assess [v.]

1. evaluate or estimate. 2. set the value of a tax, fine, etc. for [a person or property].
- DERIVATIVES assessable, adjective; assessment, noun; assessor, noun. Old French assesser, from Latin assidere ‘sit by [later 'levy tax']’.

Oxford Dictionaries

Assessment is integral to all aspects of learning not just because it is required, but because it allows us to judge the effectiveness of the learning process for those presenting the material and those learning as a result of its use. It allows educators to review, refine and improve what is offered. It allows learners to know how well they have learned and what they have to do to improve future learning. It can be used at every level from early childhood to higher education and be either individual or system wide assessment.

There is no single assessment method which is best for every situation. There are some perhaps easier to use, though not necessarily more effective in providing worthwhile information. The assessment format used should provide the best information to manage future improvement.

This page looks at national information, software, documents, professional development, specific types of assessment and more. Individual Education Plan information can be found via the link provided. It should be used in conjunction with the Reporting page.

The First Page looks at assessment processes for all Australian states & territories. It should also be used in conjunction with the Reporting page.

Select the relevant page for information by using the links above or the page number links at the top of this section.

Additions will be made as sources are found, present sources expanded and changes made within systems.

National Level Information

Australian Baccalaureate

‘The Australian Baccalaureate will enable Australian secondary students to acquire a credential that is of an international standing similar to national certificates such as the British “A” level and the French Baccalaureate’.

• Australian Baccalaureate
  ‘Work on the development of the Australian Baccalaureate will commence in 2013 to enable alignment with the implementation of the phase one senior secondary Australian Curriculum. The first cohort of Australian students to be eligible for the Australian Baccalaureate are expected to commence in 2015 or 2016. More information will be made available on this website as work on the initiative progresses’.
• Australian Baccalaureate - ALP
  Find information on reasons behind this, get a Fact Sheet, watch a video.

International Baccalaureate

As an alternative to Australian qualifications, a number of schools offer the International Baccalaureate. Interestingly, the IB program is not just a senior one but operates at different levels. Australia has roughly equal numbers of schools offering Primary, Middle Years and Diploma Programs.

• Applying with the International Baccalaureate Diploma
  Information from UAC in NSW/ACT provides information on how it is regarded, matched to standard scores and several other aspects. Also links to other states.
• Association of Australasian International Baccalaureate Schools
  ‘Established specifically to assist schools in Australasia, providing a network of professional support, information and service. Schools new to the IB programme will find such assistance particularly useful’. Lists schools offering the qualification.
• International Baccalaureate
  Find news and events, information about the IB, Information for … , FAQs [IB Answers], blogs, becoming an IB school, what they offer, an Online Curriculum Centre [Password Protected], schools worldwide and more.
• International Baccalaureate Schools, Australia
  Get a complete listing of the schools in Australia which operate the IB, including indicators of the programs offered at each. A second site also lists these, by state [with programs offered], and gives a brief background about the program.

NAPLAN

Information for individual states & territories is provided on the other Assessment page. This section provides an Australia-wide overview of the NAPLAN process using the links below as well as commentary on them and information about specific aspects.

• Interpreting NAPLAN Results for the Layperson
  An article by Margaret Wu [University of Melbourne] as taken via the Australian Primary Principals’ Association. Provides a good overview of this topic.
• NAP
  ‘On this website you will find more information about NAPLAN and NAP Sample Assessments. This information is useful for parents and carers, schools, state and territory authorities and the wider community’.
• National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy Reports
  Access Reports from 2008, 2009 and the 2010 Summary Report here [2.4mb]. You can also gain clarity about the Student Reports by videos, samples and more via this link.
• Test Administration Authorities
  ‘Test Administration Authorities are responsible for the implementation and administration of the NAPLAN tests in their jurisdiction. Contacts for Test Administration Authorities’ can be found here.
• Tests
  ‘Students are assessed using common national tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions [Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation] and Numeracy’. All previous year tests can be found here.

PISA

‘Are students well prepared for future challenges ? Can they analyse, reason and communicate effectively ? Do they have the capacity to continue learning throughout life ? The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] answers these questions and more, through its surveys of 15-year-olds in the principal industrialised countries’.

• Challenges for Australian Education : Results from PISA 2009
  ‘The Australian report was written by Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Marina Nicholas, Kylie Hillman and Sarah Buckley’. ACER
• Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA]
  ‘Internationally standardised assessment that was jointly developed by participating countries and administered to 15 year-olds in schools. Tests are typically administered to between 4 500 and 10 000 students in each country’. What is involved, how it works, Assessment Cycle, results and more. From the OECD.
• PISA 2009 ResultsThese can be found here. There are multiple downloads, videos and more.
• What PISA Assesses
  ‘PISA assesses how far students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society. In all cycles, the domains of reading, mathematical and scientific literacy are covered not merely in terms of mastery of the school curriculum, but in terms of important knowledge and skills needed in adult life’.

TIMSS & PIRL

Conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, the ‘Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study’ and the ‘Progress in International Literacy Study’ provide ‘comparative studies in educational achievement’ globally.

