Using Data To Build Learning Pathways

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

During the pre-teaching period, students are requried to read the Schedule folder on the subject's LMS site and to complete preparatory reading which can be downloaded from the Readings & Recources section of the subject's LMS site.

170 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

In this subject, participants will develop a theoretical and practical understanding of the principles of assessment and reporting for students with additional needs. The emphasis will be on data collection, its purpose, and strengths and weaknesses of various approaches that are consistent with practice in Victorian schools.

Participants will learn about the interpretation and use of different forms of data to support decisions about learning programs for students with additional needs. Data derived from both informal and formal methods of assessment will be considered, including classroom observation and work samples, large scale testing programs, and specialist assessments. Participants will develop skills in evaluating different forms of assessment and reporting in terms of their usefulness to inform classroom practice.

Links between assessment and curriculum will be examined, and connected to evidence-based decision making and developmental frameworks. The importance and use of various approaches to gathering evidence, interpretation of developmental frameworks, and reporting will be examined and practised. Skills in combining evidence of learning to form assessment for teaching, recording and reporting purposes will be developed.

Upon completion of this subject, participants will be able to:

• Practise and evaluate different approaches to collecting evidence of learning for students with additional needs.
• Interpret assessment data using formal interpretative frameworks.
• Locate students on a learning pathway.
• Identify, design and defend differentiated intervention strategies for students within the format of an individualised learning program.
• Link curriculum, and teaching and learning resources to assessment data for individual students and groups of students.
• Monitor student development on a learning pathway.
• Report to stakeholders about student learning and make recommendations for support and intervention.

There are three assessment tasks:

• Reflective task 1 (1250 words) due week 5, 25%
• Reflective task 2 (1250 words) due week 10, 25%
• Case Study Individual Learning Plan (2500 words) due end of semester, 50%

Attendance at all classes (tutorial/seminars/practical classes/lectures/labs/online classes) is obligatory. Failure to attend 80% of classes will normally result in failure in the subject.

Griffin, P. (2014). Assessment for Teaching. Cambridge University Press.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject participants will have the knowledge, skills and understanding to enable them to:

• Effectively articulate and justify their practices as knowledgeable agents of change;
• Understand the significance of developing their practice on the basis of research evidence;
• Use the language of the discipline to extend knowledge and understanding from diverse perspectives for a range of audiences.