Assessment & Reporting in Enterprise Education Project Background & Summary of Stage 1 Findings An Enterprise for the 21 st Century Initiative Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

Acknowledgements The Assessment and Reporting in Enterprise Education Project has been developed by the Australian Principals Association Professional Development Council (APAPDC) for the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations Enterprise for the 21 st Century Initiatives It follows on from the National Enterprise Education Action Research Project (EEAR) and the Enterprise Education in Schools Future Direction Project (EESFD)

Project Process StageProcessYear Stage 1: Assess & Report Conduct consultations and surveys in all states/territories to include all stakeholder representatives—students, teachers, principals, key professional associates—in order to document approaches views about assessment and reporting in enterprise education. July 2005 to June 2006 Stage 2: Develop& Trial Using the information and materials gathered in Stage 1 above, examine and develop a variety of strategies to assess and report on enterprise education. Trial resources in pilot schools and report on results. June 2006 to June 2007 Stage 3: Evaluate & Disseminate Produce final enterprise education assessment and reporting resources. Disseminate resources and promote to all schools June 2007 to Dec 2008

Project Aims The aims of the project are to: 1. consult with students, teachers, education and industry reps to identify processes for assessing and reporting students’ enterprising learning

Project Aims Identify, collect and share best practice approaches in assessment and reporting of enterprise education across sectors, states and industries

Project Aims produce resources and ideas that will facilitate the processes of assessment and reporting of enterprise education. trial approaches and resources in pilot schools and report on outcomes.

disseminate completed resources to schools as part of national communication strategy. Project Aims

Consultations Interviews and surveys were conducted with 76 school leaders and key teachers from the 38 schools consulted in the period October 2005 to April This process resulted in substantial data describing assessment and reporting of students’ enterprise learning, and their views on the assessment and reporting of students’ enterprise attributes

Consultations and surveys with school leaders, key staff and students from the following schools: Queensland Mareeba State High School, Mareeba Gilroy Santa Maria College, Ingham Taigum State School, Brisbane Sunshine Coast Grammar, Buderim St Patrick's College, Gympie Wondai State School K-10, Wondai Tasmania South George PS Student Works, Launceston Rosny College, Hobart

…School consultations South Australia Parafield Gardens PS, Adelaide Salisbury High School, Adelaide Hackham West PS, Adelaide Morphett Vale HS, Adelaide Hallett Cove R-12, Adelaide Gumeracha PS, Gumeracha Littlehampton PS, Littlehampton Northern Territory Casuarina Senior College, Darwin Kormilda College, Darwin Alice Outcomes, Alice Springs HS, Alice Springs ACT Marici College The Woden School

…School consultations New South Wales Maitland Grossman High School St Helen's Park PS, Campbelltown Marrickville HS, Sydney Fern Valley Montessori School, Cardiff Narara Valley HS, Narara Bidwell Public School St Spyridon College Victoria St John’s Greek Orthodox Grammar School, Melbourne Dandenong High School, Dandenong Peter Lalor College, Lalor Donburn Primary School, Doncaster Ruthven Primary School, Melbourne

…School consultations Western Australia Prendiville Catholic College Millen Street Primary School Ballajura Community College Seveoaks Senior College Mandurah Senior College

 Association of Principals of Catholic Secondary Schools  Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry  Australian Primary Principals Association  Australian Secondary Principals  Australian Council of State School Organisations Consultations with key stakeholders also include:

State/territory consultations DET Northern Territory DET Western Australia DECS SA DET Victoria DET New South Wales DEST Canberra

Findings from the project research The following slides summarise the findings of the surveys of students, teachers and school leaders that were undertaken in the period October 2005 to April 2006.

School Based Staff Interviews What current practices are used to assess and report on students’ learning?  Student self assessment  3-way conferencing  Group assessments  Log books  Tests, examinations  Traditional reports  Student written reports  Presentation evenings

portfolios the log book approach assessment rubrics What do school-based personnel like about current practice?

the assessment and reporting of outcomes the difficulty in getting congruence reporting software packages reports that suit the parent body generally rather than those that are educational and philosophically defensible What do school-based personnel dislike about current practice?

What aspects of current practice could be improved? greater specificity in assessment and reporting of Enterprise Education dialogue about ideas for assessment and reporting professional development for staff provision of enterprise education assessment resources

School leaders survey The chart on the next slide highlights the responses of the school leaders surveyed to the following questions: Q5. How much have students been involved in deciding the assessment process for their (enterprise) learning activities? Q6. How much have they been involved in deciding the reporting process for their (enterprise) learning activities? Q7. How much have students been involved in actually assessing or grading their (enterprise) assignments/tasks? Q8. How much have students contributed to their (enterprise) reports? Q9. Do you think students should be able to contribute to the development of their assessment and reporting systems? Q10. Do you think students should be able to contribute to their reports?

Survey responses re student involvement in assessment and reporting?

Interpreting the data A very interesting and significant trend has emerged which illustrates a clear distinction between current and desirable practice. The results show that, according to the reports of school leaders and key teachers, students are generally not involved or involved only in a limited way, in the assessment and reporting of their learning. This is the opposite of what the participating school leaders believe should be the case, as is demonstrated in the graph on the previous slide.

