QCAR

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QCAR Schools Enacting Rich Tasks
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Questions people are asking

• How is the QCAR framework likely to impact on
  schools enacting Rich Tasks?
• Does QCAR threaten the nature of the work done in
  these schools?
• Is there work to be done?
• How well prepared are teachers in schools
  enacting Rich Tasks to meet the challenges of
  QCAR implementation?

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What is the QCAR Framework?

• Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting
  Framework
• a response to a range of challenges facing
  education in Queensland that was intended to draw
  on the work of the Assessment and New Basics
  Branch (see Qld State Education 2010)
• presents strategies to define essential learnings
  set new standards for assessing and reporting
  student achievement in the early middle years
  of schooling in Queensland

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Aims of the QCAR Framework

• make clear statements about the essential
  learnings that must be taught in Queensland
  schools
• provide a common frame of reference and a shared
  language for communicating student achievement
• equip teachers with high-quality assessment tools
  for collecting evidence of student achievement
• introduce state-wide assessment of student
  learning in Years 4, 6 and 9

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Aims of the Framework (2)

• provide more meaningful reports of student
  achievement
• promote teachers professional learning, focused
  on good assessment practices and judging the
  quality of student achievement against state-wide
  standards

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How will QCAR address these?

• focusing learning and teaching on the
  essentials
• aligning curriculum, assessment and reporting
• building capacity in terms of robust assessment
  practices
• referencing judgments about student work to
  performance standards
• facilitating comparability of reported results
  state-wide

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How the Rich Tasks measure up against these
goals?

• Look at
• what the QCAR policy says

• Then consider
• relevant experiences that schools enacting Rich
  Tasks will be able to draw on
• challenges and work to be done

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Focusing learning and teaching on the essentials

• What QCAR says
• Essential Learnings
• what students are expected to know and do at key
  points
• not the whole curriculum
• schools will continue to organise curriculum in
  various ways

• Relevant experiences
• Schools enacting Rich Tasks already organise
  curriculum, pedagogy and assessment around
  clusters of practices (and their affiliated
  knowledges and skills) that are considered
  essential for new and future conditions
• They may continue to do this.

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Challenges/areas for further attention

• Essential Learnings have been organised in terms
  of separate KLAs while the New Basics call upon
  broad, transdisciplinary practices.
• Schools enacting Rich Tasks will need to audit
  total curriculum against Essential Learnings and
  address any gaps.
• The Rich Tasks have been aligned to the Essential
  Learnings this alternative Rich Task format will
  be available through the QCAR website

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Building capacity for robust assessment practices

• What QCAR says
• What is needed is an assessment bank
• high quality assessment tools for collecting
  valid and reliable evidence
• models of good assessment practice
• resources to enhance assessment knowledge and
  skills
• support consistency of teacher judgements

• Relevant experiences
• The Rich Tasks stand as exemplars of quality
  assessment tools.
• Rich Task assessment draws on sound assessment
  principles.
• The Rich Task Blueprints support the design of
  high-quality tasks that are assessable against
  common standards.

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Quality Assuring Assessment Tasks
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Referencing judgments about student work to
standards

• What QCAR says
• Standards based assessment connects essential
  learnings to assessment and reporting practices.
• There is a need for a common understanding of
  standards a shared language for describing what
  is expected of students and the quality of
  student achievement.

• Relevant experiences
• Teachers in schools enacting Rich Tasks are well
  positioned in terms of making judgments based on
  sound evidence and a shared understanding of
  standards.
• Internal moderation and Local Consensus Events
  (LCEs) have provided forums for building common
  understandings of how the standards manifest in
  student work.

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Referencing judgments about student work to
standards

• What QCAR says
• Specific descriptions as well as examples of
  student work with teacher comments will be used
  to illustrate each standard.
• Teachers will develop common interpretations of
  the standards by working together and sharing how
  they apply these standards.

• Relevant experiences
• Teachers in schools enacting Rich Tasks routinely
  participate in standards validation events both
  in and across schools.
• Discussion about features of student work and how
  they might relate to standards descriptors is the
  basis for dialogue about grades.

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Facilitating comparability of reported results
state-wide

• What QCAR says
• Statewide information about achievement in
  essential learnings will be collected Yrs 4, 6
  9 through Common Assessment Tasks.
• QSA will develop processes for state-wide
  validation of teacher judgments.

Relevant experiences Teachers involved in the
enactment of Rich Tasks have extensive experience
of working with common assessment tasks.
Standards validation processes for schools
enacting Rich Tasks have been developed,
researched and found to support the consistent
application of standards.
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Reporting against standards

• What QCAR says
• Common elements may include descriptions of what
  has been taught, the expected standards of
  student achievement, and how well the child has
  achieved compared with these standards.
• 5-point scale

• Relevant experiences
• Schools enacting Rich Tasks and participating in
  LCEs have reported against state-wide standards
  using a multi-point scale.
• QCAR grades relate to demonstrations of learning
  in terms of identified Essential Learnings Rich
  Task grades relate to demonstrations of learning
  in terms of targeted repertoires of practice.
  Both use standards to evaluate the quality of the
  collection of work presented.

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How are schools enacting RTs positioned?

• Generally, well.
• ALL schools will have to implement the QCAR
  framework, not just those enacting Rich Tasks.
• QCAR goals relate to aligning curriculum,
  assessment and reporting
• robust assessment practices
• using standards to reference teacher judgments
• comparability of reported results
• Much of the work that schools enacting Rich Tasks
  routinely do, relates strongly to the big picture
  goals of QCAR.