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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" > <channel> <title>talk from chalk</title> <atom:link href="https://talkfromchalk.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://talkfromchalk.com</link> <description>What I've learned while teaching</description> <lastBuildDate>Sun, 10 Feb 2019 05:32:43 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator><cloud domain='talkfromchalk.com' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' /><image> <url>https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png</url> <title>talk from chalk</title> <link>https://talkfromchalk.com</link> </image> <atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="https://talkfromchalk.com/osd.xml" title="talk from chalk" /> <atom:link rel='hub' href='https://talkfromchalk.com/?pushpress=hub'/> <item> <title>So how did your school go?</title> <link>https://talkfromchalk.com/2019/02/10/so-how-did-your-school-go/</link> <comments>https://talkfromchalk.com/2019/02/10/so-how-did-your-school-go/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sterlinghurley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 10 Feb 2019 05:32:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Professional]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Teaching]]></category> <category><![CDATA[#WPLongform]]></category> <category><![CDATA[achievement]]></category> <category><![CDATA[education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category> <category><![CDATA[results]]></category> <category><![CDATA[schools]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://talkfromchalk.wordpress.com/?p=80</guid> <description><![CDATA[So… having announced I’d get back into blogging about a month ago I’ve done no blogging! Sorry about that. Like the old saying goes, ‘Man makes plans and God laughs.’ Well, here we go then…sort of… with a republication of … <a href="https://talkfromchalk.com/2019/02/10/so-how-did-your-school-go/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So… having announced I’d get back into blogging about a month ago I’ve done no blogging!</p> <p>Sorry about that. Like the old saying goes, </p> <p><em>‘Man makes plans and God laughs.’</em></p> <p>Well, here we go then…sort of… with a republication of one of my first ever posts which I’m pleased to say is remarkably evergreen as it still quite accurately sums up my views.</p> <p>You see, I’d been thinking I must write something about how frustrating the numbers and data are that claim to show the success of schools or their senior cohort of students at year’s end.</p> <p>Because…it never does! It cannot! There are too many real-life narratives that are impressive and amazing that these numbers just cannot reflect. <br>Long story short… numbers are misleading! They don’t infer the tribulation or effort that went into achieving them! </p> <p>It is so frustrating to me that I put off writing about this for fear I’d rant maniacally. </p> <p>Then a quirky happenstance reminded me of the post below. </p> <p>Last week I attended (with my boys now 16 and 13!) a Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s concert that included a spectacular (and I mean spectacular!) performance of Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ where I suddenly remembered I’d covered this territory before. </p> <p>So, if you’re keen to get my take without a rant read on. Or, at least watch the clip. Listening to Gershwin’s pure creative genius is never a waste of time. </p> <p><strong>The ‘League tables’ that often emerge in the media at year’s end are important and valuable. They are also imperfect measures that don’t reflect reality.</strong></p> <p>So another year draws to a close and with it (at least here in Australia) the class of 2012 wraps up. All that really matters now is for these graduates to see what their future holds. Indeed that was the only thing that mattered from the start really. For some this means seeking full time employment immediately, while others work to secure apprenticeships or wait for offers in tertiary courses.</p> <p>My concern in this post however is for the schools that they now leave. On the one hand their job is done. However, there would be few schools that don’t reflect intensely on the academic achievements of this finishing cohort and scrutinize it for meaning. Is there credit to be taken? Reflected glory to bask in? Rueful lessons to learn?</p> <p>You know, ‘What do their marks say about us?’ kinda thing.</p> <p>I’ve always thought this is a commendable, even valuable, exercise. I also find it extremely frustrating because I feel it’s never done properly. There’s an enormous amount of statistical information collected on students who complete high school in all education systems but, inevitably, this suffers from over-simplification when it is published.</p> <p>In this State (Victoria) the one stat that rules them all like some malicious Tolkein magical item is the school’s ‘subject mean study score’. This is a number out of 50 and is therefore easy to comprehend. All schools will have their own individual benchmarks for this but to put it into some perspective, any school that rates itself as a high performing academic institution will be asking searching questions if this metric falls below 34.</p> <p>I could liken this to the Olympic medal tally that utterly dominates and ruins the Games for me every four years however that would bug me so much I’d probably never finish the post. Instead I’ll try to convey my criticism through the analogy of music – far more soothing don’t you think?</p> <p>First of all I ask you to watch this clip from the movie ‘Rhapsody in Blue – the George Gershwin story’. See you back here in ten minutes.