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How to use the sample English assessments

Sample assessments are optional resources that support curriculum reform in English 7–10. They represent ‘one way’ to design conceptual assessments.

Sample assessments support classroom teachers to design high-quality teaching and learning experiences for students. Like any resource, sample assessments must be reviewed for suitability prior to use.

Understanding the sample assessments

The structure of the sample assessment notification has been developed to assist teachers in NSW Department of Education schools to create and deliver assessment practices that are contextualised to their classroom.

The sample assessments are designed as examples of how the English K–10 Syllabus (2022) could be used in assessment practice. A combination of teacher and student information is contained in these resources.

The purpose of the content intended for teachers is educative. This is intended to support the teacher and their practice as they design formal assessment task notifications.

Many schools have their own assessment templates. Teachers can adapt the material provided to suit their context. The content in the assessments are both student and teacher facing. Student-facing content can be copied and pasted into the school’s assessment template.

The structure of the assessments

The structure and content of the assessment tasks is influenced by the department’s:

The tasks also align with NESA’s advice on:

These tasks provide opportunities for teachers to gather evidence about student achievement in relation to the syllabus outcomes.

  • Task overview – annotations are provided to assist assessment design.
    • This information is for the teacher only and should be deleted prior to distributing the assessment notification to students.
    • Teachers should change the tense of these instructions if they are issuing the assessment later in the program when students have engaged in this learning.
  • The context of the task – an overview of how the task provides an authentic audience and purpose. Teachers may adjust this as necessary to suit their context.
  • Processes for drafting and providing feedback – drafting and feedback structures and guidance are provided in the assessment notification.
    • This is also aligned with the program content and the resources.
    • This is designed to ensure that student responses are authentically composed by students.
  • What is the teacher looking for in this assessment task? – this section uses the criteria points from the marking guidelines to identify the skills and knowledge required to meet the requirements of each task.
    • This learning is directed by and aligned to outcome content groups.
    • It highlights to students what is expected of the response.
  • Steps to success – a schedule is provided to support students to successfully complete each task and to support teachers in their monitoring of student progress.
    • Each list should be adjusted to reflect the resources and materials provided to the class.
    • The lists provided reflect the resources, activities and core formative tasks provided within the resource and activity files.
    • They are designed to assist students as they refine their assessment submission.
    • The schedules are not for the purposes of compliance and students should not be penalised for not meeting interim times.
    • The information provided could be
      • determined and refined by the teacher based on school context
      • used to feed forward
      • co-constructed with students.
  • Marking guidelines – the structure of the marking criteria depends on the requirements of the assessment task.
    • Two marking criteria templates have been provided.
    • This demonstrates the various approaches to marking criteria.
    • The marking criteria contains sample language that may be useful in the composition of criteria for each grade.
    • If assessments are adapted for the school context, criterion would need to be refined to reflect the changes.
    • The language is reflective of the K–10 Common Grade Scale and syllabus outcomes.
    • The K–10 Common Grade Scale can be used to report student achievement in both primary and junior secondary years in all NSW schools.
    • Teachers may find the language helpful when composing their own marking criteria.
  • Student-facing rubric – the student-facing rubric is designed to provide context-specific explanations of the assessment marking criteria.
    • Student-friendly language is used.
    • This unpacks the specific knowledge, skills and understanding required when composing each component of the assessment.
    • When teachers are providing feedback, they could make comments on the specific knowledge, skills or understanding that needs further development and methods for improvement.
  • Assessment policy – a reminder that assessment notifications should contain a reference to the school’s assessment policy and the relevant information or support.
    • Some reminders are suggested below but this should be adjusted to reflect the school context.
    • Schools may provide the administrative procedures associated with the following
      • late submission of tasks due to illness or misadventure
      • malpractice
      • invalid or unreliable tasks
      • student appeals
      • ‘N’ determinations (where appropriate).
  • Student support material – a list of relevant resources and activities that will help students prepare for the task.
    • The annotations should be adjusted by the teacher to reflect the resources and materials explored with the class.
  • Student work sample – annotated work samples are provided and are designed to provide one example of a completed work sample that aligns with the assessment task requirements.
    • It is not designed to be an example of exemplary student work.

Assessment procedures

The following is a brief overview of assessment procedures drawn from the acknowledged resources. Teachers should familiarise themselves with the evidence-base in this area and engage in ongoing evaluation.

  • Ensure all sections of the assessment are written in student-friendly language.
  • Ensure that assessment practices focus on identifying where students ‘are in their learning so that teaching can be differentiated, and further learning progress can be monitored over time’ (CESE 2020a:25).
  • Students should be provided with a range of assessment types to demonstrate their skills and understanding in a variety of ways.
  • Marking rubrics should be clear, explaining the place of the task in the learning context, and setting up consistent and objective marking practices (CESE 2020a; NESA 2021).
  • Students’ writing processes should be recursive.
    • They should be supported through the task preparation stage by explicitly scheduling brainstorming, planning, drafting, editing and revising time.
    • See for example, The process writing approach: A meta-analysis (Graham and Sandmel 2011)
  • Self, peer and teacher feedback is crucial to student success.
    • Teachers should build in explicit opportunities for feedback, both during task preparation and after the return of the assessed task (CESE 2020b; Hattie and Timperley 2007).

Opportunities for adaptation and collaboration

The English Year 7–10 assessments provide an opportunity for adaptation and collaboration that enhances collective efficacy and supports consistent teacher judgement. This is an outline of some of the ways sample assessments can be used with colleagues.

  • The tasks provide an example of NESA’s Summative assessment principles in action.
    • The tasks could be viewed in conjunction with the assessment principles to support schools to enact NESA’s advice in their own documents.
  • The tasks and student samples provide an opportunity for modelled and guided co-construction of faculty assessment documents, such as marking criteria or steps-to-success.
  • Use the student responses as an example and model of how to achieve success.
    • Make modifications to the models to reflect contextual needs.
    • This can take place prior to students beginning their own compositional process and as a feedback opportunity, to refine compositions as they engage with the task.
  • Examine the sample assessments and student samples located in the assessment notifications during faculty meetings or planning days. Collaboratively refine them based on faculty or school goals.
  • Liaise with the learning support team or English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) specialists to identify ways to support students with specific learning needs.
  • Examine the materials during faculty meetings or planning days and collaboratively plan opportunities for team teaching, collaborative resource development, mentoring, lesson observation and the sharing of student samples.
  • Use the examples as inspiration for designing ‘real-world’ and student-specific tasks.
  • Use the assessment practices or syllabus planning as an opportunity to backward map Years 10–7 to guide programming, assessment design or the scope and sequence.

Professional learning

Professional learning courses and resources that support the teaching of these sample assessments.

  • Assessment professional learning (staff only) – access different professional learning to support assessment practices in schools
    • This includes general professional learning and some specific learning areas
  • Department microlearning course English 7–10 microlearning
    • Understanding the Stage 4 and 5 components of the English K–10 Syllabus (2022).
    • Designing assessment for conceptual knowledge development

The English curriculum 7–12 team provide professional learning through the English Statewide Staffroom. Join the English statewide staffroom to access these valuable resources and support. The recordings and resources are housed in the Professional learning channel (staff only).

Planning, programming and assessing English 7–10

Advice and support including units, scope and sequences and other resources to help you plan, program and assess English 7–10.

Professional learning English K–12

Professional learning English K–12

Category:

  • English (2022)
  • Stage 4
  • Stage 5

Business Unit:

  • Curriculum
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