Provide advice and support colleagues in implementing teaching strategies based on students' strengths and difficulties
In regular classrooms, there are diverse groupings of students ranging from gifted learners to students with learning difficulties. Teachers understand the importance of knowing their students, how they learn and meeting their needs relative to their prior achievement. A helpful way of establishing student need is triangulating data gathered in the classroom with the achievement of students in NAPLAN.
The Scores report can be found in the NAPLAN (DoE) app, under the heading Student Results.
Scores report
This report allows teachers to determine if a student’s results in each Domain are markedly different from their peers. It also allows a teacher to determine the students who require extension or support based on their band achievement in each NAPLAN Domain.
Use the Bands report (found in the NAPLAN (DoE) app under the heading Student Results) to:
Determine the students who require extension or support based on their band achievement in each NAPLAN Domain.
Key questions
Who are the students who will require extension based on their performance in the top 2 the NAPLAN assessment?
Who are the students who will require additional support based on their performance in the bottom 2 bands in the NAPLAN assessment?
Who are the students who performed in the middle 2 bands who will need to be challenged to demonstrate growth?
Scenario: Differentiating for students in Year 4 to ensure they are appropriately challenged or supported.
It is the beginning of the year and you are a Year 4 teacher. You have decided to differentiate your teaching and learning program, with a specific focus in Mathematics, to ensure that your high achieving students are extended in their learning, your middle achievers are challenged and your lower achieving students are provided with additional support. In addition to available internal data sets, you decide to use existing NAPLAN assessment data.
Comparison of class cohort with State average
- Open the Scores report (found in the NAPLAN (DoE) app under the heading Student Results)
- Make the following selections:
- Which year was it? 2019
- Which Scholastic Year? Year 4
- Which Assessment? NAPLAN 3
- A specific group? Your class
Consider:
Who are the students whose performance is markedly different from their peers?
Comparison of class cohort with State average
- Open the Bands report (found in the NAPLAN (DoE) app under the heading Student Results)
- Make the following selections:
- Which year was it? 2019
- Which Scholastic Year? Year 4
- Which Assessment? NAPLAN 3
- Which Domain? Numeracy
- Which Band Group? Top 2 Bands - Select the ellipses icon (…) for more options.
- Select Export Data to export the data to MS Excel.
- Repeat steps 1-4 for different band groups.
Consider:
- Who are the students whose performance is markedly different from their peers or State average?
- How might you differentiate the Maths/Numeracy program for the three groups of students?
Where to next?
Use Paper/Online Item Analysis – School to analyse NAPLAN performance in each question and identify strengths and /or gaps in teaching strategies.
Paper/Online Item Analysis – School
Open either Paper Item Analysis or Online Item Analysis (found in the NAPLAN (DoE) app).
- Open School
- Ensure the selections at the top are appropriate for your focus
School % Correct by Syllabus Area provides an overview of how students performed against Syllabus Outcomes. If you would like to see which questions relate to a specific Syllabus Outcome, click on the label on the horizontal axis (e.g. MA1-12MG). Information relating to this outcome will then be reflected in the below sections, including Test Item Details. The top four sections (School % Correct by Syllabus Area to Test Item Details) relate to the full cohort. The last section allows you to look at responses at a Roll Class/Custom Group level.
Consider:
- Where is a large difference in performance between the school and the SSSG/State? This might identify potential areas for development in the teaching strategies for that topic.
- What are the overall strengths?
- What are the overall areas for improvement?
- What programming, assessment or teaching practice was implemented, which may have influenced the trends?
- What attainment and growth has taken place for students who were on Individual Learning Plans?
- What areas could benefit from further curriculum differentiation?
Once you have the data
You can then use this information to determine areas of Literacy/Numeracy extension/enrichment and support enabling teaching and learning program to cater for the learning needs of each group. In order to accurately determine a student’s overall skill, knowledge and understanding, we recommend using Scout data in conjunction with internal data sources.
Where to next?
Resources relating to Literacy and Numeracy:
CESE – How schools can improve literacy and numeracy
High Value-Add Schools: Key Drivers of School Improvement
Six Effective Practices in High Growth Schools
Sustaining Success: A case study of effective practices in Fairfield high value-added schools
DOE - Teaching Strategies
You can access resources and information relating to differentiation here:
Strong Start, Great Teachers – Differentiating learning
NESA – Differentiated programming