K-6 Educational Resources — Board of Studies, New South Wales, Australia
Primary Matters
Primary Matters June 1996
From Board Bulletin, Vol 5, No. 4, June 1996
K-6 projects in progress at the Board of Studies
Assessment Matters
Assessment in Years 5 and 6 - a national report
A recently released report on the preferred assessment and reporting practices
of Australian teachers in the upper years of primary school reveals some
interesting findings. This report, Elements of Successful Student Outcomes:
Views from Upper Primary Classroom Teachers, which was commissioned by the
National Board of Employment, Education and Training, found among other things
that teachers in Years 5 and 6 across the country were up-to-date with internationally
recognised best practice. The informants identified approaches such as the
analysis of student work samples, structured observation of students, the
use of key criteria or performance standards, and the compilation of student
portfolios as highly favoured practices.
Assessment and Reporting Using Outcomes
Initial drafting of the Board's support document Assessment and Reporting Using Outcomes has now commenced. This K-10 publication, which is expected to be distributed to schools in the second half of the year, will contain suggested assessment strategies as well as reporting options that are compatible with the Board's outcomes model. The Board's document will concentrate on summative assessment and reporting with a focus on general matters rather than KLA-specific aspects, which the Board considers best addressed in syllabus support documents and associated materials. It is anticipated that the Assessment and Reporting Using Outcomes document will contain:
- a general set of principles underpinning effective assessment and reporting practice
- an 'assessment tools framework', which will assist teachers in selecting the most appropriate 'tool' to assess different kinds of outcomes
- approaches to recording assessment information
- approaches to interpreting assessment information
- a set of reporting options
- some best practice examples of school reports using the document's reporting options.
Early Stage One Teachers and academics with expertise and experience in Early Childhood Education recently joined Board staff to examine the usefulness of outcomes for Early Stage One and to discuss the application of the Early Learning Profiles.
This meeting was held at the Board to examine implications for curriculum development arising out of the Board's document Syllabus Model Using Staged Outcomes. Principal Sue Lowe and teachers Jenny Cooper and Robyn Baigent (Hurstville Public School), Jan Crammond (St Joseph's Primary School, Moorebank), and Dr Sue Dockett (the University of Western Sydney) provided valuable insight into classroom practice and factors influencing approaches to assessment and planning in Kindergarten classrooms.
Indonesian K-6
The Board's draft Indonesian K-6 Syllabus has now been distributed to a consultative network for comment. The scheduled completion date for Indonesian K-6, which will be the Board's first LOTE-specific syllabus for primary schools, is June this year. Schools interested in obtaining a copy will be able to do so by contacting the Board when the availability of the document is announced.
English K-6 Review
The consultation phase in the review of English K-6 is now nearing an end. This process has involved the analysis of comments from teachers, schools, and the wider community drawn from written submissions, oral submissions, survey data, and focus group meetings held throughout the State during April and May. The Review Committee will report to the Board on its findings in August.
Craft within the KLAs
Craft activities have long been an important part of primary schooling. The Key Learning Area framework used to articulate the primary curriculum means that craft is no longer a separate subject or a separate strand in one KLA syllabus. Activities previously provided as craft may now be part of either Science and Technology or Visual Arts, depending on the overall purpose for such activities. When viewed together, Science and Technology and Visual Arts provide for the extension of craft activities in many useful and valuable directions. The next Board Bulletin will include a more extensive article about the place of craft in the primary curriculum.
Schedule for Primary (Stages 1-3)
Syllabus Development
Please note that in Board Bulletin Vol 5 No 3 the Board published its curriculum development schedule for primary syllabuses in the Official Notices section. This information was also faxed to all primary schools.
If you would like further information regarding these items or K-6 curriculum matters in general, contact Margaret Malone, Inspector, Primary Education, phone (02) 9927 8199 or fax (02) 9954 9218.