Stage snapshots

Online reading and mathematics assessments of approximately 40 questions, for Stages 2 to 4, that support teachers to analyse strengths and areas of focus.

Purpose of the assessment

Stage snapshots are designed to assess a broad range of outcomes within a learning stage. They identify a student’s or class’s current understanding or skill level and complement other school-based assessment practices. This helps identify strengths and possible areas for focus. They are summative and based on specific syllabus outcomes, so data can measure the level of student achievement and can be used before or after a period of instruction.

They are designed to:

provide an overview of student learning across a stage
identify student misconceptions
support planning and programming
provide immediate results and feedback to students and teachers
complement other assessments.

Data provided

Stage snapshots provide a range of actionable data.

Focus areas

Stage snapshots align to strategically selected syllabus outcomes and learning progressions.

English/literacy: vocabulary, comprehension and responding to texts and literature.
Mathematics/numeracy: number and algebra, measurement and space, statistics and probability.

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

Stage snapshots can be used effectively at multiple levels.

Student

Evidence assists with:

identifying student strengths and areas for development
selecting differentiation strategies based on student need.

Class

Evidence assists with:

identifying students that require targeted instruction
identifying areas of focus for the class, including those requiring consolidation.

Stage, cohort or faculty

Evidence assists with:

identifying students requiring further assessment and support
programming decisions
planning of resources.

Running the assessment

Stage snapshots 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 via settings and provide feedback another way.

A Quick Reference Guide (QRG) is provided for technical support. A support booklet for each stage helps in the analysis of student responses to identify misconceptions.