Assessment
Assessment at Otari School is in relation to the expected outcomes of each curriculum level in The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. Teachers use a variety of well established assessment tools to support their overall teacher judgements in relation to these levels.
Parents are provided with a report about progress in relation to levels of the curriculum at mid year and at the end of the year.
Overall Teacher Judgements
Teachers make OTJ's based on the following:
- observations
- work samples
- classroom assessment tasks
- knowledge of the whole child
- standardised tests
- Informed intuition
Standardised Tests
There are a number of standardised tests available for teachers in the Original and Montessori strands. While there are some sound assessment tools available for Māori Immersion students, standardised tests like the ones used in mainstream education have yet to be developed.
For Original and Montessori students and year 7 and 8 Immersion students the following tests are carried out during the year.
- Progress and Achievement Tests (PAT's) in reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, Mathematics and Listening.
- STAR test - Supplementary Test of Achievement in Reading. This test is usually given at the start of the year.
- South Australian Spelling Test.
Other School-wide Assessment Tools
Tests are only a "slice of the assessment pie." Other sound, New Zealand assessment tools are used for assessing progress and achievement in mathematics, reading and writing. These are designed for use in Te Reo and English and are administered in all strands. Teachers also use assessment tools developed in other countries and adapted for New Zealand students. All these tools are used for school-wide assessment each year in numeracy achievement, writing achievement in selected genre and on-going reading assessment.
On going classroom assessment
For all other learning areas, there are also a range of classroom assessment tasks that have been developed and continue to be developed, in relation to the learning outcomes being focussed on.
Key Competencies
The end of year report also provides information about progress in all learning areas and the Key Competencies.