</p> <iframe class="youtube-player" width="584" height="329" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TLGIvEclXwQ?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation"></iframe> <p>Hopefully you enjoyed that. I always do. If you fell asleep however skip to the last 3 minutes.</p> <p>Obviously the cuts to audience members were to show the important folk in Gershwin’s life – at least as far as the movie was concerned. For my purposes I’d draw your attention in particular to the elderly couple in the audience were supposed to be George Gershwin’s parents. Throughout the movie Gershwin’s dad is portrayed as a proud and supportive figure who simply cannot appreciate music but knows that important pieces are long. Hence the watch. Actually, when you think about it, he’s not wrong but of course he completely misses the point.</p> <p>It strikes me that this parallels perfectly an obsession society has for educational standards and knowing how ‘we’re going’.</p> <p>Media all over the world love to show the academic achievement of students in schools and publish this information like a league table.</p> <p>They do this because their readers love to see how ‘their’ school compares to others. Their interest is genuine and I don’t mean to question it so much as suggest the exercise simplifies and exaggerates something that is rhapsodic in complexity.</p> <p>In any school you care to focus on I assure you the students there will have experienced an academic journey with a myriad of struggles, challenges, successes, failures, effort, apathy, improvement and regression. There are valuable lessons to be learnt from their journey and looking at the statistical information that is acquired is incredibly useful (if carefully appraised as a whole) in preparing the future cohorts for their journeys.</p> <p>But what usually captures everyone’s attention is how much the mean study score will look in the paper and this misses the point as much as Pa Gershwin and his stopwatch.</p> <p>I’ll give you an example. Think about all the students that rarely if ever see an ‘A’ in six years of highschool, yet commendably stick it out and graduate with unimpressive study scores. There are a fair few students like this out there. They get no credit for perserverence in this exercise. These students drop their school’s mean average and imply someone wasn’t trying hard enough. Infact, the study score would look far better if they weren’t so determenied and just dropped out. Hey there’s a thought! Lets just ‘encourage’ all the low achievers to go somewhere else!</p> <p>For the record, let me state now that, if I thought I was involved in a system that tried to ‘weed’ students like this out, I’d quit tomorrow and become a lawn mower man. At least there the same activity is genuinely useful and wont doom your soul.</p> <p>Anyway, back to Gershwin. A quick search on Wikipedia before writing this showed me that not a lot is known about his parents. I suppose this was the excuse for the movie to spin a fairly unrealistic narrative around the dad. At no point does the movie suggest he was anything less than a proud and doting father though. Similarly I’m not out to demonise people who read these lists. Heck I read the lists! Proud and doting parents or alumni may read these lists with my approval. Just don’t read the lists and think it’s an accurate reflection of a schools’ worth.</p> <p>If you’re wondering what actually does constitute an accurate reflection of a schools’ worth, you’ll have to wait for a future post. But I’ll give you a quick hint. If the real life father of George Gershwin was ever in any doubt as to the quality of his son’s achievements, all he had to do was put the watch down and look around at the audience.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://talkfromchalk.com/2019/02/10/so-how-did-your-school-go/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7231d1c9abe94b56f9bbdf8e758bf4adb6cf3c89c0d18bc5f7a90398c46ad1e9?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">sterlinghurley</media:title> </media:content> </item> <item> <title>2019. Ready, set, go!</title> <link>https://talkfromchalk.com/2019/01/06/2019-ready-set-go/</link> <comments>https://talkfromchalk.com/2019/01/06/2019-ready-set-go/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sterlinghurley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 05 Jan 2019 22:07:40 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Family]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Learning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Professional]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Teaching]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2019]]></category> <category><![CDATA[edublogs]]></category> <category><![CDATA[learning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Year]]></category> <category><![CDATA[renew]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://talkfromchalk.com/?p=917</guid> <description><![CDATA[To say 2018 was a big year would be understating it spectacularly. It was a personal and professional watershed that was dominated by new jobs, new roles and new responsibilities. They say a river is never the same from one … <a href="https://talkfromchalk.com/2019/01/06/2019-ready-set-go/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>To say 2018 was a big year would be understating it spectacularly. It was a personal and professional watershed that was dominated by new jobs, new roles and new responsibilities.</p> <p>They say a river is never the same from one day to the next. I like this metaphor. What looks familiar and predictable and unchanging is, in fact, chaotically transformative. Another one of my favourite sayings (and actually its one that got me through many tough moments in 2018) is Yiddish and goes; <em>‘Man makes plans…and God laughs’. </em></p> <p>So, with these wisened pearls in mind, I’m intending the coming 12 months to be about consolidating what we, both myself and the Sterling clan at large, have learned – which is pretty much the reason I started this project years ago…</p> <p>Happy New Year everyone. Let’s go.