Assignment Cover Sheet

Student ID* S 2 6 8 5 4 0 Postal Address (must be completed by all students)

Number & Street 64 ALICE STREETTitle Miss

Surname* SKORIN Suburb / Town AUBURN/SYDNEYGiven Names* ANTICA State NSW Postcode 2 1 4 4Preferred Name

N/ACountry AUSTRALIA

Are you an International Student* No I am not. Contact Phone 1 0412 829 433Date of Birth 2 7 1 2 1 9 8 5 Contact Phone 2 ( 02 ) 9646 3941

Unit Code* ETP 425 Lecturer name*External Student Dr Robyn Gregson

(Unit Coordinator: Dr Yoshi Budd)

Unit Name* Teaching and Learning 3 / Assessment and Reporting

Assignment Title*

Part A: Evaluation of a work sample 1000 - 1200 words

Part B: Reflection practice 300 - 800 words Value: PU

Charles Darwin University is unable to accept and process assignments without a completed assignment cover sheet. PLEASE READ THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THE REVERSE OF THIS FORM.

Have you applied for an extension?

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Student Comments:

Lecturer Comments:

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Due date* Posting date * Semester

Friday

2nd of May 2014

Thursday

1st of May 2014

Semester One

Declaration

I declare that all material in this assessment is my own work except where there is a clear acknowledgement and reference to the work of others. I have read the University’s Academic and Scientific Misconduct Policy and understand its implications.*http://www.cdu.edu.au/governance/policies/academicandscientificmisconductpolicy.pdf

I Antica Skorin agree to the above statement.

Important Information

Keep a copy of your assignment. CDU does not accept responsibility for any lost submissions or missed deadlines.

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Once your assignment with a completed cover sheet has been received you will be sent a confirmation email. Your assignment is then sent to the appropriate lecturer. The lecturer will then grade your assignment and will return your assignment to the External Student Support (ESS). ESS will then send a confirmation email to you, advising that the graded assignment has been despatched to you.

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Teaching & Learning 3Assessment & Reporting

Purpose of this document:

Assessing Student Learning and ReflectionPart A: Evaluation of a Year 3 Creative Writing Work Sample

Part B: Reflection Practice

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Introduction:

According to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2014, The English curriculum is developed through 3 consistent elements of Language, Literature and Literacy. Teaching and learning programs should integrate all three elements concentrating on the Australian curriculum learning outcomes for the specific stage. Together the elements focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating.

Below is my assessment of a Year 3 creative work sample which I have specifically selected from an array of samples provided by the educators of unit ETP425 from Charles Darwin University. In order for a pre-service teacher such as myself, to effectively and informatively assess and report on the students work I must first follow the NSW Principles of Assessment which include:

Clear and direct links with curriculum outcomes Fundamental to teaching and learning Balanced, comprehensive and varied Valid, reliable and fair Engaging the learner Valuing teacher judgement

Year 3 Creative Writing Work Sample:

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Part A: Evaluation of a Year 3 Creative Writing Work Sample

Writing and Representing 1 Outcome: EN2-2A (Stage 2 , Objective A)

According to the Board of Studies NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum (English K-10), learning outcome EN2-2A for stage 2 - writing and representing 1, in my opinion has successfully been met in the selected Year 3 creative writing work sample. The assessment task at hand in conjunction with the Australian curriculum is appropriate in terms of its stated purposes and is relevant, meaningful and furthermore a fair task that will in turn provide accurate information about what this particular student knows and their capabilities within their domain of knowledge. This work sample I believe will achieve the purposes for which it was designed for.

It is evident in this work sample that the student has developed and applied their contextual knowledge making an effort to plan, compose, review and publish their creative text for a particular purpose and audience (ACELY1682, ACELY1694). In my opinion based on the NSW Syllabus, the student has used this creative writing task to experiment and share their personal imaginings quite well, using this task to enjoy the learning experience and to also enhance their learning experience.

