Supporting schools’ and teachers’ use of assessment to inform learning of all students

Issue 5 of the series Using assessment data in education policy and practice: Examples from the Asia-Pacific documents 4 case studies of promising and effective policies or practices on how education systems can better support teachers and schools in effectively integrating assessment practices in the teaching and learning process, to identify and meaningfully address every learner’s needs. In particular, the case studies show how different tools, approaches and policies help promote and reinforce the use of assessment to support more learner-centred and differentiated approaches to teaching and learning. 1. Using the Progressive Achievement approach to develop data-informed schools by Marc Kralj, Prue Anderson and Greta Rollo is a case study of Our Lady of Visitation School in Adelaide, South Australia. It highlights how teachers and school leaders are using the ACER Progressive Achievement approach to collaboratively analyse and use the results of a standardised diagnostic assessment to improve teaching and learning in mathematics. 2. TaRL in Andhra Pradesh: Using assessment for informed teaching-learning practices by Sahar Bazaz documents the partnership between the civil society organisation Pratham Education Foundation and the government of the State of Andra Pradesh, India to implement an innovative approach to teaching called ‘Teaching at the Right Level’ (TaRL). 3. Teachers’ perceptions of the adoption of standards-based assessment and the use of learning data in Delhi by Ashtamurthy Killimangalam, Priyanka Sharma, Kripa Shankar Upadhyay, Anannya Chakraborty and Preeti Manchanda on the adoption of standards-based assessment by the Delhi Board of School Education (DBSE) with support from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) India, showcases how training teachers and providing support for the use of criterion-based assessment are improving teachers’ capacity to identify and meaningfully describe their students’ learning needs, and to provide adequate feedback in the learning process. 4. Fostering learning through assessment: Aga Khan University Examination Board case study on supporting teachers and students in Pakistan by Shehzad Jeeva, Munira Muhammad Rangwala and Ali Aslam Bijan looks at how examination results are analysed and documented in a School Performance Report to provide meaningful information for improvements in teaching and learning at the school level.