On The Same Page
How do we align
curriculum intent,
pedagogy, assessment
and reporting?
Module Overview
• elements of an inclusive curriculum
• strategies used by effective teachers
• developing pedagogy to support
students with diverse learning needs
• principles of effective and authentic
assessment.
Inclusion
How do I maximise learning for every
student?
• Share a statewide commitment to
maximising learning for all students
• Understand that planning, pedagogy,
assessment and reporting are vital
components
What is curriculum alignment?
What is curriculum?
Curriculum is all the planned learning that is
offered and enacted by a school.
Curriculum is much more than a syllabus which
outlines what is to be taught.
What is curriculum?
Curriculum can be thought of as
a sequence of elements:
the intended, enacted, experienced,
assessed, and achieved curriculum,
each one responsive to the others.
A good curriculum has each of the
elements aligned:
When is curriculum inclusive?
When all students are provided with
multiple opportunities to achieve and
consolidate the intended curriculum.
How has inclusion evolved?
Ignoring
Segregating
Integrating
Inclusion
Medical
Responsibility
Institutions
Support to fit into
Mainstream
Schools
Part of broader
school
community
1860 (Qld)
Education
Non-educable
Development of
Special Schools
(late 1900s)
Act
Categorisation
Remediation
1981
International
Year of
Disabled
Persons
Categorisation
linking support
to individual
students
Segregated
educational
settings
1992
DDA
2005
Education
Standards
Focus on abilities
rather than
disabilities
Accommodations
to environment
(barriers to
participation)
Professional
learning
26 May 2008, Margaret Lynch, Govt of SA, Dept of Education and Student Services
How do I recognise quality teaching programs?
• All students have multiple opportunities to
learn
• Learning experiences are equitable and
inclusive
• Teaching, learning and assessment is
aligned
• Learning experiences promote depth of
understanding; are connected, purposeful
and challenging
• All students have the opportunity to reach
their potential
How do I plan and assess at the class level?
By using the P – 12 Curriculum Framework and
its Guidelines, the teacher plans within and
across their year level, consistent with:
• the required curriculum
 Early Years Curriculum Guidelines for Prep
 QCAR Essential Learnings and Standards for Year 1 to 9
 Queensland Studies Authority Senior Syllabuses,
nationally endorsed Training Packages and nationally
accredited vocational education.
• the School Curriculum Policy/Plan
• the School Planning expectations
How do I plan and assess at the class level?
by taking into account:
– knowledge about learners
–
–
–
–
individual needs of learners
learners’ achievement data
learners’ input
school improvement priorities and
targets
– A-E reporting policy
What are the capabilities?
Cross-disciplinary knowledge that is embedded
in the essential learnings requiring students to:
• know how to work with knowledge
• develop identity and managing self
• act in the social and political world
How do I plan the Intended Curriculum for all?
• Select and unpack the required curriculum to
be studied (e.g. Essential Learnings)
• Design the Assessment Task
• Provide a Context for Learning
How do I plan the Intended Curriculum for all?
• Articulate Criteria for Success / Plan the
assessment strategies
• Plan learning experiences
• Plan adjustments for diverse learners
How do inclusive teachers provide relevant
learning experiences for all students?
These teachers:
• tend to view all of their students as having individual
needs - not just those with a disability
• capitalise on the strengths and interests of each
student
• adopt a wide range of strategies that involve wholeschool, paired-class, within-class and individual
student strategies
• routinely involve colleagues, parents and other
students in assisting them to deliver excellent
learning experiences.
How do inclusive teachers provide relevant
learning experiences for all students?
These teachers:
• prefer to assist students to participate in the
work of the class rather than to work on
individually tailored programs or modified
curriculum.
• ‘experiment’, test hunches about what might
work and take a reflective and problemsolving approach to their teaching.
How do inclusive teachers provide relevant
learning experiences for all students?
These teachers:
• plan thoroughly and extensively and use time
for essential consultation and collaboration
with others
• have positive attitudes, high levels of
adaptation and fewer barriers to including
students with disabilities
What are the pedagogical issues?
It is useful and prudent for teachers to be
knowledgeable of issues associated with
particular disabilities:
• How the child experiences disability
• The effects and side effects of medications
• How the disability may more generally affect
the student in the classroom.
How do we improve the learning outcomes of
students with disabilities?
• Effective instruction e.g. targeted concepts –
to ensure active engagement.
• Instruction geared to students’ success.
• Systematic introduction of new concepts.
• Linking new information to previously learned
skills.
How do we improve the learning outcomes of
students with disabilities?
• Providing immediate feedback
• Heterogeneous/ flexible grouping
arrangements.
• Cooperative learning
• Peer tutoring
How do we improve the learning outcomes of
students with disabilities?
• Naturalistic teaching strategies where
existing routines and contexts were used
to teach specific skills
• Flexible classroom groupings, including
small group, whole class and 1:1
instruction
• Providing practice opportunities
Why do we apply adjustments?
To assist a student with a disability to
• What is the purpose of applying adjustments?
participate in learning experiences and
assessment tasks on the same basis as other
students.
When is an adjustment reasonable?
When it achieves this purpose while
taking into account the student’s
learning needs and balancing the
interests of all, including those of the
student with the disability, the teacher
and other students.
Assessment and Reporting
In a time of greater student
diversity,
increased emphasis on
standards and accountability
challenges teachers to help
all students achieve.
What do we need to know about assessment?
• Assessment tasks should assess what they
claim to assess
• Assessment criteria should be explicit so that
the basis for judgments is clear and public
• The literacy and numeracy demands of
assessment tasks should be explicitly taught
What do we need to know about assessment?
• Judgments should be based on a range of
evidence (formal and informal)
• It should provide students with
opportunities to demonstrate the extent of
learning
• Assessment should inform planning,
teaching and reporting
What are the principles of authentic assessment?
• valid
• explicit
• comprehensive
• inform planning and teaching
• inform reporting
What makes an assessment traditional?
• Short answers
• Paper
• Workbook
• Pen and pencil
• Easy to administer
• Quick, easy grading
• Specific time limits
• Reflects recall ability
What makes an assessment authentic?
• Application to real life situations
• Hands-on activities
• Multiple skills in a task
• Demonstrations of ability to apply
information
• Ongoing for days, weeks, or throughout a
unit of study
• Reflects growth in a skill or ability
What is quality assessment?
• It is an ongoing process of gathering evidence
• It determines what each student knows,
understands, and can do
• It ensures learning required of students as
indicated in the intended curriculum
• It enables students from diverse backgrounds
to demonstrate their learning
When is assessment inclusive?
When we enable all students to
demonstrate the extent and depth
of their learning through various
modes and technologies.
How do I make assessments inclusive?
• Understand the term ‘assessment
adjustment’
• Know why, how and when adjustments are
made
• Know when an adjustment should not be
applied
• Determine appropriate strategies
What is the purpose of applying adjustments?
The purpose of applying reasonable
adjustments to assessment tasks:
• to assist a student with a disability to
participate in assessment tasks on the same
basis as other students.
• proactive way of ensuring equitable
assessment for all students
• remove barriers that prevent students from
demonstrating their current knowledge and
skills
Who is responsible for making decisions
about adjustments?
Responsibility for decisions on what is
considered to be a reasonable adjustment to
a school-based assessment lies with the
school.
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