This month, K-6 students are participating in whole school assessments in Literacy and Numeracy. These assessments are carried out each year in Term 4 and information gathered from these tests is used to: inform the end of year student progress reports; inform teaching practice for the end of the year and into early next year; and determine individual progress for each student across a 12-month period (October-October).
The online assessment tools selected to gather information in Literacy and Numeracy are:
- Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) - Reading, Maths, Spelling,Vocabulary Skills, Grammar and Punctuation
- e-Write - an ACER online writing assessment
- South Australian Spelling Test (SAST)
- Synthetic Phonics
- Fountas and Pinnell - Reading Benchmark System
Over the coming weeks, students (K-6) will be engaged in a selection of assessments, according to their year level, as outlined below:
Kindergarten - PAT Reading, PAT Maths, Synthetic Phonics &/or SAST
Year 1 - PAT Reading, PAT Maths, Synthetic Phonics, and SAST
Year 2 - PAT Reading, PAT Maths, PAT Spelling, PAT Vocabulary skills
Year 3 - PAT Reading, PAT Maths, PAT Spelling, PAT Vocabulary skills, PAT Grammar and Punctuation
Year 4 - PAT Reading, PAT Maths, PAT Spelling, PAT Vocabulary skills, PAT Grammar and Punctuation and eWrite
Year 5 - PAT Reading, PAT Maths, PAT Spelling, PAT Vocabulary skills, PAT Grammar and Punctuation and eWrite
Year 6 - PAT Reading, PAT Maths, PAT Spelling, PAT Vocabulary skills, PAT Grammar and Punctuation, and eWrite
This form of summative assessment provides teachers with the opportunity to track each student’s progress and achievement from Kindergarten to Year 6 in various aspects of literacy and numeracy.
In 2017, we introduced differentiated assessment - adjustments to the testing materials, process and procedure and assessment experiences, to assist all students to demonstrate what they know and can do in relation to syllabus outcomes and content. It is a requirement under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 for schools to ensure that assessment tasks are accessible to students with a disability and as outlined in the standards, schools are responsible for any decisions made at school level to offer adjustments to course work, assessment tasks and in-school tests.
The 2020 assessment adjustments at Claremont College may include:
- A range of levelled tests within a year level with test items targeted at students’ specific performance so all students have a sense of success, all with standardised scoring;
- Adjustments to the assessment process. Some examples include additional time, or rest breaks;
- The use of a reader and/or scribe or the audio tool; and/or
- Additional supervision in a smaller room.
If you would like to access further information on these assessments, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Brenda Dalheim
Head of Learning Enrichment
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