It is noticeable that the student has also understood the task at hand and has applied their knowledge of language forms and features well to compliment their work. The student has successfully published an imaginative, informative and persuasive creative text about 'an ugly stinky bunny who scared a little girl in the forest', which contains significant information and supporting story details such as 'the characters name i.e. Ella, what the character in the story was told by her mother, what the character thought she saw in the forest, what the character actually saw in the forest, what the character did next in the forest, and how the character and her mother resolved the matter', which featured characters, settings and events (ACELT1601, ACTLT1794). Furthermore this work sample also demonstrates the students control over their creative text structure and language features. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide evidence in whether or not this student had re-read and edited their own work, or that words were deleted or moved to improve the content and structure of their creative text.

Writing and Representing 2 Outcome: EN2-7B (Stage 2 , Objective B)

According to the Board of Studies NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum (English K-10), learning outcome EN2-7B for stage 2 - writing and representing 2, in my opinion has successfully been met in the selected Year 3 creative writing work sample. It is evident that the student has developed and applied their contextual knowledge making an effort to identify and analyse the purpose and audience of their own imaginative, informative and persuasive text such as the creative writing sample. SKORIN_A_S268540_ETP425_ASSIGNMENT1 5 | P a g e

The student has adequately proven to myself that he/she understands how characters, their actions and the events which take place in creative texts can engage the reader or assessor. For example, 'her mum told her not to go in the forest but Ella went in there', this action and/or event has already caught my attention and I am thoroughly absorbed into the creative text. Therefore this stage 2 creative piece of work has achieved the purposes for which it was designed for. The student then goes onto explaining what events occurred in the forest for instance, seeing an ugly shadow behind her which was actually an ugly stinky bunny, he/she then continues by explaining the characters actions which was yelling from Ella and the bunny and simultaneously her mother running towards the yelling and panic. Finally, the last action is Ella and her mother taking the ugly stinky bunny home and bathing it until it was pretty.

I found the sample of work imaginative, informative and quite persuasive, however in my opinion the student did not quite adjust their text to appeal to different types of audiences as they ought to be capable of according to the outcomes. Nonetheless the text had matter and meaning and that is adequate in my marking for a Year 3 student.

Thinking Imaginatively, Creatively & Interpretively

Outcome: EN2-10C (Stage 2, Objective C)

Once again, according to the Board of Studies NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum, learning outcome EN2-7B for thinking imaginatively, creatively and interpretively, for myself as a pre-service teacher has successfully been met in the selected Year 3 creative writing work sample. It is evident that the student has developed and applied their contextual knowledge making an effort to think and write imaginatively and resourcefully in the assessed text.

The student has adequately proven to myself in union with the curriculum that he/she understands how to compose a set text which is shown in their work through the justifications of interpretations including responses to characters and their developments, descriptive information, plot tension and original ideas portrayed in their text (ACELT1605). The students vocabulary also establishes a strong atmosphere and inspired situation in the story which has increased my reading enjoyment and perhaps I could also relate to this imaginative story from some stage of my life.

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Spelling Outcome: EN2-5A (Stage 2, Objective A)

According to the Board of Studies NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum (English K-10), learning outcome EN2-5A for stage 2 spelling (Objective A) in my opinion requires remediation in the students Year 3 creative writing work sample. In this Year 3 work sample it is evident that the student has not quite developed and applied their contextual knowledge in regards to understanding how accurate spelling can support the reader to read fluently and therefore interpret the creative text.

In my opinion based on the NSW Syllabus, the student has used this creative writing task to experiment with a range of strategies such as knowledge of letter-sound correspondences and common letter patterns (ACELA1485, ACELA1779).

On the other hand, the work sample I am evaluating does have a small number of spelling mistakes, one of which I cannot recognise or understand whatsoever i.e. the word 'brack', nor does auto-correct and thesaurus have any suggestions either. According to the curriculum outcome EN2-5A, I believe this student requires improvement in their spelling (and furthermore their grammar) since words such as 'ther = there, ella = Ella, their = there, behinde = behind, herd = heard, brack (no suggestion as to what this word means), no = know', have been misspelt or used in an incorrect context in the sample etc.

