1. A Whole School Approach to Assessing Personal and Interdisciplinary Learning Let’s Get Essential Conference School Library Association of Victoria Jennifer Bryce

2. VICTORIAN ESSENTIAL LEARNING STANDARDS Discipline based eg: English LOTE Mathematics Science Humanities Arts Interdisciplinary and Social/ Personal eg: Communication Thinking processes Interpersonal Development Personal LearningCROSS-CURRICULAR

3. What do we mean by ‘cross-curricular skills’? Context independent –not tied to a particular domain of knowledge; –independent of particular curriculum boundaries; –independent of skills specific to particular occupations or industries Learned and practised within particular contexts, but transferable from one context to another Complex combinations of cognitive and affective elements –Mayer Committee: ‘combination of knowledge, skills and understanding’; –not ‘atomistic behaviours’

4. Example from the National Goals of Schooling: Schooling should develop fully the talents and capacities of all students. In particular, when students leave schools they should: have the capacity for, and skills in, analysis and problem solving and the ability to communicate ideas and information, to plan and organise activities and to collaborate with others

5. Why is ‘cross-curricular’ important these days? Economic: work-related (eg Mayer Key Competencies) Information age: knowledge-related (eg National Goals of Schooling) VELS (Interdisciplinary/ Social &Personal)

6. What are the main challenges posed by a cross-curricular approach to learning?  Secondary school teachers are not used to working outside their curriculum areas;  Interfaculty communication  ‘It makes you think about students in a different way.’

7. Some benefits mentioned by teachers:  Helps students with ‘special learning needs’ to become independent learners;  It creates an opportunity ‘to move in what is otherwise a very static picture’  Provides possibility of recognition for students regarded as ‘failures’ in discipline areas.

8. Development of cross-curricular skills encourages a focus on the ‘whole’ student (often lost in secondary schools)  a means of drawing together people with significant roles in students’ education  a means of putting into practice some current beliefs about pedagogy – eg the learning that takes place outside the classroom should be valued

9. What is a ‘whole school’ approach to assessment?  Aims to produce a whole school or common view of a student in a single, integrated report  Combines the views of teachers and, if appropriate, other personnel who are in a position to judge a student’s performance  People other than classroom teachers may contribute to the assessment – eg librarians, sports coaches, the school principal, employers  May include student self assessment.

10. Assessment for ‘Working with Others’: Music teacher: A Maths teacher: B SOSE teacher: D

11. Assessment for ‘Working with Others’: (using the Whole School Assessment package) Music9 Maths6 SOSE5 Art4 Employer5

12. What teachers have said about ‘Whole School Assessment’:  It acknowledges teachers’ professional judgment;  Teachers make judgments most of the time they teach;  Know students – have a ‘gut feeling’;  Contributing to an overall judgment – not assessing in isolation

13. OVERVIEW OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT PROCESS [ACER Software] Professional Development Set up software – Excel files to teachers Teachers assess Overall assessor Reporting

14. The program manager: Sets up the data base and enters the main details Integrates teachers’ assessments (Excel files) into the data base Prints students’ reports Extracts analyses of the assessments to provide appropriate whole school data.

15. The teachers:  Have a shared understanding of the cross- curricular skills to be assessed.  Enter their assessments into an excel file with the names of students they are to assess, produced by the program manager.  Assess each student on the agreed cross-curricular skills using a 9-point scale, making a global impression judgement, assisted, if they wish, by level descriptors.

17. The overall assessor(s): Reviews the assessments of teachers, using the software. Establishes the final assessment for each student on each cross- curricular skill.

18. Students’ reports: provide a synthesis of teachers’ judgments indicate the amount of agreement about a student’s cross-curricular skills can show the group average and range of scores (but this is optional)

19. Generic SkillsLevel 4Level 5Level 6 Codes123456789 Written communication Mean & Range I [] I Oral communication Mean & Range I [] I Logical reasoning Mean & Range I [] I Interpretive reasoning Mean & Range I [] I Planning & organising Mean & Range I [] I

20. How might this process be applied to assessing the VELS? Assume that we have a Year 9 class and that we are looking at ‘Thinking Processes’ Standards : 1.Reasoning, processing and inquiry, concerned with framing questions, gathering information and making judgements about the worth of the information; 2.Creativity, concerned with generating imaginative solutions to problems; and 3.Reflection, evaluation and metacognition which is concerned with thinking processes and tools.

21. Start with professional development: Shared understanding of ‘standards’? Teachers might look at an example of a Yr 9 student’s ‘imaginative solution’ to a problem and consider whether that student would be graded Level 4/5, 5/6 or 6.

22. Standard Level 4/ 5 Below expected achievement Level 5/6 Expected achievement of Year 9 students Level 6 Above expected achievement Codes1 low2 med3high4 low5 med6 high 7 low8 med9 high The student Reasoning, processing & inquiry is aware of different question types and can use a limited range of them uses a range of question typesgenerates questions that explore a variety of perspectives locates and selects information from a range of sources with guidance locates and selects relevant information from varied sources discriminates in the way they use a variety of sources can distinguish fact from opinion and develop reasoned arguments supported by evidence can evaluate evidence, taking into account a range of points of view can make informed decisions based on their analysis of various perspectives and sometimes contradictory information Teachers could use a schema like this (Thinking Processes, Year 9) : [hypothetical]

23. Personal Learning, Year 6: [hypothetical] Standard Level 3/4 Below expected achievement Level 4 Expected achievement of Year 9 students Level 4/5 Above expected achievement Codes1 low 2 med 3 high 4 low 5 med 6 high 7 low 8 med 9 high The student The individual learner can identify strategies that will enhance their own learning has preferred learning styles and uses strategies that will promote their learning. uses an expanded repertoire of learning strategies appropriate to particular tasks is aware of their learning strengths and weaknesses can monitor and describe their progress in learning can identify their strengths and weaknesses and take action to address weaknesses. with assistance can set own learning goals can negotiate learning improvement goals and justify learning choices that they make seeks and responds to feedback from peers, teachers and other adults.

24. A ‘Whole School’ approach to assessment: Librarian Self assessment Employer English teacher Maths teacher IT teacher STUDENT