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://talkfromchalk.com/2019/01/06/2019-ready-set-go/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:thumbnail url="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/img_3986.jpg" /> <media:content url="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/img_3986.jpg" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">img_3986</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7231d1c9abe94b56f9bbdf8e758bf4adb6cf3c89c0d18bc5f7a90398c46ad1e9?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">sterlinghurley</media:title> </media:content> </item> <item> <title>Hiatus over!</title> <link>https://talkfromchalk.com/2018/12/14/hiatus-over/</link> <comments>https://talkfromchalk.com/2018/12/14/hiatus-over/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sterlinghurley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 14 Dec 2018 10:55:07 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Teaching]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://talkfromchalk.com/2018/12/14/hiatus-over/</guid> <description><![CDATA[Hell! It’s been a while has it not? My apologies for that. Long story short – life needed to be lived before I could document the lessons learnt. And in fairness, life has been lived and lessons have been learnt … <a href="https://talkfromchalk.com/2018/12/14/hiatus-over/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hell! It’s been a while has it not? My apologies for that.</p><p>Long story short – life needed to be lived before I could document the lessons learnt. And in fairness, life <em>has</em> been lived and lessons <em>have</em> been learnt (at least I hope they have).</p><p>Basically, at the time I ceased blogging regularly I was in the process of looking for a position of advancement in another institution and it was made clear to me that this blog was not an asset but a liability in that endeavour (I’ll discuss that at some point in the near future).</p><p>Additionally, I took on another (Gawd help me and my dearest!) postgraduate degree which I have now completed.</p><p>Yeah. What the hey?!</p><p>Anyhoo… I’ve completed this…Sheesh…and now find myself sitting in a post academically narcissistic oasis believing I can contribute to the educational zeitgeist once again.</p><p>Apparently my hubris knows no limit.</p><p>Ah well… here we go again eh?!</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://talkfromchalk.com/2018/12/14/hiatus-over/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7231d1c9abe94b56f9bbdf8e758bf4adb6cf3c89c0d18bc5f7a90398c46ad1e9?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">sterlinghurley</media:title> </media:content> </item> <item> <title>2015 in review</title> <link>https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/12/31/2015-in-review/</link> <comments>https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/12/31/2015-in-review/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sterlinghurley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 31 Dec 2015 04:36:41 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Learning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Professional]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Teaching]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://talkfromchalk.wordpress.com/?p=906</guid> <description><![CDATA[Once again, the WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2015. If it were a cable … <a href="https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/12/31/2015-in-review/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Once again, the WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.</p><p><a href="https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/annual-report/"><img src="//s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/annual-reports/img/2014-emailteaser.png" alt="" width="100%" /></a></p><p>Here’s an excerpt:</p><blockquote><p>A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about <strong>1,400</strong> times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 23 trips to carry that many people.</p></blockquote><p><a href="https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/annual-report/">Click here to see the complete report.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/12/31/2015-in-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7231d1c9abe94b56f9bbdf8e758bf4adb6cf3c89c0d18bc5f7a90398c46ad1e9?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">sterlinghurley</media:title> </media:content> </item> <item> <title>Assessment viewed sideways</title> <link>https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/06/08/assessment-viewed-sideways/</link> <comments>https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/06/08/assessment-viewed-sideways/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sterlinghurley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2015 09:01:05 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Learning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Professional]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Teaching]]></category> <category><![CDATA[#WPLongform]]></category> <category><![CDATA[achievement]]></category> <category><![CDATA[assessment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Australian education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Exams]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GAT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[NAPLAN]]></category> <category><![CDATA[schooling]]></category> <category><![CDATA[study]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://talkfromchalk.com/?p=898</guid> <description><![CDATA[My last post asserted that the world looks at assessment the wrong way. ‘Sideways’ so to speak. I did this with no real evidence to back up my view so I guess it’s incumbent upon me to at least give … <a href="https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/06/08/assessment-viewed-sideways/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My last post asserted that the world looks at assessment the wrong way. ‘Sideways’ so to speak. I did this with no real evidence to back up my view so I guess it’s incumbent upon me to at least give some sort of proof.