Graduate Modules
5.4 Use student assessment data to analyse and evaluate student understanding of subject/content, identifying interventions and modifying teaching practice.
While teaching in 2014 and 2015, I attended four professional development Graduate Modules at the Institute for Professional Learning. These two day workshops examined the profession of teaching, specifically on four separate topics:
One exercise we explored as a team was our own belief system in what constitutes a teachers role. In a humorous session we placed these beliefs onto a team tee-shirt, then were required to justify our design to the the rest of the group. Another relevant exercise was preparing for between-module tasks that we needed to share at each of the four modules.
Between module task four related to the assessment practices we had so far conducted in our work. I submitted a summary of my beliefs on assessment and the kinds of assessment products I had utilised to that point in my career. The general aim of assessment is to analyse student understanding, in order to provide feedback and then modify our practice to best consider this child in the future. I have now utilised a massive range of diagnostic, formative, summative and anecdotal assessment, and I will continue to refine my assessment, teaching, learning, reflection cycle, and adapt my teaching programs as I work.
An example of where I have effectively utilised the outcomes of assessment to modify my practice can be seen in my work as a year 6/7 teacher, where I taught subjects such as Maths and English to a broad range of student ability. This required detailed assessment records to be compiled on the lessons that I taught, both for reporting and in order to adapt my teaching to suit my students needs. In both of these focus areas, this assessment formed a useful guide for the direction I would take my students, and team based common assessment testing allowed me to further identify specific deficiencies in key areas, such as reading comprehension. Following these insights into my students understanding I then delivered lessons aimed to progress students as individuals or in small groups in these areas.
While teaching in 2014 and 2015, I attended four professional development Graduate Modules at the Institute for Professional Learning. These two day workshops examined the profession of teaching, specifically on four separate topics:
- Professional Standards for Effective Classroom Practice,
- Facilitating Student Learning,
- Assessing and Reporting Student Learning Outcomes, and
- Quality Teaching: Professional Achievements and Aspirations.
One exercise we explored as a team was our own belief system in what constitutes a teachers role. In a humorous session we placed these beliefs onto a team tee-shirt, then were required to justify our design to the the rest of the group. Another relevant exercise was preparing for between-module tasks that we needed to share at each of the four modules.
Between module task four related to the assessment practices we had so far conducted in our work. I submitted a summary of my beliefs on assessment and the kinds of assessment products I had utilised to that point in my career. The general aim of assessment is to analyse student understanding, in order to provide feedback and then modify our practice to best consider this child in the future. I have now utilised a massive range of diagnostic, formative, summative and anecdotal assessment, and I will continue to refine my assessment, teaching, learning, reflection cycle, and adapt my teaching programs as I work.
An example of where I have effectively utilised the outcomes of assessment to modify my practice can be seen in my work as a year 6/7 teacher, where I taught subjects such as Maths and English to a broad range of student ability. This required detailed assessment records to be compiled on the lessons that I taught, both for reporting and in order to adapt my teaching to suit my students needs. In both of these focus areas, this assessment formed a useful guide for the direction I would take my students, and team based common assessment testing allowed me to further identify specific deficiencies in key areas, such as reading comprehension. Following these insights into my students understanding I then delivered lessons aimed to progress students as individuals or in small groups in these areas.