Department of Employment, Education and Training

Assessment

Purpose of Assessment

Assessment is the collecting, recording and analysing of information about student learning. Teachers use this information to

• identify a child’s learning strengths, weaknesses and needs
• make judgements about a child’s progress
• plan programs building on the prior knowledge and learning that a child brings to school
• inform the child, parents and other teachers about the students’ learning.

There is no one assessment approach or technique that suits all situations, purposes or groups of students. Some approaches are more appropriate than others for different areas of the curriculum and ages of students. A range of opportunities is provided so that the child can demonstrate their understandings.

Principles of Assessment

Effective assessment is:

• Authentic: Authentic assessment is providing numerous and varied opportunities for the child to demonstrate their learning through assessment tasks that reflect real life and lifelike situations.
• Valid and reliable: It is important that assessment tasks assess what they are intended to assess and that judgements about students’ demonstrations of learning are based on a broad range of evidence gathered and recorded over time.
• Fair and equitable: Students’ learning styles, disabilities, gender, cultural and linguistic backgrounds and geographical locations are taken into account when planning assessment opportunities.
• Rigorous: It is important that students are aware of what is being assessed, how it will be assessed and how the teacher will judge how well they have learned.
• Student centred: Opportunities for students to take responsibility for their own learning and to monitor their own progress and set their own learning goals should be provided.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Consistency of teacher judgement is critical in ensuring that accurate information is given to the child, parents, teachers and the NT Department of Employment, Education and Training. Moderation is the process where teachers discuss and reach agreement about demonstrations of learning. This ensures that judgements teachers make are the same as would be made by other teachers.

How Learning is assessed in the NT

Assessment is based on the teacher’s knowledge of the child and evidence they have gathered by a variety of methods over a period of time. This evidence of learning can include portfolios of student work, presentations, eg oral report, performances, eg assembly performance, interviews and conferences, self-assessment, eg journals or reflective writing, investigations, projects, research reports, notes made by teachers as a record of observations and tests and assignments.