School-based assessment
What is assessment?
Assessment is the process used to identify, gather and interpret information about a student’s performance. Assessment includes informal and formal teacher judgements and external examinations.
What is school-based assessment?
School-based assessment is assessment which is managed by the school according to the unit assessment outline which is developed by the school from the assessment table in the course syllabus.
School-based assessment includes tests, essays, examinations, reports, exhibitions, performances, presentations, demonstrations and other work including various forms of product or performance.
In planning a teaching and assessment program for a unit, teachers will continue to do what they have always done, that is: consider the needs of the students; refer to the content expectations in the syllabus; refer to the syllabus assessment requirements; and locate appropriate resources.
What is an assessment outline?
An assessment outline is the teacher’s plan for assessment of a unit based on the assessment types and weighting ranges provided in the syllabus assessment table. The outline maps the assessment tasks and the preferred weightings in relation to the broad assessment types and outcomes for the course (see examples attached).
Why is an assessment outline needed?
An assessment outline for a unit:
- provides clarity for students about the nature of the school based assessments (i.e. what and when it will be assessed) and their relative weightings
- enables teachers to demonstrate they have addressed the syllabus assessment requirements
- provides a framework for ensuring comparability of assessment
- provides comprehensive, credible, information upon which decisions can be made about student performance.
How can an assessment outline be developed?
When developing an assessment outline:
- focus on the content of the unit or the pair of units that will be taught for a particular class; consider whether it is most appropriate to teach the semester units sequentially or concurrently
- identify the unit learning context(s) that will be used and access appropriate resources to assist in the planning and delivery of the teaching program
- plan a teaching program with activities and tasks that ensure coverage of the unit content
- refer specifically to the syllabus assessment table for the particular unit(s) and draw up an assessment outline using the assessment tasks in the teaching program
- consider the tasks to be used in relation to the types of assessment required and to the broad outcomes of the course to make sure there is coverage of both. Determine the weightings for the assessments using the guidelines in the assessment table.
- develop the assessment tasks for the unit in detail. Describe the task clearly and build in any necessary steps or scaffolding in the instructions for students. Include the criteria for the assessment and a marking key that allocates specific marks to the range of expected responses from lower order responses to higher order responses.
- provide all students in the class with an outline of the teaching program and the unit assessment outline at the beginning of the unit, including details of what is to be assessed and when.
What are the implications for assessment outlines when delivering units concurrently over a year?
- When delivering units concurrently over the year, you may have either an integrated assessment outline covering both units or separate assessment outlines for each unit.
- Whether you have integrated or separate assessment outlines is a school decision bearing in mind that:
- schools need to provide to Council at the end of the year, results (a mark out of 100 and grade for Stage 2 or Stage 3 units in Year 12) for each unit.
- teachers need to be confident that the assessment tasks and evidence collected over the year reflects the teaching and learning of the syllabus content across both units.
- students exiting at the end of Semester 1, can be provided with a unit (e.g. A or B) result.
- An integrated assessment outline will look the same as the examples attached but will include tasks addressing content of both units for a year.
Assessment and reporting of units delivered concurrently
Reporting of student achievement for senior secondary courses requires that every student enrolled in any Stage 1, 2 and 3 WACE course unit will receive a grade (A to E) for each completed course unit. If a unit is unfinished, ‘U’ should be submitted. In addition, any student sitting the WACE examination will require a numerical school assessment (mark out of 100) for each Stage 2 or Stage 3 unit completed.
In many courses, unit pairs are suited to being taught sequentially in Semester 1 and Semester 2, while in other courses units may be taught concurrently throughout the year. The decision about how to teach units and whether to submit results at the end of the semester or the end of the year is a school decision.
While teaching units concurrently provides flexibility in how the pair of units is taught, it does not alter the assessment requirements for the two units being completed.
When delivering units concurrently over the year, teachers may have either a separate assessment outline for each unit or a combined assessment outline covering both units.
Schools should bear in mind that:
- the assessment tasks and evidence collected over the year must reflect the teaching and learning of the syllabus content for both units.
- the assessment types and weightings for both units are maintained.
- at the end of each year, schools need to provide the Council with a grade for each unit, and where required, a numerical school assessment for each unit.
Schools using a separate assessment outline for each unit will determine a separate grade, and where required, a separate numerical school assessment, for each unit.
Example:
- A teacher delivers two units, such as Chemistry 3A/3B, concurrently in Year 12 with a separate assessment outline for each unit
- A student in this class gets a grade of B for Chemistry 3A and a numerical school assessment of 66 and a grade of A in Chemistry 3B, with a numerical school assessment of 78
- These grades and scores are submitted for each unit.
Schools using a combined assessment outline covering both units will determine a single grade, and where required, a single numerical school assessment, for the unit pair. The same 'average' grade, and where required, numerical school assessment, is reported for each of the two units.
Example:
- A teacher delivers two units, such as Chemistry 3A/3B, concurrently in Year 12 with a combined assessment outline throughout the year.
- A student in this class gets an overall grade of B with a numerical school assessment of 72.
- A grade of B and a numerical school assessment of 72 is submitted for each unit.
