How can data analysis inform effective assessment practice?

Assessment is central to learning. It is not just about testing or measuring learning; it is an integral part of curriculum, pedagogy
and student learning.

Practical Classroom Assessment demonstrates how and why assessment should be firmly embedded in the day-to-day practices of learning and teaching. It addresses current issues in the teaching and study of assessment planning and shows how assessment can be used to aid, support and enable learning. It provides pre-service and practising teachers with strategies to develop the skills, competencies and confidence to conduct assessments that will enrich their students’ learning.

New to this Edition

• Addresses the growing need for data analysis by showing students how to use data to inform their assessment practice. This will also assist students in meeting the fifth AITSL professional practice standard: ‘Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning’
• Chapter 15: Classroom Implications of Standardised Testing and Examinations has been revised and updated to align with the national curriculum
• Chapter 4: From Assessing with Standards to Assessing with Learning Progressions explores an increasingly important trend in assessment – determining student progress, rather than attainment. One of the main recommendations of the Gonski 2.0 report (2018) was that schools should be able to demonstrate that all students had made one year’s progress in one academic year. What this means for classroom assessment is introduced and explored in this chapter
• Chapter 13: Assessment in Primary and Lower Secondary Years in State and Australian Curricula allows for a greater focus on the primary and lower secondary years. Along with Chapters 12 to 14 looking at the differences between assessment practices in different stages of education from early childhood to senior secondary.

Part 1: Assessment Principles
1. Developing Healthy Attitudes to Assessment for Teachers
2. Developing a Healthy Attitude to Assessment among Students
3. Non-Negotiables in Assessment
4. From Assessing with Standards to Assessing with Learning Progressions

Part 2: Assessment Practices
5. Planning and Programming Assessments
6. Classroom Formative Assessment Processes
7. Creating Helpful Feedback Cycles  
8. School-based Summative Assessment: Design, Development and Conduct
9. Accommodations of Assessment for Students with Special Needs
10. Making Judgments about Student Achievement
11. Recording and Reporting, Reviewing and Responding

Part 3: Assessment Perspectives
12. Planning and Assessment in the Early Years
13. Assessment in Primary and Lower Secondary Years in State and Australian Curricula  
14. Assessment in the Senior Phase
15. Classroom Implications of Standardised Testing and Examinations  
16. Using Emerging Technologies to Engage with Assessment

Conclusion: Charting the Territory for Assessment Futures

Kylie Readman is the Pro Vice Chancellor – Education at Murdoch University, Western Australia

Bill Allen is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia

Nathanael Reinertsen is a Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER).