The Curriculum Audit

Lynne Walsh – Director QCAR Implementation

Sue Brown – Principal Policy Officer, QCAR Implementation

Where are you in terms of providing students with the skills they need for the 21st century?

QCAR – 5 elements

1. Essential Learnings

2. Standards

3. Assessment Item Bank

4. Queensland Comparable Assessment Tasks

5. Reporting Guidelines

The 3 Components of the Auditing Process for Quality Curriculum1. Audit the current Whole of

School Curriculum Plan against the Essential Learnings.

2. Audit the teacher designed tasks for task quality.

3. Audit the multiple on-going opportunities available for staff to discuss the quality of student work.

The Components of an Audit1. Whole of School Curriculum Plan

• How are you progressing with the implementation of the Essentials?

• Is there continuity in your program across year levels; 3/5/7/9 junctures; Early and Middle Years Phases of Learning?

• Is there communication between feeder primary and secondary schools?

Brainstorm all the curriculum offerings at your school.Lay all your curriculum cards on the table.

Auditing your whole of school curriculum plan includes examining units of work:

• enacted in each year level

• within a looping or multi-age framework or

• within and across discipline areas

Have you identified all learning opportunities?• Teacher designed tasks• Rich tasks • Assessment bank tasks • Geographic/Cultural/Student Specific programs• Blue Prints• Secondary elective programs• KLA specific courses of study • Differentiated learning programs (Music, Camping, Chess, Philosophy)• Cross curricular priorities such as ICT’s, Literacy Strategy,

Numeracy Strategy, Values Framework, Indigenous Perspectives, Smart Moves.

P-12 Curriculum Framework

Policy and Guidelines for Queensland State Schools

P-12 Framework

QCAR Framework

What does your school value?

WHAT STATE SCHOOLS VALUE FRAMEWORK

ORGANIZERS

FIVE CITIZEN ROLES• Eco-citizen (Sustainability)

• Healthy citizen (Identity, Relationships and Wellbeing)

• Creative citizen (Creativity)

• Informed citizen (Thinking, Reasoning, Communicating)

• Democratic citizen (Civics and Citizenship)

For more information contact:Anna Brazier, Director, CurriculumAnna.brazier@deta.qld.gov.au

PLAY REMAIN HELP

OOPS DELETE

DONE

What goes, what stays, what work has to be done?

QCAR Consultants:Contact your District Office for contact details.

QCAR Consultants:Contact your District Office for contact details.

QCAR Implementation Team:Contact Curriculum DivisionPH: 32222689

QCAR Implementation Team:Contact Curriculum DivisionPH: 32222689

HELP

The Components of an Audit

2. Audit teacher designed tasks for quality task design.

How trustworthy is the task for generating sound evidence about student performances? Does the task require performances that are relevant and adequate for the targeted intentions? Does the task have clear and explicit criteria for the types of evidence students will be required to provide? Have sufficient and clear standards for the curricular knowledges and curriculum literacies been developed to provide advice to students (and other assessors) on the bases for making judgments? Does the task provide sufficient opportunity for students of all races, ethnicity, gender or socio-economic background to demonstrate their achievement? Does the task contribute to students experiencing a balanced and varied collection of tasks as part of the school assessment plan? The connections to the educational intentions must be clear to all audiences.

Does the task support all students in the production of a performance of best quality? Does the task have a complete set of guidelines (including models) that allow students to reflect on, rehearse and review their responses? Do your choices relating to the layout, cues, visual design, format and choice of words (including ‘technical’ language or jargon) facilitate engagement with the task and reinforce student understanding of what is valued in their responses?

Does the task have examples and resources that are helpful to students?

I f the literacies are to be assessed, have they been explicitly taught?

I s the task intellectually challenging?

Does the task draw in sufficient depth & breadth upon the targeted knowledges, concepts and skills of the domains?

Does the task require students to engage in a range of thinking skills and to demonstrate critical analysis?

Does the task allow students to demonstrate their thinking and understanding? Does the task offer opportunities for students to demonstrate valued attributes and attitudes? Does the task promote students’ ability to use the metalanguage of the domain?

The intended cognitive expectations of the task must be clear to students.

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I s the task authentic?

Is the context of the task appropriate for the cognitive demands? Is the context appropriate for the students?

Does the context and mode of the task entice and engage students and target realistic audiences?

Does the task have a genuine and valued purpose?

Do students have opportunities to negotiate the assessment?

Students must recognise and be motivated by the purpose and relevance of the task.

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DESIGN DECISIONS

FOR QUALITY

TASKS

All students must be confident that they understand the intent and specific requirements of the task.

Questions to consider for quality task design• What curriculum intent is central to the learning?• What knowledges and ways of working are required on the part of the

learner, both prior to and during the completion of the task? • How does the task provide for intellectual challenge and engagement?• How did the task allow for assessment of the task-targeted Essential

Learnings?• What provisions have been made to ensure that all students access the

task?• Which curriculum literacies must be explicitly taught to enable all students

to access this task? • How were students made aware of the criteria for judging quality?• How does the task provide opportunities to maximise student learning?• How did the student receive feedback on the quality of learning

evidenced?• What were the strengths of the task? How could it be improved?• How might the task link to future learning and allow students to transfer their learning to other contexts?

The Components of an Audit

3. Are there opportunities for teachers to participate in professional discussions about the quality of student work?

• Are there opportunities for professional dialogue in your school?

• Are you confident to make judgements about student achievement?

• Are there opportunities for you to develop these skills?

• What processes do you and your school undertake to arrive at consistent, comparable judgements about students’ achievements?

• Is the school scheduling time for social moderation?

• What formal and/or informal ways are used in your school to convey information to parents about student achievement?

• Does the school have identified protocols for communication with parents and caregivers?

• What critical aspects of achievement does the teacher’s comment need to address in the compliance report?

In Summary Have you identified?

• Gaps and overlays• Missing essentials• Essentials being covered too frequently

Have you made informed decisions about what changes are to be made?• Identify how the essentials are scaffolded across year

levels/multi-age/looping sectorsHave you avoided?

• A flick and tick style auditLook at how each essential has been addressed- Is it in a minor or significant way?

After reflection, where are you

now in terms of providing students with the skills they need for the 21st century?