Aspects of Enterprise Education school staff believe should be assessed and reported upon RelatingBeingThinkingRespondingPlanning leadership communication skills * group or team work * cooperation* Taking responsibility * confidence identifying strengths and weaknesses self-discipline respect and empathy compassion decision-making problem solving Creativity taking initiative * reflection Adaptability identifying needs identify opportunities seeking solutions influence others goal setting actioning building support evaluating organisational skills * The most commonly mentioned responses are shown with an asterisk.

Student survey results The chart on the next slide highlights the students’ responses to a range of questions summarised on the slides that follow.

Student perceptions of their involvement in assessment & reporting

Q3. How much have you been involved in deciding the assessment process for your learning activities? Q4. How much have you been involved in deciding the reporting process for your learning activities? Q5. How much have you been involved in actually assessing or grading your assignments or tasks? The student responses to the above questions indicate that they had no involvement or only a minor involvement in assessment and reporting processes at their school, which reinforces the data from school leaders and key teachers. The higher response to question 4 is indicative of some involvement by students in forms of self-assessment. Actual involvement by students in assessment and reporting

Q6. How much have you contributed to your own reports? The data shows the students surveyed believe they make little or no contribution to school reports. This particularly applies to written reports sent home to parents Student contribution to reporting

Q7. Do you think students should be able to contribute to the development of the ways they are assessed? Students state overwhelmingly that they should contribute to the ways they are assessed and their school reports. The data shows that this rarely occurs. Preferred involvement by students in assessment and reporting

Q8. Do you think students should be able to contribute to their reports? This is the highest overall response that the students surveyed gave, indicating a strong belief that students should be able to contribute to their reports. Students suggest that they should have opportunities to contribute directly to the development of the reports that inform on them. Preferred involvement by students in assessment and reporting

Q18. Do you like the ways teachers assess your work and report on you? The low responses to this question indicate that, although (according to the data) very supportive of teachers’ efforts, students still have some concerns about assessment and reporting. This perhaps relates to students’ preference for some involvement in and some say in the assessment and reporting processes that affect them. Preferred involvement by students in assessment and reporting

Student Interviews Current assessment and reporting practices Overwhelmingly students report that teachers control the assessment processes with very little input from students This response was widespread among students from all participating schools, and was given, in the main, without any implied criticism of teachers and school authorities Excepting: self-assessments, peer assessments, 3 way reporting and portfolios in some schools

AreaComments Likes  constructive criticism;  help and support;  explicit details of assessment criteria (e.g. ‘The assessment rubrics help us focus on certain areas and you know what you have to do to get a good grade’). Dislikes  negativity (e.g. ‘You can get a good mark, but a bad comment’);  they don't ask for my opinion  when they give me bad marks and say I didn't try hard enough but I tried my best  lack of feedback (e.g. ‘If they give you a bad mark they should explain more what you did wrong’). Possible Improvements to assessments  being clearer about assessment processes;  they can explain it more and ask us  assessment criteria and ‘knowing what you’re expected to do’;  providing more feedback to guide development;  students should decide how we are assessed  more comments to assist improvement Possible Improvements to reports  come up with a system through student consultation  more student involvement (e.g., ‘Students should be able to write comments on their own reports’)  even out the good and bad things; write good things anf bad things to help me improve  would like a section on employability skills, e.g. hardworking, punctuality, initiative, group work, responsibility, attitude, leadership Student interview summary

The learning areas rated more highly by students include:  Working with Others  Mathematics skills  Communication Skills  Problem Solving  Reading and Writing Skills  Planning and Organisation  Leadership Skills

The areas the students surveyed assigned low ratings to were:  Understanding of History  Understanding of Science The learning areas rated poorly by students

 The girls rated history higher than the boys  The boys rated science higher than the girls  The girls rated communication skills and planning and organisation higher than the boys  The boys rated problem solving higher that the girls  The girls rated health and well-being higher than the boys, whereas the boys rated sports and physical skills higher than the girls The differences between the responses of the boys and girls

Summary of Key Findings 1. School leaders and key teachers consider enterprise skills are highly important

2. Students rate highly the importance of enterprise skills Summary of Key Findings

3. There continues to be an emphasis on developing enterprise and employability skills.

Summary of Key Findings 4. Examples of the reporting of enterprise learning were uncovered, but overall the students’ enterprise outcomes are usually only reported informally.

Summary of Key Findings 5. Overall, assessment of enterprise skills is informal. There is little evidence of explicit criteria or systematic assessment processes across a wide range of schools.

Summary of Key Findings 6. Student participation and initiation is a focus of Enterprise Education, and school leaders believe students should have more say about, and involvement in, assessment and reporting practices

Summary of Key Findings 7. Students report that they should have opportunities to contribute directly to their assessment processes and the production of the reports that inform on their progress.

Summary of Key Findings 8. Students suggest a range of ways that assessment and reporting practices could be improved. YOU CAN DO IT. Your child has completed the set tasks and achieved the outcomes: Almost Always UsuallySometimesHardly Ever CONFIDENCE PERSISTENCE ORGANISATION GETTING ALONG

Summary of Key Findings 9. There is a need for exemplars and resources to support teachers and school leaders in the assessment and reporting of enterprise learning outcomes.

In summary, good practice schools have: given a specific person the responsibility for enterprise education assigned resources to facilitate progress conducted professional development for staff developed a process for the assessing and reporting on Enterprise Education a keen and supportive principal.