VCAL Assessment
David Gallagher
VCAL Manager
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
gallagher.david.j@edumail.vic.gov.au
What is assessment
‘Assessment refers to all those activities undertaken by
teachers – and by their students in assessing themselves –
that provide information to be used as feedback to modify
teaching and learning activities’
—Inside the Black Box: Raising standards through
classroom assessment, P Black and D Wiliam
VCAL Fab Four
Curriculum
flexibility
Assessment
practices
VCAL
Community
connections
Learner
diversity
Purpose of assessment
Assessment:
• provides information on students’ learning
• supports student learning
• enables teachers to monitor student progress
• provides evidence on effectiveness of teacher’s teaching
• can be used to rank/select students and/or schools
Types of assessment – Formative
• Assessment for diagnosis and improving learning
• Assessment for learning
• Can be frequent, formal and informal and should involve
the student and teacher
• Can lead to greater student achievement, higher student
motivation and greater professional satisfaction
• Can produce significant learning gains
• Good results for low achieving students
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Types of assessment – Summative
Provides a summary of a student’s achievements at some
point of time at which it is relevant to take stock
Assessment for reporting to parents and the wider
community
Measures key skills on which development is expected to
occur – literacy and numeracy
Assessment of learning
Does not value all areas of the curriculum or school
programs
May lead to poor criterion-related validity e.g. (high ATAR
score equals success at university)
Assessment Models
INPUT
MODEL
• Diagnostic
• Formative assessment of
learning
OUTPUT
MODEL
• Sorting and selecting
• Summative assessment
of learning
Assessment: What do the experts say?
‘Constantly weighing chickens will not make them fatter
so assessing students will not make them perform
better.’ (B McGaw)
‘The mark is the academic equivalent of Gollum’s
precious. It has the power to corrupt all who come into
contact with it, not least the learner.’ (N Falchikou)
‘Assessment always defined the actual curriculum.
Student learn what they think they need to learn.’
(J Biggs and C Tang)
Assessment: What do the experts say?
‘Summative assessment leads to shallow learning.’ (G Stobart)
‘Feedback in the form of a grade or assessment rarely helps improve
student learning. Formative assessment does produce substantial
learning gains (effect, size).’ (D Wiliam and P Black)
‘Applied learning assessment practices must be student
centred, flexible and inclusive, and not be only restricted to
knowledge outcomes.’ (G Shacklock)
What makes a good assessment task (VCAA)
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Clear purpose
Set in a relevant context
Resources appropriate to the task
Caters for different learning styles
Allows for students to perform at different levels
Allows adequate evidence to be collected
Covers more than one learning outcome
Valid, reliable, flexible and fair
Assessment
Assessment for learning involves:
• clarifying and sharing learning intentions and success
criteria
• effective classroom discussions
• provide feedback that moves students forward
• students are owners of learning
• students who are instructional resources for one another
• teachers collecting evidence to adapt instruction to meet
students’ needs
(Wiliam and Black)
VCAL Learning Outcomes and Elements
• VCAL units have 5–8 learning outcomes
• In most cases all learning outcomes must be achieved to
receive an S for the unit
• Each learning outcome has elements
• The elements further describe the learning outcome
• The elements provide guidance in determining if the
learning outcome has been met
What is evidence?
Something that supports the assessor's claim that a student
has achieved a competency standard, a learning outcome
or an element.
Evidence can be:
• Direct:
Product, observation of a
performance
• Indirect:
Simulation, role play
• Supplementary: Oral questions,feedback from
third party
Portfolio of Evidence
A portfolio of evidence can include:
• teacher observation
• student self-assessment
• reflective journals
• blogs, wikis, podcasts, e-portfolios
• action plans/timetables
• oral presentations
• photographs of projects
• PowerPoint presentations
• written material
• newspaper articles of students’ achievements
Non academic outcomes
Teacher:
Student:
Teacher:
Student:
How many diamonds have you got?
I don’t have any diamonds
Then you fail
But you didn’t ask me about my jade
How can assessment practices capture the rich experiences
often associated with informal learning?
Non academic outcomes
Non academic outcomes include:
• successful learners
• confident and creative individuals
• active and informed citizens
• employability skills – communication, teamwork,
problem-solving, self-management, enterprise
• personal attributes – loyalty, enthusiasm, motivation,
sense of humour, honesty, personal presentation
Critical reflection DEAL Model
Engage in the experience
Describe the experience (D)
Examine in regards to
academic, personal growth
or civic learning (E)
Articulate the learning (AL)
Critical
reflection
DEAL
Model
Critical Reflection
‘Critical reflection generates, deepens, documents
learning.’ (Clayton)
‘It is the critical reflection that provides the
transformative link between the action of serving and
the ideas and understanding of learning.’ (Clayton)
‘We had the experience but missed the learning.’ (T S Eliot, 1934)
Activity 2
Oracy for Knowledge (OC Learning Outcome 2)
Elements
• Give an oral presentation answering questions if appropriate
• Identify key points and supporting information in an
informative talk
• Comment on the content and effectiveness of an informative
talk
• Make systematic notes from a speech text in a chosen field
of knowledge
What would be some suitable assessment strategies for
assessing this learning outcome?
Contacts
David Gallagher
Telephone: 9032 1727
Email: gallagher.david.j@edumail.vic.gov.au
Cornelia DeBrincat
Telephone: 9032 1726
Email: debrincat.cornelia.c@edumail.vic.gov.au
Anton Bouwer
Telephone: 9032 1725
Email: anton.bouwer.p@wedumail.vic.gov.au
Web address: www.vcaa.vic.edu.au
© Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2013
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