THE+ASSESSMENT+TAIL+THAT++WAGS+THE+DOG

I am talking about Junior assessment, not only within Year 9 and 10 but also within a bigger picture ie how it affects the way that students learn in the senior school. These are my reflections and you will have the opportunity to refute them on the discussion page. Or indeed on this page if you wish. I am in the process of gathering evidence and have some hypotheses in relation to it: The assessment type and number in year 9 and 10 forces students and teachers to concentrate on summative knowledge outcomes. Because knowledge outcomes are higher stakes, many students only ever prepare for the end point test. This means that at the beginning and the middle of a topic they do not view the learning activities with as much importance. Bright students know that they can learn before the test and less able students cannot be bothered learning at all. This hypothesis is based on anecdotal evidence and needs more evidence but we need to start somewhere. The assessment regime in the Junior school does not adequately prepare students for NCEA in the Senior School. The formative assessment done in the Senior school (as a general rule) does not provide students with enough scaffolds and preparation for their external or indeed internal standards. There is some evidence that teachers break down a standard, criteria by criteria and then create formative activities that focus on the criteria eg for essay writing, one lesson can be on just structure, another lesson can be on just introductions, another lesson can be on paragraphs. There is evidence in other departments of teachers giving out fact-based knowledge tests that then become the outcome.
 * THE TAIL THAT WAGS THE DOG**
 * Hypothesis One**
 * Hypothesis Two**

I believe that we need to change the way that we assess at the Junior school so that we come up with criteria that are transparent to the students 'before they complete the assessment'. I see evidence of this happening in English assessment and a little bit with Social Studies and Science. But hypothesis One undermines this. If students know that everything hinges on the end of year exam, that is what they concentrate on. (or not) I think that Maths does things differently but they have the huge advantage of having assessments that can mostly be completed in one period.

This year the move to standards-based assessment has signalled a shift that is a move in the right direction. Similarly both Junior Graduation and the crieria for entry into Year 11 courses has also shifted away from all eggs in the end of year exam basket.

This page will gather evidence and share it about the assessment systems used at MAGS.

Standards based assessment in the Junior School has now been introduced at MAGS following the initiative of the Science Department. I think that it is a sensible first step.

The link below explains the notion of different types of assessment.
 * [|Framework for Assessment]**