What teachers need to know about ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING

What teachers need to know about assessment and reporting describes best practice in assessment and reporting, while giving practical and accessible advice to teachers and school leaders to help them reflect on and refine their assessment practices. It is a response to the pressures on teachers and schools, not only to improve the quality of teaching, but also to demonstrate improved outcomes. Many teachers apply assessment approaches that are familiar from their own education or learnt from peers. This nook seeks to fill the gaps in teacher knowledge about assessment and reporting and to provide practical support for teachers and school leaders. It explores and explains assessment from the perspectives of classroom, school, system and nation.
A collaboration between an ex-school principal and an academic, this book connects practical information with sound research. It explores the various purposes of assessment along with practical guidance on creating and scoring assessments, interpreting and using data, and reporting the results to various audiences for various purposes.
It begins by highlighting the importance of assessment literacy as an essential skill for all teachers, and the place of assessment in quality education. The following chapters develop 6 key principles about assessment:

1. Effective assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. It makes learning visible.
2. Effective assessment is comprehensive. Any aspect of a student's academic and personal development can be assessed as necessary.
3. Effective assessment provides worthwhile and credible information.
4. Effective assessment provides answers to questions. This enables educators to make sense of assessment data.
5. Effective assessment facilitates informative reporting - to students, parents, the principal, colleagues, school councils and the wider community.
6. Effective assessment informs school-wide evaluation processes.

The book concludes with a sample school assessment and reporting policy.
While written in the context of Australian schools, it is generalisable to education systems and the pressures on teachers in many countries.

Phil Ridden has extensive experience as a primary and secondary teacher, curriculum writer, advisory teacher, professional development consultant, deputy principal, principal, board member, conference speaker and parent.

Sandy Heldsinger has extensive applied and theoretical experience in educational assessment. Sandy has coordinated a state testing program while remaining close to schools, and has used her expertise to support teachers in better understanding good assessment practice.