Planning Assessment

When planning assessment activities, teachers need to consider the following issues:

• a program of assessment in History must include measurement of student achievement of all knowledge and skills outcomes for each stage
  
• there should be a balance of activities over the stage program with respect to:
  

  – the variety of assessment techniques used
  

  – the timing of assessment tasks
  

• how assessment activities are to be administered
  
• how the assessment results will be collected, recorded and analysed
  
• how the assessment task will be effectively evaluated to ensure that it measures what was intended
  
• the way in which feedback will be given and what the results suggest for the students’ next stage of learning.
  

Planning is best undertaken systematically using a process that considers all of the above assessment issues. A suggested planning model is outlined on the following page.

An Assessment Planning Process Model

Assessment Purpose and Targeted Outcomes Which syllabus objectives are to be assessed by the task? What are the associated outcomes that will provide evidence of whether the student has met the objectives?	Group knowledge and/or skills outcomes to match the selected objective(s).
Assessment Technique What type of task will you use?	There are a variety of assessment tasks. Use a task which will assess the chosen objectives most effectively. For instance, a written examination would not be the ideal instrument to test oral communication, practical or research skills.
Assessment Considerations What should you consider when you design the task?	A single task can often measure achievement in relation to several objectives. Consider the nature and structure of the task so that you: make the requirements of the task as clear as possible choose questions or activities that assess the chosen objectives and allow students to demonstrate appropriate outcomes make any sources or stimulus material clear and appropriate to the task anticipate the likely range of student responses.
Assessment Criteria Does the task measure what you want it to (validity)?	Validity is the extent to which the task measures what it is intended to measure. The validity of a task can be improved by: ensuring that it assesses a balanced selection of the knowledge and skills objectives from the parts of the syllabus being assessed ensuring that the outcomes chosen may be adequately demonstrated assessing only performance relevant to the task allocating marks or grades that reflect the relative importance of each part of the task.
Assessment Construction How can the task be designed to produce consistent results (reliability)?	A task is more likely to give reliable results if: the instructions are unambiguous the language level is appropriate it is an appropriate length the items are not too difficult or too easy it does not contain bias (eg gender or cultural) the marking scheme is applied consistently.
Recording and Marking What should you consider when you devise a marking scheme?	A marking scheme should be devised as a task is set. Teachers should: allocate marks or appropriate comments to each section of the task consider any weighting that is to be applied adjust the marking scheme when the student responses are unexpected.

Assessment Techniques

When developing an assessment framework, teachers should aim to foster an integrated understanding of history. This requires students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding as well as an ability to interpret, analyse, empathise, research and communicate information.

School-based assessment in each stage should contain a range of tasks. Each task should be designed to enable judgements to be made about student achievement of more than one outcome. Pen-and-paper tests cannot provide adequate information about student performance on the full range of outcomes. For example, the skill outcomes M5.18 and M5.19, which relate to communication, may best be assessed using a variety of verbal presentations.

Other non-test-type techniques can include:

• inquiry-based research assignments and projects
  
• heritage site activities
  
• oral presentations (eg seminars, debates, tutorials)
  
• performance activities (eg role-play, dramatic presentation, video, computer simulation).
  

Students should be informed of the criteria by which they will be assessed on particular tasks.

Assessment of Students with Special Needs

The process of assessing students in History who have special needs or a disability should follow the principles outlined for assessing all students. This will often mean the completion of an individual education plan that details how achievement for that student is measured.

Wherever practicable, all students should complete the same assessment task. For some students with special education needs, teachers may need to consider whether the same assessment task can be performed under different conditions. Such conditions may include:

• providing a separate time and/or place to carry out the task
  
• the use of a competent student or adult to help carry out aspects of the task under instruction
  

  from the student
  

• providing longer periods of time
  
• providing specialised equipment to assist in the task.
  

There are a range of options that can be used to allow students with disabilities to fully participate in appropriate assessment tasks.

For example, students with significant fine motor difficulties may be able to carry out their journal entries using voice-activated word processing software or through the use of a dictaphone. Another example might be to allow the support of an interpreter for students who are sign-dependent when watching and reviewing films associated with the course.

For further advice, refer to the Board of Studies document Assessing Students with Special Education Needs: Guidelines for the Provision of Alternative Assessment Tasks and Practical Work for Students with Severe Physical and Sensory Disabilities in Stage 5 and Stage 6.

Assessment Activities

In developing assessment activities within a teaching program, teachers need to link these to one or a number of objectives. For example, a library research task could be undertaken, based on the issues involved in the conscription debates during World War I. The task could be presented in a report format. The teacher could assess this report on any or all of the following:

• how well the student has understood the topic and is able to embed their knowledge in the report
  
• how well the student has interpreted, analysed or empathised with a particular person or one side of the debate (ie the research itself could form the basis of the assessment)
  
• how well the student has communicated their findings to an audience, either orally or in writing.
  

Therefore, one, several or all of the objectives could be utilised when assessing a report. Examples of such activities are listed in the table below.

Knowledge, Understanding and Skill Objectives Students should develop skills, knowledge and understanding in the areas of: Knowledge and understanding Research Interpretation, analysis and empathy Communication.

Assessment Activities Students should be able to demonstrate the achievement of syllabus objectives using a variety of activities such as: Timelines Paragraphs Formal essays Structured essays Oral and written reports Mind maps Journal/diary writing Objective tests of factual recall Open-ended questions Research assignment in written and/or oral form Data collection Interviews Critical dialogue Categorising Source analysis Debating Dramatic presentations.

In addition to these summative assessment activities, there are specific formative assessment procedures that should also be considered, including:

• teacher observation — either casual monitoring or using a standardised observation schedule
  
• self-assessment processes
  
• peer assessment
  
• conferencing — discussions/interviews between the teacher and the student.

It must be remembered that formative assessment will build up a cumulative profile of student achievement. As such, it will help to identify the particular strengths and weaknesses of each student.

• anecdotal records
  
• marks and grades
  
• running records
  
• comments and descriptions
  
• time sampling
  
• tracking sheets
  
• checklists
  
• portfolios
  
• rating scales
  
• student profiles.