More formal, standardised assessments such as Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) have an important role to play alongside informal and in-the-moment formative assessment approaches. The most important consideration is that they are used purposefully with the ultimate aim of improving teaching and learning.
Using data and reports from PAT Tuhituhi assessments supports kaiako to reflect on their teaching practice and to gain insight into the impact of their teaching.
Reflective questions about the data include:
• What patterns can you see—for example, across different writing elements such as focus and purpose, or organisation?
• What patterns can you see within elements such as style and tone, word choice, grammar, or spelling and punctuation?
• Which aspects of writing are your ākonga demonstrating strengths in? • Which aspects of writing are proving challenging for your ākonga?
• Are there common themes among groups of ākonga who are excelling or struggling in particular writing skills?
• Are there surprises in the data that challenge your assumptions about particular ākonga or groups?
Reflective questions for classroom practice include:
• What cultural, linguistic or contextual factors might be influencing ākonga performance in writing assessments?
• How might classroom writing tasks, feedback practices, or opportunities for writinghave influenced ākonga outcomes?
• What shifts could you make in your writing programme to support improved writing outcomes and more equitable achievement for all ākonga?
• How can you adapt your teaching to be more responsive to the needs of ākonga Māori and Pacific learners or other priority learners, based on this data?
• How do you provide feedback on writing and how do you know it’s making a difference?
• How do current writing practices and tasks give ākonga enough opportunities to practise and demonstrate the skills and elements addressed in PAT Tuhituhi?