These examples acknowledge the fact that this student has not completely achieved outcome EN2-5A in stage 2 spelling and ought to intensify their learning attitude and style in order to be able to identify spelling errors in their own writing and unknown texts providing correct spelling. For example the student may like to learn new strategies for spelling difficult words, or perhaps utilise spell-check applications featured in digital technology if available, or last but not least use morphemic, visual, syntactic and phonological knowledge when attempting to spell unknown words.

Grammar, Punctuation & Vocabulary Outcome: EN2-9B (Stage 2, Objective B)

According to the Board of Studies NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum (English K-10), learning outcome EN2-9B for stage 2 grammar, punctuation and vocabulary (Objective B) in my opinion also requires remediation in the students Year 3 creative writing work sample. In this work sample it is evident that the student has not completely developed an understanding of language forms and features in regards to effective and accurate sentence structures, grammatical features, and punctuation conversions.

On the other hand, it is also evident that this student has developed and applied their contextual knowledge to understanding the effective organisation of ideas in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts in order to enhance the overall meaning of their work as with the choice of vocabulary. The vocabulary used in this piece of creative writing is appropriate and thus, relevant to the type of text.

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The assessment task at hand in conjunction with the Australian curriculum is appropriate in terms of its stated purposes and is relevant, meaningful and furthermore a fair task that will in turn provide accurate information about what this particular student knows and their capabilities within their domain of knowledge. This work sample I believe will achieve the purposes for which it was designed for, however the student does require some assistance with particular aspects. For example, in my judgement I believe this student ought to improve their ability to understand the organisation of paragraphs of written texts as new paragraphs have been started where it is not necessary and vice versa (ACELA1479).

I also recommend that this student revisits the actual meaning of sentences and in turn, concentrates on improving their knowledge and use of noun groups / verb groups and prepositional phrases (ACELA1495, ACELA1943).

I have also identified numerous grammatical and punctuation errors which the student has not amended or identified themselves which is central to accurately linking ideas and information together for the student and the assessor (ACELA1981). Finally as per learning outcome EN2-9B states, It is important that the student experiments with punctuation to engage the reader i.e. the assessor in this case and to correctly achieve the creative texts purpose (ACELT1600).

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Part B: Reflection Practice

Throughout this unit of study 'Teaching & Learning 3 / Assessment & Reporting', I have greatly realised the importance and impact of assessment in Australian schools. Concisely, assessment practices in Australia are a reoccurring part of teaching and learning, which in turn demonstrates the achievement of outcomes to satisfy various stakeholders. During my learning journey I have scrutinized the collective concerns of the contemporary assessment practices in our schools and have focused my attention on the complex issues relating to assessment in Australia particularly in NSW.

Australian assessment tasks are designed to promote student learning in a meaningful and encouraging school environment, derived from the authentic learning approach. There are some key concepts and theories of assessment which must be followed in order to generate accurate student assessment results to justify their academic capabilities. The key concepts of assessment are validity, reliability and fairness. The traditional purpose of validity is to 'validate the extent to which a test or assessment measures what it was actually designed to measure', (Gipps, 1994). There has been much debate over the true objective of validity for instance, should it simulate real-world abilities of students or highlight specific curriculum objective (Wiggins, 1990). Whereas, I believe assessment tasks ought to be based on an authentic assessment approach which constructs validity through challenging, relevant and engaging learning practices for students. The second key concept is reliability which involves the multiple administrations of the same assessment, administration of multiple forms of assessments designed to measure the same curriculum outcome and comparing the students performance on two parts of an assessment. Also the consistency in marking is recommended to be addressed by having more than one marker for a single assessment task in order to maintain confidence in outcomes (Gipps,1994). Finally the third concept is fairness, fairness is a complex act when valid and reliable concepts may not be entirely fair to students as they differ in gender and race; and academically due to inconsistent characteristics, development, and opportunity. Therefore, assessments must be directly related to teaching and classroom learning, despite the fact that this approach may clash with social, political and economic agendas; whilst also following the Australian curriculum or syllabus to achieve prescribed outcomes.

