MIDDLE YEARS LITERACY AND NUMERACY SUPPORTMYLNS ASSESSMENTS 2021

A guide for Improvement Teachers and School Leaders

CONTENTSSECTION 1: OVERVIEW...................................................................................................................3

MYLNS............................................................................................................................................3ABOUT THE MYLNS ASSESSMENTS..........................................................................................3

TIMING OF THE ASSESSMENTS.................................................................................................4WHAT IS BEING ASSESSED.........................................................................................................4

ELIGIBLE STUDENTS....................................................................................................................6ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.................................................................................................6

PRIVACY........................................................................................................................................6SECTION 2: SUPPORTING STUDENT PARTICIPATION...............................................................7

SUITABILITY OF THE ASSESSMENT FOR INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS........................................7SUPPORTING AND PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE ASSESSMENTS................................7

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AND ADDITIONAL LEARNING NEEDS...................................8EAL LEARNERS.............................................................................................................................8

SECTION 3: ASSESSMENT ADMINISTRATION...........................................................................10ACCESSING THE ASSESSMENTS.............................................................................................10

PREPARING FOR THE ASSESSMENTS....................................................................................10ASSESSMENT STRUCTURE......................................................................................................10

ADMINISTERING THE ASSESSMENTS.....................................................................................12Assessment duration..................................................................................................................12

Accessibility options and reasonable adjustments.....................................................................12

Additional materials and resources............................................................................................13

SECTION 4: USING THE ASSESSMENT DATA............................................................................15THE ASSESSMENT REPORTS...................................................................................................15

USING THE DATA TO UNDERSTAND STUDENT CAPABILITIES AND NEEDS.......................16USING THE DATA TO PROMOTE STUDENT LEARNING.........................................................17

Engaging students and parents/carers in analysis of the data..................................................17

Using the data to track learning over time..................................................................................18

Using the data to build the capability of other teachers.............................................................18

USING THE DATA FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PURPOSES..............................................18

SECTION 5: HELP AND SUPPORT...............................................................................................21TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE..........................................................................................................21

OTHER ASSISTANCE & QUERIES ABOUT THE ASSESSMENTS...........................................21

© State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training) 2020 The MYLNS Assessments 2020: A guide for Improvement Teachers, Network Teachers and School Leaders is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You are free to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training), indicate if changes were made and comply with the other licence terms, see: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International The licence does not apply to:• any images, photographs, trademarks or branding, including the Victorian Government logo and the DET logo; and• content supplied by third parties.Copyright queries may be directed to copyright@edumail.vic.gov.au

SECTION 1: OVERVIEW

This guide is designed to support Improvement Teachers and school leaders to understand and implement the Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy (MYLNS) Assessments 2021 (the MYLNS assessments). It includes guidance on how the assessments can support the teaching and learning of students participating in MYLNS and how to incorporate the assessments in the implementation of MYLNS in line with a whole school assessment approach.

MYLNSThe MYLNS initiative provides funding to government secondary schools to help improve outcomes for students who are at risk of finishing school without the literacy or numeracy skills they need for future work, education and training.

In 2021, every secondary school has been funded to have at least one teacher released to undertake the role of a Literacy Improvement Teacher or Numeracy Improvement Teacher, or Network Teacher. Their role is to work directly with students and, for Improvement Teachers, to build the capability of other teachers. This will involve using assessments, along with other information and evidence, to understand what students know and can do, what they need to learn next, and how they are progressing as they receive support through MYLNS.

For more information on the MYLNS initiative see: Getting Started: A guide for school leaders and Improvement Teachers

ABOUT THE MYLNS ASSESSMENTSThe MYLNS assessments have been developed by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) specifically for students receiving direct teaching support through MYLNS. These assessments are aligned to the Victorian Curriculum and are freely available via the VCAA online platform that is supporting the Digital Assessment Library (DAL).