</p><p>To do this I submit the Australian NAPLAN testing program as exhibit A, and the Victorian Certificate of Education’s GAT as exhibit B. As neither would be widely known outside of Australia I’ll attempt to set the scene a little along the way.</p><p><strong>Exhibit A: NAPLAN</strong></p><p>In it’s own words, The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) <em>“is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. [It] tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling and numeracy.”</em></p><p>However, these are not the words some people involved in the process would use. NAPLAN is a contentious pariah in the opinion of some. For example, it is the cause of much angst in Schools whose published results appear unflattering, and significant anxiety for students and parents who worry about failing to perform well.</p><p><a href="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm.png"><img data-attachment-id="900" data-permalink="https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/06/08/assessment-viewed-sideways/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm/" data-orig-file="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm.png" data-orig-size="955,316" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 12.52.37 pm" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm.png?w=300" data-large-file="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm.png?w=584" src="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm.png?w=300" class="wp-image-900 alignright size-medium" width="300" height="99" alt="Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 12.52.37 pm" srcset="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm.png?w=300 300w, https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm.png?w=598 598w, https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm.png?w=150 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"></a>Here’s the thing. NAPLAN is an exercise in meta-data collection. The value is in establishing literacy and numeracy standards of present day students in the Australian educational landscape and locating where there is a regional, institutional, or systemic need for attention or overhaul. The Tasmanian education system, for example, was flagged in the last 12 months as worthy of scrutiny based on the data raised by NAPLAN.</p><p>So it’s useful. In fact, I’d go so far as to say NAPLAN is absolutely essential to education policy makers in this country. However, because its big picture stuff, it’s implications to schools and families is limited and easily misconstrued. Every student receives their results and the performance of every school’s collective student body is published on the “my schools” website. What that means in effect is that everyone who cannot gloat over unambiguously strong results is left feeling defensive and threatened by appearing mediocre.</p><p><a href="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm.png"><img data-attachment-id="899" data-permalink="https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/06/08/assessment-viewed-sideways/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm/" data-orig-file="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm.png" data-orig-size="1064,474" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 12.02.49 pm" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm.png?w=300" data-large-file="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm.png?w=584" src="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm.png?w=300" class="wp-image-899 alignleft size-medium" width="300" height="134" alt="Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 12.02.49 pm" srcset="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm.png?w=300 300w, https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm.png?w=600 600w, https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm.png?w=150 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"></a>I regularly hear accounts of schools that take time out of their curriculum schedule to prepare their students for these literacy tests. I also hear accounts of schools tapping individual families on the shoulder and suggesting it would be a good idea if their little angel were away sick for the testing week. I have anecdotal evidence of students who have developed anxiety over school as a result of these tests and I also know that when my school (an open enrolment school) asks for parents of prospective students to supply NAPLAN data, the request is treated with suspicion and fear that the data will be used as an unofficial form of selection criteria.