Our Challenge as part of our SIP-To implement across the Learning Communities the strategic focus model to every lesson (WALT) WALT WALT is the beginning of a number of practical strategies which enhance pupil learning. WALT is part of Formative assessment and is the beginning of this strategy. Formative assessment has been proven to raise levels of student attainment. Paul Black and Dylan William, from King’s College, University of London, were commissioned to find out whether or not formative assessment could be shown to raise levels of attainment. They spent a year trawling through all studies since 1988 and rejected studies that didn’t have a control group and only looked at studies where students had been tested prior and after the trials. Their results were published and a digest of their lengthy work was also published entitled, Inside the Black Box, Black and William, (1998) The research indicates that improving learning through assessment depends on five, deceptively simple key factors:

The provision of effective feedback to pupils; The active involvement of pupils in their own learning; Adjusting teaching to take account of the results of the assessment; A recognition of the profound influence assessment has on the motivation and self-esteem of pupils, both which are crucial influences on learning; The need for pupils to be able to assess themselves and understand how to improve,

This was further broken down to include: Sharing learning goals with pupils Involving pupils in self-assessment Providing feedback which leads to pupils recognising their next steps and how to take them Underpinned by the confidence that every student can improve.

Wonderings about WALT. Why do we need WALT? Can’t we do what we always have done? If you have a VCE class which has a lot of content base….can you have more than one WALT? Can WALT be applied to all year levels and all subjects? How can WALT be used across the school? How does the GRR fit into the WALT model? How is WALT related to VELs? Can you be more specific about the WALT language? How should it differ from regular lesson focus statements?

By separating the learning objective explicitly from it’s context, children are able to see the connections: that learning can often be applied to a number of different contexts. Otherwise we are in danger of children believing that this particular skill or concept can only be applied to the context we are working with. (Clarke 2005)

Teaching and Learning activities are designed to provide students with opportunities to meet the learning intention Feedback is based on the learning intention and the success criteria Teacher questioning always keeps the learning intention in focus The assessment task/activity matches the learning intention. Students self-assess in the light of the learning intention and success criteria. Success criteria are directly related to the learning intention. Learning Intention

A learning intention written in professional jargon. A learning intention written in student- friendly language with some subject-specific terminology. Students will be able to identify the linguistic structures and features of a non-fiction text with a view to using this knowledge to assist meaning-making. Students will be able to identify the features of a non-fiction text and use these to help understanding. Students will be able to identify common features in order to classify items Students will be able to sort items into groups. Students will be able to identify healthy eating practices and explain some physiological, social, cultural and economic reason’s for people’s food choices. Students will know what is meant by “healthy eating” and will be able to explain some of the reasons for people’s food choices.

Geography VCE Analyse the use and management of water within the Murray-Darling Basin region and evaluate its future sustainability. Assessment. A data analysis of geographical data including maps, aerial photographs, case studies and management policies related to the use and management of water in the Murray- Darling Basin to evaluate its future sustainability. Literacy 4:5 explanations about how a text can be interpreted from a variety of perspectives. Science 3:25 knowledge of the components of systems; for example, organs of the digestive system, layers within and surrounding the Earth, organisms in a food chain, lenses in a periscope Mathematics 5:25 relationships between real, rational, irrational, integer and natural numbers on a venn diagram

Teaching and learning activities are designed to provide the students with opportunities to understand the success criteria and develop skills, knowledge and understanding to meet them. Teacher and Peer feedback is based on the success criteria. The assessment task/activity is designed so that students are given the opportunity to demonstrate the success criteria Students self-assess in order to help themselves to meet the success criteria. The Learning intention is directly related to the success criteria. Success Criteria

Kinds of Success Criteria Depending on the purpose of the assessment activity, different kinds of success criteria can be used. The terminology used to describe these different kinds of success criteria tends to vary, but we will use the terms process criteria and product/performance. Example of this- Lesson Learning Objective: To write an effective characterisation. Product Success criteria: Someone who reads it will feel they really know the person. Process success criteria: Remember to include at least two of the following- the character’s hobbies and interest the character’s attitude to self and others Examples of the character’s extrovert or introvert personality Examples of the character’s likes or dislikes. Closed skills usually have a chronological success criteria. Open skills usually have ingredient style success criteria from which, in some instances, students choose.