Learning & Teaching 

As the semester drew to a close, it was a busy time for teachers and students with assessments and reports.

A common purpose of assessment is to find out where each student is at on their individual learning pathway, so that teachers can then better guide each student. 

One of the assessments we use at St Bridget's is the ACER Progressive Achievement Test (PAT). We conduct this assessment for both Reading and Maths in Terms 2 and 4 in preparation for writing the student reports.

The purpose of the PAT testing is to identify what students know, understand and can do, in order to guide students’ individual learning journeys and ensure that each student makes progress over time, regardless of their starting point.

The most useful test is generally one in which the student answers enough questions correctly so that we are able to see what they can do, but also answers enough questions incorrectly so that we can identify some skills and concepts where the student needs support.

We use the results of this assessment data to identify starting points for learning, target teaching and monitor growth.

Progress along a PAT scale can tell us if there has been an increase in student achievement levels between two test sittings, using the measurement unit of PAT scale score points.

Norms for each year level reflect the distribution of scores for Australian students at that year level. They tell us what students in each level are typically capable of. The results also give us a stanine rank. This is useful for finding out if a student is above or below average for their year level, but is not useful for measuring progress over time.

It is important to remember that each student is on their own learning pathway. All students begin their journey at different points and conclude their journey at different destinations.

Kind regards,

Mrs Margie Maher

Learning & Teaching Leader