The MYLNS assessments provide an additional validated source of data for Improvement Teachers to make judgements about where students are in their learning against the achievement standards in the Victorian Curriculum. When triangulated with other data, this will assist in planning their direct support through differentiated curriculum implementation, with adapted instruction and interventions to respond to the needs of students.

While they are not mandatory, administering the MYLNS assessments during the recommended assessment periods is highly encouraged, as it will:

generate data that provides an indication of where students are at in the learning continuum and, when combined with other assessments, will help inform the development of personalised learning plans and targeted interventions

provide sufficient time in between assessment periods to assist in reviewing and monitoring progress in students’ learning

enhance professional learning opportunities by highlighting areas for further inquiry to inform the facilitation of regional MYLNS Communities of Practice and Professional Learning Communities within schools.

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Implementation of the MYLNS initiative will be considered by schools as part of their continuous improvement processes, including the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO) Improvement Cycle. Schools may draw on the MYLNS assessments as an additional source of information to inform these processes, including implementation of the Essential Elements and the curriculum planning and assessment high-impact improvement initiative as identified in FISO.

Along with other relevant information, schools may refer to the MYLNS assessments when considering their curriculum plans and aspects such as curriculum standards, learning goals, teaching strategies and learning progress.

Assessment is an essential element of quality teaching and learning. Effective teachers embed a range of relevant assessment strategies into their curriculum plan so they can monitor student learning, provide feedback to students and make adjustments to their teaching strategies as required.

Just as a single assessment instrument cannot provide a definitive summary of a student’s ability, the MYLNS assessments are not intended as a single assessment of a student’s level, learning needs and expected progress in literacy or numeracy. Rather, they complement the range of formative and summative assessment tools and strategies embedded in the instructional practice of teachers.

TIMING OF THE ASSESSMENTSThe MYLNS Assessments Term 1 2021 are available for administration between Week 6 and Week 9 (9 March to 1 April 2021).

The MYLNS Assessments Term 4 2021 are available for administration between Week 2 and Week 5 (11 October – 8 November 2021)

The MYLNS assessments are not available outside the specified test windows.

WHAT IS BEING ASSESSED?The MYLNS Assessments Term 1 2021 and the MYLNS Assessments Term 4 2021 each include separate assessments for students receiving literacy support and for students receiving numeracy support. Improvement Teachers can choose the assessment that aligns with the domain of direct support that they are focusing on with their students. These assessments include:

MYLNS Assessment for literacy support students (literacy assessments) – covers the Reading and Viewing mode of the English Curriculum Levels 5-9, including the Language, Literature and Literacy strands

MYLNS Assessment for numeracy support students (numeracy assessments) – covers all aspects of the Mathematics Curriculum Levels 5-9, including the Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry and Statistics and Probability strands.

The students prioritised for support through MYLNS have a diverse range of abilities and learning needs. Some may have had negative experiences with assessment in the past and disengaged from learning. Some students are likely to have more complex learning needs and some are operating several years below their expected level, or lower.

The MYLNS assessments use multi-stage computer branched adaptive testing. This tailored assessment design encourages students to stay engaged with the assessment and allows for greater measurement precision of a student’s proficiency across a broad range of knowledge and curriculum content.

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The MYLNS Assessments Term 1 2021 will provide data to help determine where students sit against the achievement standards for the English or Mathematics curricula. The MYLNS Assessments Term 4 2021 will provide further data to indicate how students’ performance against these achievement standards has changed over time.

This data provides an additional validated evidence source that can be triangulated with other assessments to determine what students know and need to learn next. While the assessments are aligned to the English and Mathematics curricula, where much of the explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy occurs, Improvement Teachers should consider these assessments as a starting point for developing a more detailed and nuanced understanding of the student’s literacy and numeracy development needs as they engage with a range of learning activities across the Victorian Curriculum (see the Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions).

ASSESSMENT REPORTSUpon completion of the assessments, schools will have access to:

1. Item Summary Report

This report will be available immediately following completion of each student’s assessment. It will set out the student’s responses to each of the items they have completed and the relevant content descriptions in the Victorian Curriculum.

