Pre and post assessments
Sets of diagnostic questions in literacy and numeracy, for Stages 2 to 4, designed to assess student learning prior to and after a period of explicit teaching.
Purpose of the assessment
Pre and post assessments are small sets of questions used to measure learning prior to and after a short period of explicit teaching to inform next steps. They align to syllabus outcomes and the National Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions. Each set has 2 assessments of 6 to 12 paired questions ranging in difficulty and targeting likely misconceptions in reading and numeracy. A question in the pre-test relates to the same question number in the post-test, assessing the same skill with similar difficulty. They are designed to provide teachers and students with immediate feedback on a student’s current understanding across two points in time that can support monitoring of student learning and reflective teaching practice.
They are designed to:
- identify student skills and understanding before and after explicit instruction
- support the planning of learning activities (pre-test)
- assess effectiveness of teaching and learning approaches (post-test)
- provide immediate feedback on students’ current understanding
- monitor learning progress.
Data provided
Pre and post assessments provide a range of actionable data to be used together to monitor learning progress.
Focus areas
Pre and post assessments link to strategically selected outcomes and progressions, covering a range of concepts.
- English/literacy: author perspective, comprehension, literary devices, text forms and vocabulary.
- Mathematics/numeracy: additive strategies, angles, flexible multiplicative strategies, fractions, fractions and decimals, multiplicative strategies, number and place value.
Results and feedback
Both students and teachers receive immediate results and feedback at time of completion which include:
- overall score and marked answers provided to students and teachers
- answer feedback provided to students with explanations of reasons for errors or possible misconceptions (immediate/delayed)
- samples of students’ working out collected in the numeracy assessment (optional).
These sources can form part of data triangulation practice.
Informing next steps
Pre and post assessments can be used effectively prior to and after a period of teaching and learning.
Evidence assists with:
- identifying students’ prior knowledge and misconceptions before teaching
- student goal setting based on their areas for development
- selecting strategies to differentiate learning based on student needs.
Evidence assists with:
- identifying students with learning gaps, who require continued support or re-teaching of concepts
- providing feedback to students on their learning progress
- student reflection on their learning and progress towards achieving their goals.
Running the assessment
Pre and post assessments are administered online as either a Microsoft Forms or Google Forms assessment, or offline as PDF or printed copy.
Teachers can choose to provide students with immediate feedback or turn it off Settings and provide feedback another way.
A Quick Reference Guide (QRG) is provided for technical support. A summary document for each assessment helps in the analysis of student responses to identify misconceptions.
Assessment links
Pre and post assessments and supporting documents are accessed via the Pre and post assessments dashboard. The dashboard allows teachers to search for assessments by syllabus, stage, outcome, concept, and sub-topic or stimulus.
Support
For additional support, email online.assessments@det.nsw.edu.au