Invitational Education?

• Invitational Education is an approach to the
  teaching-learning process centered on
  interconnected assumptions offered to understand
  these myriad positive and negative signal systems
  that exist within the total educational
  environment.
• It is a theory of practice for communicating
  caring and appropriate messages intended to
  summon forth the realization of human potential
  as well as for identifying and changing those
  forces in schools which would defeat and destroy
  potential.

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Why should we Invite?

• There is a growing awareness that education is
  not about "normal" distributions, standardized
  test scores, labeling and grouping of students,
  relentless and ruthless competition, and
  certainly not about "being number one." 
• The revolution is underway because growing
  numbers of people realize that education is about
  inviting every single person who enters a school
  to realize his or her relatively boundless
  potential in all areas of worthwhile human
  endeavor. 
• It is concerned with more than grades,
  attendance, and academic achievement. It is
  concerned with the process of becoming a decent
  and productive human being.
• William Watson Purkey

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If you want to learn more

• A PowerPoint Introduction to Invitational
  Education By Kent Mann and Phillip Riner
• AN OVERVIEW OF SELF THEORY
• Abstracts of Published Research Articles,
  Dissertations, and Masters Theses Concerning
  Invitational Theory and Practice

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Final Notes

• Professional Experience Booklets
• Assignment 1a submitted by Friday 23rd August via
  Assignment Drop Box to attention your tutor. Even
  if sections incomplete, submit and revisit those
  sections and update during prac.
• Tmba students site visits to DAC in lieu Wk 6
  tutes
• Remaining lectures for semester will all feature
  guest presenters from the field
• Please support these sessions and take the
  opportunity to forward topic-related questions
  before the lecture.
• Notify tutors of group presentation dates