2. Report of student achievement level

This report will be available to schools straight away following the completion of the assessments. It will provide an evaluation of the student’s capabilities based on their responses and reported against the achievement levels in the Victorian Curriculum, with a reference to the National Minimum Standards (NMS) in NAPLAN Reading or Numeracy.

Assessment should be used to promote further learning and development. Improvement Teachers should draw on additional assessment strategies to gain further insight into a student’s reasoning and thinking, either during the assessment process or afterwards by engaging students and other teachers in analysing the data and setting learning goals.

Additional strategies may include:

encouraging students to use allowable concrete materials, and paper and pencil to write or draw, to support them to work through an answer and illustrate their thinking. Improvement Teachers or students should note the question number and retain this information or student notes for future reflection or sharing with other teachers

asking students to read a passage out loud to check for decoding and fluency ability in the literacy assessment

asking students to note down any words that they do not know the meaning of, for later investigation (which may highlight gaps in students’ vocabulary).

Further advice on administering the assessment is at Section 3 and using the assessment data at Section 4.

ELIGIBLE STUDENTSAll schools participating in MYLNS are highly encouraged to administer the assessment to prioritised students and additional students receiving support through MYLNS. In 2021, this will consist of Year 10 and year 11 students receiving direct support through MYLNS, including

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students learning English as an additional language (EAL), students with learning difficulties or learning disabilities and students who have experienced previous disruptions to their education.

There will be some instances where the assessments may not be appropriate for a student or may negatively impact their learning and engagement. This will be determined by Improvement Teachers on a case by case basis in consultation with Student Achievement Managers (SAMs).

Further advice on supporting the participation of students is provided in Section 2.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIESThe MYLNS assessments provide an additional resource to assist Improvement Teachers and school leaders in implementing MYLNS across the school and build on the work that schools are already doing to deliver on their school’s vision and goals.

School leaders will play a key role in:

promoting an understanding of the use and value of the MYLNS assessments with key staff

supporting administration of the assessments at their school

considering the implementation of MYLNS across the school in line with their whole school approach to curriculum planning and assessment. This may include using information about MYLNS (such as data generated from the MYLNS assessments along with other sources of information) to inform the school’s FISO Improvement Cycle and annual implementation planning.

Improvement Teachers play a key role in:

administering the assessments

determining what other assessments might be needed to provide a complete understanding of students’ knowledge, understanding and skills

using the data from the assessments (along with other evidence) to support the teaching and learning cycle, and to inform and adjust specific teaching strategies and interventions for individual students and groups of students participating in MYLNS.

PRIVACYThe MYLNS assessments are delivered via the DAL platform operated by the VCAA. Only schools administering the assessments will have access to identified results and assessment data for their students.

The Department will not be provided with identified data at a student or school level but will get de-identified data. Along with other data and information about MYLNS, the Department may use this de-identified data to inform evaluation of the MYLNS initiative at a broader, state-wide level. This includes:

the effectiveness and impact of the initiative on intended outcomes

how to collectively improve the support provided to students participating in MYLNS, Improvement Teachers, and schools.

SECTION 2: SUPPORTING STUDENT PARTICIPATION

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SUITABILITY OF THE ASSESSMENTS FOR INDIVIDUAL STUDENTSSchools are highly encouraged to administer the MYLNS assessments to year 10 and any year 11 students participating in MYLNS, including EAL learners, students with learning difficulties or learning disabilities and students who have experienced previous disruptions to their education.

Before administering the MYLNS assessments for individual students, Improvement Teachers should consider:

whether they will require further support (for example, reasonable adjustments) and ways to support them in undertaking the assessments by working with classroom teachers of prioritised students, health and wellbeing staff, year level coordinators and education support staff to understand the student’s needs

whether the assessments will enable students to demonstrate the extent of their learning or if there may be more appropriate assessments targeted to their needs, particularly for students with complex learning needs or previously diagnosed cognitive impairments that impact on their ability to undertake assessments

whether the assessment may impact on a student’s attitude to learning, particularly where attendance and/or engagement may be a priority.