</p><p>I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve tried to set the record straight on NAPLAN. It has no direct bearing on the achievements of any Australian student in the curriculum they are learning in. Scrutinizing it for meaning is like looking at climate records to predict whether or not it will rain tomorrow. Not exactly a futile activity but equally not a guarantee of precise information. It is nothing more than a diagnostic tool. Being ‘good’ at it is nice. Being ‘bad’ at it is fascinating and worth investigation rather than concealment. I may as well howl at the moon though. People cannot help layering results with status and stigma. Interestingly, the same cannot be said of…</p><p><strong>Exhibit B: GAT</strong></p><p>The high school finishing certificate of the masses here in Victoria, Australia is the Victorian Certificate of Education or VCE and an integral piece of this process is the General Achievement Test aka the GAT.</p><p>A quick look on the official website explains the GAT is ‘<em>a test of general knowledge and skills in written communication, mathematics, science and technology, and humanities, the arts and social sciences</em>’ – an exercise in literacy and critical thinking basically.</p><p>And once again, I’m convinced the attitude to this assessment is lopsided. My circumstantial experience is that students sit this test in the middle of the year (also the coldest part of the year here) and it is an exercise in begrudging compliance. It’s a three-hour test under exam conditions with two writing tasks and a set of multiple choice questions and … blah blah blah.</p><p><a href="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm.png"><img data-attachment-id="901" data-permalink="https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/06/08/assessment-viewed-sideways/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm/" data-orig-file="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm.png" data-orig-size="901,528" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 12.53.42 pm" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm.png?w=300" data-large-file="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm.png?w=584" src="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm.png?w=300" class="wp-image-901 alignright size-medium" width="300" height="176" alt="Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 12.53.42 pm" srcset="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm.png?w=300 300w, https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm.png?w=600 600w, https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm.png?w=150 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"></a>Students really just don’t want to know about it and schools want to get it over and done with quickly. Everyone is at the end of a long term and the first semester has just wrapped up and they’re feeling flat. Schools for their part make some effort to prep their students for the test but my sense is that this is something most staff don’t fully appreciate, and parents are completely uninformed about the thing.</p><p>But the GAT matters! Unlike NAPLAN which has no direct effect on curricular assessment, a student’s GAT result comes into play when there is a discrepancy between the school assessed results and the end of year exam. In such situations the system favours the level of achievement that the GAT most compliments. Therefore, should a student achieve well throughout the year but then bomb out in the exams, a GAT performed to their best ability is there to protect all that hard work. It’s credit in the bank!</p><p>The status and usefulness of this assessment seems obscured to me. Not that I want anyone getting anxious about it you understand, I just think there’s a lot of students who overlook it’s direct value to them.</p><p><strong>Sideways Perspectives Corrected</strong></p><p>Both testing regimes sit largely outside the daily grind of student curriculum and both claim to be indicators of general aptitude. For this reason I often hear people say that ‘you can’t study for these things’ which is another unhelpful perspective in my opinion. Students can always practice sample questions and writing genres because in doing so they develop familiarity with the nature of questions, the nuances of the wording, and assurance in how to complete tasks.</p><p>It may be that suggestions the tests can’t be prepared for is a way of managing anxiety but if that’s true than we’re feeding ignorance by missing an opportunity to look at assessment properly.</p><p>The question that people really need answered is not ‘what is it?’ but ‘what is it for?’ More specifically, what’s the assessment designed to measure? In the case of NAPLAN, frankly, there’s not much more in it for individuals than bragging rights. It needs to be taken seriously and completed properly but its ramifications are for the big picture. The GAT on the other hand is only undertaken for the benefit of establishing individual student’s standards. A strong performance in the GAT safeguards against poor outcomes at the end of the year.</p><p>If we could all resist the urge to be seduced by some odd sense of test prestige and focus more on what assessment is designed to do I think we’d all see things much more clearly.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://talkfromchalk.com/2015/06/08/assessment-viewed-sideways/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7231d1c9abe94b56f9bbdf8e758bf4adb6cf3c89c0d18bc5f7a90398c46ad1e9?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">sterlinghurley</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-52-37-pm.png?w=300" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 12.52.37 pm</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-02-49-pm.png?w=300" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 12.02.49 pm</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://talkfromchalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-08-at-12-53-42-pm.png?w=300" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 12.53.42 pm</media:title> </media:content> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
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