Victorian Curriculum F-10 Languages An overview of assessment strategies and assessment tools

PRESENTERS VCAA: - Maree Dellora: Languages Manager - Craig Smith: F-10 Project Manager Australian Council for Education Research: - Fusae Nojima: Project Director - Scott Haines: Senior Technical Officer

Content Overview of assessment Why assess student learning? Session overview Why assess student learning? Types of assessment Rubrics and assessment Victorian Curriculum Content descriptions, elaborations, achievement standards Achievement Standards and the Language Assessments Working with the Language Assessments Web tour Support Contacts

Session overview This session will cover assessment strategies and tools teachers can use when assessing Victorian Curriculum Languages, followed by an exploration of how the new language assessments could be used to support teachers’ assessment practices The session will cover similar information to the previous session held in September 2017 Tomorrow’s session will build on themes covered today and explore further how the Language Assessments may be used to support teachers’ assessment practices.

Session aims The aim of this session is to situate the new online Language Assessments within the broader contexts of the Victorian Curriculum and assessment practices After a brief review of assessment practices, to explore what the new language assessments look like and how they could be used as another assessment tool by teachers

Snapshot online Language Assessments The Language Assessments are a new assessment tool schools may choose to use to support their teaching of Languages (F-10 or 7-10 sequences) They provide assessments of the receptive skills of listening and reading, in the following eight languages: - Chinese (background and second language learner) - French - German - Indonesian - Italian - Japanese - Modern Greek - Spanish.

Snapshot online Language Assessments The Language Assessments comprise of multi-choice questions across three levels of difficulty (Assessments A, B, C) can be used any time, as many times as teachers want results available immediately are available to all Victorian schools, including community schools, at no cost. They not intended to be the sole means of assessing student progress against the Victorian Curriculum Languages achievement standards

Why do we assess student learning? Assessment is sometimes designed to improve students’ learning and at other times to rank them or certify their competence Assessment activities help learning if they offer feedback to pupils to assess themselves and other students Assessment can also be used to modify the Language teaching and learning activities Effective assessment helps raise levels of student achievement in the target language

Types of assessment When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative; when the guests taste the soup, that’s summative.  Robert Stake, University of Illinois 

Structure of Languages in the Victorian Curriculum Strand Communicating Understanding Sub-strands Socialising Systems of language Informing Language variation and change Creating The role of language and culture Translating Reflecting

Content descriptions, elaborations, achievement standards explain what is to be taught are found within each sub-strand Elaborations are: non-mandated, advisory examples of how the curriculum may be transformed into a classroom activity or learning opportunity Achievement standards describe what students are able to understand and do and are the basis for reporting student achievement

Achievement standards Achievement standards as a continuum of language learning, not an age-determined set of expectations F–10 Sequence: the first achievement standard for Languages is provided at Foundation–Level 2 and then at Levels 4, 6, 8 and 10. 7–10 Sequence: the first achievement standard is provided at Level 8 and then at Level 10 Reporting to be against the achievement standards Using assessment to adjust teaching

Demonstrating achievement The achievement standards outline what the student is able to do Students demonstrate what they are able to do through the products they present for assessment

Rubrics and assessment Rubrics are one assessment tool that: provides descriptions of observable characteristics of performance in an assessment task makes explicit what is being looked for and valued as evidence of successful learning Rubrics or assessment criteria can be developed from the achievement standards Units of work will probably address a number of aspects of the achievement standard at any given level

Assessment in Languages Assessment to be part of teaching and learning program design Give students clear criteria (such as a rubric) Students discuss assessment criteria Collect evidence over time from a range of activities and sources Important to monitor every student’s progress along the Language continuum

Importance of assessment in curriculum planning http://curriculumplanning.vcaa.vic.edu.au/sat/self-assessment-tool

Alignment with the Victorian Curriculum How do the Language Assessments align with the Victorian Curriculum for Languages? Which content descriptions cover the skills needed to respond effectively to Listening and Reading tasks? Are any of these skills reflected in the Achievement standards?  

