Document Type
Report
Publisher
Western Australian College of Advanced Education
Place of Publication
Perth, Western Australia
Abstract
In October 1985 the Board of Studies: School of Education established the ATP Assessment: Working Party with the brief of reviewing the assessment and grading procedures for the Assistant TeacherProgramme in the Diploma of Teaching.
The composition of the working party included School of Education staff from all campuses representing early childhood, primary and secondary levels, curriculum and instruction areas and the Department of Education. The major employing authorities: the Education Department of Western Australia, the Catholic Education Office and the Association of Independent Schools were represented on the working party together with nominees from the Primary Principals Association, Secondary Principals Association, Deputy Principals Associations, the State School Teachers Union and classroom teachers. Three students were nominated by the Student Guild.
The procedures adopted by the working party were firstly to call for submissions from members of staff of the WA College, the Student Guild, associated schools, education organisations and employing authorities. Fifty submissions were received, approximately half of which were from schools and organisations external to the WA College. Secondly, discussions were held with the Education Department of Western Australia and the Catholic Education Office to ascertain the priorities of the major employing authorities in regard to the information they require concerning the teaching ability of prospective teachers. Thirdly, a number of reports on specific topics such as measurement issues, criteria for assessing student teachers, organisational structures etc., were commissioned from members of staff with special expertise in areas of particular relevance to ATP assessment. Finally, the recent research in the study of teaching, the assessment of student teachers and the practicum was reviewed.
The above sources provided a substantial data-base for the deliberations of the working party. The recommendations included in the interim report of March 1986 were the result of consideration and discussion of these data, set in a framework which took cognizance of the context of the WA College and the Western Australian school systems.
The assessment package recommended in the interim report of the working party was tria lied during the 1986 ATP. Formative and summative evaluation data were used in a comprehensive review of the ATP. As a result of the trial and evaluation, some relatively minor adjustments and changes are recommended in the final report. However, it was clear from the questionnaire responses of College and School supervisors and from students that there was very strong support for the assessment procedures and supervision model which were trialled in 1986.
Comments
Western Australian College of Advanced Education. (1986). Final report of the Assistant Teacher Programme: assessment working party. Perth, Australia: Western Australian College of Advanced Education.