Note from e-asTTle course

Using e-asTTle
• The data needs to be used to inform teaching and learning.
• Students should use this assessment and its reports to help understand their current skills and knowledge and inform their learning goals.
• In order to provide accurate results, and useful data, testing needs to be done by current achievement level, not year group.
• The results need to be interpreted alongside other evidence to ensure that good teaching and learning decisions are made.
• A student’s test score in NOT an Overall Teacher Judgment as it simply does not even come close to encompassing the broad set of skills and knowledge described in the standards.
• If students of wide ability take the same test it is really only the ‘average’ sector where any useful information will be gained.
Getting too many right or wrong provides us with very little information.
Implication
• Test students on current achievement levels, not age.
• It may be necessary to create up to four different tests for some cohorts. Each student is then assigned to a test which is challenging for him/her.
• If we want to get good information from e-asTTle, the students need to get some answers wrong.
• A student that gets 100% correct gives little information on his/her next learning steps and e-asTTle has to extrapolate to give an indication of achievement. This is not necessarily an accurate score.
• Copying a test allows you to use the same test with a different group of students. Copying rather than reassigning the same test allows you to keep the two sets of data separate.
• Creating a similar test means that you can create a test using the same settings as previously but it will result in a new set of questions.
• A better option if testing the same set of students again is to create a slightly harder test. This will be a better fit for the students as it acknowledges the progress they have made throughout the year.
• Don’t test kids who are not reading at age 8.
· Share with the students their scores and their next steps.
· Show the cut score and celebrate the successes not the overall score.

2015 reflection

This has been a fantastic learning year for me. I started the year at James Street school. During term 2 I made a change to teach a year 8 class at Tarawera High school.

On my arrival I first noticed that the class seemed to be in a state of disarray. The students lack structure and routine. They had a teacher that had had a lot of time off and a term of relievers.
Drawing on my experience gained from PB4L, the Incredible Years programme and 15 years of teaching experience, I knew that I had to develop a strong trusting relationship with the students and set a class programme where all students felt like they were being successful in their learning.

I tried group teaching in reading, maths, and writing but found that the students weren't able to self manage and needed whole class teaching in order to develop a healthy classroom environment and establish a level of order.
At the same time I started to develop a relationship with some of the more challenging students in the class and their parents.
I found that providing  one on one time with these students enabled them to share their interests with me, home life, their concerns and social issues, which enabled students to start developing trust in me.

During this time I developed a relationship with home through phone calls, texts, and inviting parents to meet with me during my release times. Taking sports group also help to create the connection with students whanau.

I have also gain professional development in the use of google docs, google classroom and using
e-asTTle. I am still currently in the process of upskilling in e-asTTle and have a course to attend later in the term.