Content descriptions French Levels 5 and 6 Recognise and apply features of intonation, pronunciation and writing conventions used in different types of texts and contexts   Develop knowledge of grammatical elements such as tenses, … Understand how different French texts use language in ways that create different effects and suit different audiences  

Content descriptions French Levels 5 and 6 Understand that language is used differently in different contexts and situations Understand that the French language is constantly changing due to contact with other languages and to the impact of new technologies and knowledge   Understand that there are different forms of spoken and written French used in different contexts within France and in other regions of the world  

Aligning with the curriculum Language Assessments test receptive skills Students analyse what they hear or read and choose the correct response Many of the comprehension and analysis skills required are part of the Achievement standard at each band  

Extract French/ Levels 5 and 6 Achievement standard By the end of Level 6 students… recognise appropriate forms of address for different audiences… They identify key points and supporting details when reading and listening,… They recognise… verb forms such as le futur proche (je vais + l’infinitif) and le passé composé (j’ai + regular forms of past participle) as set phrases. They recognise l’imparfait when reading (c’était, il était) but do not yet use it in their own speech or writing… They identify differences in commonly-used text types (for example, greetings, instructions and menus)…They recognise relationships between parts of words (suffixes, prefixes) and stems of words (préparer, préparation; le marché, le supermarché, l’hypermarché).

Content descriptions Chinese Levels 7 and 8 Recognise the tone-syllable nature of the spoken language, discriminate use of tones, rhythm, and sound flow in interactions, and use Pinyin to support learning the spoken language Identify how character structure, position and component sequences relate the form of a character to its particular sound and meaning Identify the characteristics of familiar text types, noting particular textual features distinctive to Chinese Identify traditional phrases and contemporary terms in everyday language use and the role of technology in changing the way people communicate  

Extract Achievement Standards Chinese Levels 7 and 8 By the end of Level 8, students… respond to instructions, questions and directions. They respond to… simple informative and imaginative texts for known audiences and purposes. … Students are aware of the key features of the Chinese writing system and its differences to the English writing system…They recognise the function of tone-syllables and Pinyin. They recognise … diversity within the Chinese spoken and written language, and consider the influence of culture on everyday communication, for example, concepts such as respect, politeness and the importance of family. They are aware that literal translation between languages is not always possible, and that aspects of interpretation and translation are affected by context, culture, and intercultural experience.

Working with the language assessments Assessments are designed to help teachers not only to find out what students know and can do, but also to map where a student’s current knowledge ends It is important to encourage students to attempt all questions. However, if students do not know the answer it is better for them to skip the question rather than to make a random guess.

Working with the language assessments EXAMPLE OF ASSESSMENT DEMONSTRATION Scott to decide: If we have enough time, perhaps add in some instructions on how to generate/print student login cards?

Getting started- registering Go to the VCAA website http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/foundation10/viccurriculum/languages/cpa.aspx and follow the link to ACER’s registration page Or go directly to the ACER website https://www.acer.org/vcaa-language-assessments Verbally: Make a note that even schools with EXI.STING OARS accounts still need to go through this registration process

Using the language assessments Accessible on all types of devices Teachers are strongly urged to preview assessment beforehand and to make a judgement which one is appropriate for their students. Headphones are required for the Listening assessments Reports are available immediately after students complete their test

Support T. 03 9277 5324 E.oarssupport@acer.edu.au For support how to use the Language Assessments platform (e.g., how to register, creating and/or editing student lists, assigning assessments and so on), the ACER website has numerous resources including: Help pages Online instructional videos PLUS the ACER Helpdesk: T. 03 9277 5324 E.oarssupport@acer.edu.au

Questions Questions?

Contacts ACER Helpdesk For questions concerning the Language Assessments platform, please contact: ACER Helpdesk T. 03 9277 5324 E.oarssupport@acer.edu.au

Contacts for Victorian Curriculum Languages For questions about the Languages curriculum and assessments, please contact: Maree Dellora, Manager, Languages Unit dellora.maree.r@edumail.vic.gov.au T. 9032 1692 For questions about the Victorian Curriculum F-10, please contact the VCAA F-10 Unit: vcaa.f10.curriculum@edumail.vic.gov.au T. 9032 1788