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Pre-service Investigation Questions:

Question One: What are the fundamental purposes of the different forms of assessment used in primary schools particularly in stage 2, and which of these forms of assessment are most commonly employed in a complex and contemporary learning environment to promote student learning?

I understand that there is two strategic forms of assessment for teaching and learning, formal and informal; which are used in conjunction with the Australian Curriculum and NSW Syllabus. However, I aspire to thoroughly investigate and familiarise myself with all 12 complex forms of assessment as a pre-service teacher during my practicum as well as the NSW Syllabus. Sequentially I am seeking to narrow the forms of assessment down and focus primarily on the most commonly employed methods used by my mentor which best aim to promote student learning and development in my contemporary practicum school (Darcy Road Public School Wentworthville NSW Sydney).

Question Two: Is there a particular methodology which assists teachers in uniting their personal assessment and reporting experiences and views with the external environment point of views (i.e. stakeholders), in order to maintain and continue to enhance student learning in a meaningful manner? If so, please have mentor elaborate.If the uniting of differing point of views cannot be established between an experienced and knowledgeable teacher and the current economy, is it possible that learning environments in Australian schools can become unreliable, invalid and therefore unfair and bias, and student expectations and experiences impaired due to external factors?

As a pre-service teacher I have fundamental knowledge of the curriculum, child development, literacy, lesson planning, teaching approaches and assessment methods which have guided me through creating my own teaching philosophies and reflection journals. However, I cannot fully understand why it is that social, political and economic state of affairs have the ability to influence the assessment and reporting practices in NSW schools. I believe the only stakeholders who ought to influence the assessment practices are experienced scholars themselves who have been explicitly educated in teaching and learning practices and are qualified to confidently influence the future of these students with their best interests in mind. I also believe it is important for my own self-development to agree on a form of balance and unity between my teaching point of views and external stakeholder’s point of views before I am a qualified teacher, this will require further personal reflections in my portfolio. I intend to investigate my question further through the advice, knowledge and feedback of my mentor and veteran teaching staff at my practicum school to give me further insight into the politics of teaching. SKORIN_A_S268540_ETP425_ASSIGNMENT1 10 | P a g e

Appendix:

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Bibliography:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2014 Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/year3

Department of Education and Training, 'Teachers Guide to Assessment', June 2011, accessed on 13 April 2014.Retrieved from:http://www.det.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/297182/Teachers_Guide_to_Assessment_Web.pdf

Brady, L & Kennedy, K (2012). Celebrating Student Achievement: Assessment and Reporting (4th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education.

Mitchell, S & Collins, J (2014). Child Centred Assessment and Reporting Strategies, accessed on 10 April 2014.Retrieved from:https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/publ/research/publ/personalised-learning-glen-katherineps.pdf

Board of Studies NSW (2014), 'Standards - Referenced Assessment in primary Schools', accessed 7 April 2014.Retrieved from:http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/go/parents/standards-referenced-assessment-in-primary-schools

Restructuring the Curriculum of Australian Schools: Cross-curricular Issues and Practices

Grundy, S. (1994), Australian Curriculum Studies Association.

Board of Studies NSW (2014), English K - 10 Syllabus for the Australian curriculum, accessed 10 April 2014.Retrieved from:http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/go/english

Board of Studies NSW (2014), Parents Guide to the NSW Syllabuses, accessed 7 April 2014.

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Retrieved from:http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/go/parents/parents-guide-to-the-nsw-primary-syllabuses

Assessment Reform Group, 2002, 'The Assessment for Learning Framework', accessed on 20 April 2014.Retrieved from:www.assessment-reform-group.org/CIE3.PDF

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