Assessment - looking deeper

Criterion Assessment

Criterion Teat of Basis skills

The primary emphasis of this assessment is on phonetic word attack skills.
It uses a multiple- sensory assessment strategies to ensure that visual and auditory receptive skills, as well as vocal and motor expressive skills, are tapped.

Sample pages from the test book.

This test allows students to respond in many ways. I have adapted this test and used with non - verbal students.

It includes Letter recognition, Letter sounding, Blending and Sequencing, Phonics patterns, Multi syllable words, sight words.


I carried out this assessment on our target group of students in Year 7 & 9 at Panmure Bridge school.
It clearly showed where the gaps were in their phonics knowledge.

Student view of the own learning.

While working with many students across the Manaiakalani schools I have noticed many of the students are very critical of themselves and their own ability.
They seem to give up quickly and believe before they have even started that the task is going to be too hard.

When reading Karen Ferguson blog post about her students self-talking and the possible impact this could be having on your students, it made me revisit this possible challenge for our students. 

We need to get our students to rewrite the messages in their heads so that they are not giving up or being negative about their abilities and their learning.

I think the Stonefields school Learning pit helps students understand that learning can be hard and that is ok! But we need to be determined and positive and keep going.
The visual representation of the Learning pit works well and students in our Sommerville Satellite class at Stonfields now understand these concepts when matched to a visual and situation.

These learning qualities are so important for all our students. We all know learning is challenging and sometimes we just want to give up! We need to show students how to be Self Aware, and determined. Self Efficacy needs to be a skill we gift our students.