Assessment

Research shows that in Australia the most advanced 10 per cent of students in a year level are about five to six years ahead of the least advanced 10 per cent. This infographic shows approximate distributions of students in NAPLAN Reading.

Raising the expected performance standard in each year of school and holding all teachers and students accountable for achieving these higher standards may not be the most effective way to improve levels of performance in Australian schools, Professor Geoff Masters AO writes in his latest Teacher column.

Taking a postgraduate qualification is an opportunity to not only upgrade your personal skill-set, but also add to the collective staff expertise in your school community.

There are good reasons to rethink how we organise the school curriculum. An alternative would be to structure the curriculum as a sequence of proficiency levels unrelated to age or year level, according to Professor Geoff Masters AO.

In today’s video Teacher magazine sits down with Australian Council for Educational Research CEO Professor Geoff Masters AO to discuss why it is important that students are involved in the process of setting goals for their own learning and can monitor the progress that they’re making.

In today’s video Teacher magazine sits down with Australian Council for Educational Research CEO Professor Geoff Masters AO to discuss new ways of thinking about assessment.

The decision to move NAPLAN online provides an opportunity to place less emphasis on comparing the performances of schools and more emphasis on supporting student learning, according to Professor Geoff Masters AO.

It’s often asserted that some things can’t be measured, Professor Geoff Masters AO writes in his latest column. But how true is this? And if we can’t measure something, should we stop pretending we can teach or develop it?

Teachers in any classroom can use samples of work in addition to assessment rubrics to create opportunities for students to evaluate, improve and take ownership of their own learning, explains educator Elizabeth King in our latest reader submission.

Online assessments are capable of providing significantly improved feedback to teaching and learning. Experience in schools is demonstrating the potential of online assessment – provided the foundations are right.