• TIMSS & PIRLS
  Both sets of information are reached via this page. ‘First conducted in 1995, TIMSS reports every four years on the achievement of fourth and eighth grade students’ while ‘PIRLS 2011 collects data to provide information on trends in reading literacy achievement of fourth-grade students, while providing baseline data for new countries’. You can access database information from previous reports from each site.
• TIMSSVideo
  ‘The site is intended for use by education researchers, teachers, administrators : in short, anyone interested in exploring the teaching practices of different countries’. Includes some Australian videos.

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Other Information

Assessment Software

Software and online packages available or used in Australia. Several are Fee-based, sometimes expensive.

• Assessment Software
  ‘Your Guide to Educational Assessment Software on the Web’. Annotated links.
• Grade Book
  ‘Basic grade book. If you can use a regular paper grade book then you can use this program’.
• MarkBook - Assessment & Reporting System
• SNIP
  Software to manage students with special needs and learning disabilities.
• UTGrade
  Full featured assessment & reporting program from the University of Toronto. Can be slow to load.

Kidmap

• Kidmap Training Modules
  Eight modules, each in Word format. Site is now archived.
• Finding out about KIDMAP

Documents

• ACSA Publication
  Click on Publications, then Assessment & Reporting.
• Assessing Learning In Australian Universities
• Assessment and Reporting English
  Information from the Australian Association for the Teaching of English.
• Assessment as a Tool for Learning
  School of Education, Johns Hopkins University. This is an article by Jill Hearne which looks at an alternative and better role for assessment.
• Assessment as Feedback
  School of Education, Johns Hopkins University. An article by Grant Wiggins which prefers the feedback role to one that simply provides a data set of results.
• Core Principles of Effective Assessment
  ‘Enhancing learning by enhancing assessment’. Online, as a PDF or a Powerpoint presentation. University of Melbourne.
• Critical Issues in Assessment
  Five major areas. Links to support materials and resources. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory in the US.
• Professor Dylan Wiliam’s Speech : Does Assessment Hinder Learning
  Transcript of a speech given in 2006.
• Early Childhood : Assessing Young Children
  ‘Assessment of young children is one of the more divisive issues in the early childhood education field’. Article by the Education Writers Association [North America].
• How the World’s Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top
  ‘Examines the common characteristics of school systems producing students who perform well on international tests’. PDF, 9+ mb.
• Review of Teacher Assessment
  Evidence of what works best and issues for development. ‘A review of teacher assessment in practice in a number of countries, looking at what works best and the implications for assessing pupils’ progress’.
• Sustainable Assessment
  Abstract, additional comments.

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General Sites

• A Collection of Assessment Strategies
  ‘Each portion describes and analyses a particular type of assessment strategy, then lists sources of further information’. Alaska Department of Education & Early Development.
• Assessing Learning in Australian Universities
  ‘Ideas, strategies and resources for quality in student assessment’. Australian Universities Teaching Committee.
• Assessment
  From ACARA. NAPLAN testing, National Assessment Program, 2010 National and International Tests for Schools.
• Assessment for Learning
  Previously Curriculum Corporation, now through ESA. The topic, assessment tasks, professional development,links to assessment, world information. Their Resources page has DVDs, publications, websites and more.
• Assessment in Kindergarten
  Part of a larger site. Links for specific and general information.
• Assessment Online
  ‘Assessment is the process of gathering, analysing, interpreting and using information about students’ progress and achievement to improve teaching and learning’. New Zealand Ministry of Education portal about Assessment. Several sections plus a link to the Reporting process.
• Association for Achievement and Improvement through Assessment
  ‘For all those with a professional interest in improving learning and teaching through assessment’. UK based but containing usable resources and information.
• Curriculum, Assessment & Professional Learning
• Educational Assessment Australia
  ‘Specialises in large-scale assessment programs including the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools [ICAS]’.
• Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide
  Provides a number of modules on appropriate assessment methods for use at the tertiary level.
• Five Practical Assessment Guides
  Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne. Covers Online Assessment, Assessing Large Classes, Minimising Plagiarism, Assessing Group Work and Assessing students unfamiliar with assessment practices in Australian higher education. Many have a range of strategies.
• Free Online Industrial Training Skills Assessment Tool
  ‘For your own customised industrial test and also has a growing list of industrial related online assessment tests’.
• Improve
  ‘Improve is an online formative assessment tool developed by Education Services Australia for use by education jurisdictions. The tool assists teachers to easily access and use numeracy, literacy and science test items that are digitally linked to relevant curriculum and learning resources’.
• Resource Collection
  University of Western Australia. Significant material on student assessment. Tertiary.
• Standards and Benchmarking
  A Guide to Junior Secondary Curriculum and Credentialling in Australia and New Zealand.
• Standards and Testing Agency : The Department for Education UK
  A newly established agency to work with ‘the development and delivery of all statutory assessments from early years to the end of Key Stage 3’.
• Testing and Assessment : The Department for Education, UK
  ‘This section contains information about the statutory assessments at the end of each Key Stage’. It includes links to Assessment and Reporting Arrangements, while Assessment Updates can be found here.

Professional Development

• Assessment Alternatives
  Articles from New Horizons for Learning. 19 plus recommended reading and other links.
• Assessment Deliberations
  ‘It is thus important for teaching staff to be familiar not only with the technical aspects of the many different forms of assessment currently in use but also with their advantages and limitations and about assessment issues and concerns’. London Metropolitan University.
• Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Redesign
  Online workshop providing explanation, demonstration, exploration and implementation of the concept.
• Assessment Futures
  ‘This website is about an important additional purpose for assessment. It is about equipping students for the learning and assessing they will need to do after completing their course and the challenges they will face after graduation’.
• Classroom Assessment
  ‘Divided into 2 parts, each containing 3 lessons. Part I focuses on basic concepts and common assessments such as multiple choice and essay questions. Part II includes performance assessment, classroom interactions, and attitude surveys. Throughout the lessons, resources and techniques for integrating technology are included’.
• Defining Good Assessment

Performance Assessment

• Performance Assessment
  Looks at all aspects of performance assessment from a description to the theory and research which underpins it.
• Performance Assessment [2]
  US Department of Education. Now archived.
• Performance Assessment Resource Centre
  Opens to the Resource Library page. Links to other assessment resources, publications and more.

• Teaching for Learning - Assessment
  Main page, Assessment section of Teaching is Learning from Flinders University. Directed at university staff.
• What is Good Assessment ?
  ‘The following is adapted from Linda Suskie’s book Assessing Student Learning : A Common Sense Guide’.

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Special Types of Assessment

Alternative Assessments

• Alternative Strategies for Science Teaching and Assessment
  These range across 20 different formats from Virtual Field Trips to debates, portfolios, cyberguides to Concept Maps & Future Wheels. Each section contains links covering various educational levels. While some are only associated science, others could be adapted to other subjects.
• Assessment Alternatives
  ‘Recently there has been impetus on the state and national level to expand the repertoire of assessing strategies. In this section we describe numbers of examples of work in this area. See our Glossary of Assessment Terms to clarify terminology’.
• Forms of Alternative Assessment
  Definitions and brief information about several alternative forms of assessment. Links from each to suggested processes.

Electronic Assessment & Reporting

• E-assessment
  Literature Review. Summary. Full review available as a PDF document.
• Using Technology
  To Support Alternative Assessment and Electronic Portfolios. ‘Describe and discuss the use of technology to support alternative assessment from a number of perspectives’.
• Web-based Assessment - Two UK Initiatives
  ‘Tackling the technological, pedagogical and organisational aspects of using the Web to support student assessment’.
• Welcome to Assessing Online
  ‘To help VET professionals plan, design and deliver assessment using the web. There are three parts : The Guide, The Resources and Our Research’. A manual, glossary, case studies.

Individual Education Plans

• See information on the Assessment Resources page for links to information, checklists, advice and more.

Portfolios

• An Introduction to Science Portfolios
  Introduction, common sense information. Links to resources.
• Definitions of Portfolios & Portfolio Assessment
  More information relating to portfolios.
• Digital Portfolio Development
  A Method for Documenting Student Learning, Growth, and Development. Report plus a PDF document.
• E-Portfolios Evolve Thanks to Web 2.0 Tools
  Good article from Digital Directions. Includes links to all resources recommended.
• New Resources for Embedding E-portfolios
  ‘The national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework [Framework] has developed a suite of five brochures, each designed to answer the detailed questions from specific user groups within the vocational education and training system’.
• Portfolio Assessment
  Good,logical presentation by a school district in the US. Covers all major points to be considered.
• Portfolios
  ‘This collection of articles and resources will help your students build portfolios to demonstrate what they've learned so that you can monitor their progress with fewer tests’.
• Portfolios for Student Growth
  Free publication covering a process-led approach to portfolio development.
• REAL* ePortfolio Academy
  US site offering four different levels of professional development in this area. The first is Free with the other three carrying charges. The first does provide course content and readings but no link to the instructor or others taking part. Could be worth considering if you are interested in this area.
• Student Portfolios : Classroom Uses
  Done some time ago by the US Department of Education. Contents still hold true.
• The Digital Portfolio
  A Richer Picture of Student Performance. Information, Digital Portfolio Samples.
• The Power of Portfolios
  Introduction to the portfolio system, especially with early learning and junior primary.
• Welcome to Portfolio !
  Canadian site. ‘A place to read, learn and share strategies and resources related to portfolio practices - paper or electronic’.

Student Self Assessment/Evaluation

Productive for students to assess their progress. Often done more stringently and constructively than teachers.

• Peer Assessment and Self-assessment
  ‘Peer assessment and self-assessment is much more than children marking their own or each other’s work. To improve learning, it must be an activity that engages children with the quality of their work and helps them reflect on how to improve it’. The archived version of the original page can be found here.
• Graphic Organizer Index
  Use a range of assessments. Click titles for visual presentations.
• MyRead - Monitoring and Assessment

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