Improvement Teachers should consult with their SAMs if there is a concern that the MYLNS assessments may be inappropriate for a student due to individual circumstances.

SUPPORTING AND PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE ASSESSMENTSStudents participating in MYLNS may have had negative experiences with assessments in the past or may need additional support in undertaking the assessment. Prior to any assessment, it is important that students feel prepared and are given opportunities to understand how the assessment fits into their learning journey.

Strategies to prepare students for the assessments include:

casual conversations/meetings with the student so they know what to expect (for example, duration, format of assessments and results, communication of results) and how the assessment will support their learning goals, participation in MYLNS and pathways

discussing the MYLNS initiative with parents/carers and the ways in which the MYLNS assessments can support the learning of students participating in the program

arranging a suitable location for assessment administration to ensure the environment is conducive to students demonstrating their capabilities at the time of assessment

considering whether any adjustments or modifications are required for any specific students

determining how best to structure the timing of the assessment in consideration of the assessment window, the model of direct support provided to the student (individual, small group, in-class) and assessment integrity (see Section 3 for further advice on administering the assessment).

If a student is having considerable difficulty engaging in or responding to the assessment items, Improvement Teachers should consider directing the student to exit the assessment and determine whether an alternative assessment might be more appropriate. Section 4 provides more detail about other assessments and evidence that Improvement Teachers can draw on to understand where students are at in the learning continuum.

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STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AND ADDITIONAL LEARNING NEEDS All students learn in different ways, have different strengths and abilities, and experience varying challenges in their learning. A learning difficulty, for instance, can affect aspects of a student’s ability to learn and demonstrate what they know and can do.

When working with students with complex learning needs, such as students with disabilities or additional learning needs, Improvement Teachers should:

refer to the online resources on the Learning Difficulties website (including the Learning Difficulties Information Guides for Literacy and Numeracy and the literacy and numeracy webinars)

work with Student Support Groups and any Individual Education Plan (IEP) as appropriate.

Where the MYLNS assessments are considered to be inappropriate for a student with a cognitive impairment, Improvement Teachers should consider using the Abilities Based Learning and Education Support (ABLES) assessments available through the Insight Assessment Platform. The ABLES resources:

allow teachers to assess the learning readiness of students with disabilities 

generate reports that help to plan for personalised learning 

provide guidance material and strategies to help teach students based on their individual learning needs, with links to the appropriate curriculum level and resources

track student progress and achievements.

Consideration can also be given to other types of assessment practices that assist teachers to understand how learning difficulties may be affecting students’ abilities to learn. This might include moment-to-moment assessment strategies to identify misunderstandings when and where they occur, such as targeted questioning or a dynamic assessment approach to isolate a student’s literacy or numerical abilities and difficulties. This could involve working on a short task with a student (for example, worded mathematical problem) and asking students to narrate their process or respond to prompts about next steps in the process.

When working with students with disabilities and additional learning needs, teachers can also draw on the resources and strategies covered during the MYLNS professional learning program.

EAL LEARNERSEAL learners are a diverse group, and their learning needs vary. EAL learners can include: students born overseas or in Australia; students beginning school with little, some or no exposure to English; students with schooling equivalent to that received by their chronological peers in Australia as well as those with little or no previous formal schooling in any country or with severely interrupted education in their first language.

Students learning English as a second or additional language can face a number of challenges and require support to develop their literacy in English and to develop new cultural understandings.

To cater to the needs of EAL learners, including when administering the MYLNS assessments, Improvement Teachers should:

work with students’ EAL/English teachers and have regard to the school’s EAL programs and policies

familiarise themselves with the expectations of the new Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL

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draw on knowledge and resources of students’ first/home language, literacy and culture, and other activities to understand students’ backgrounds and build rapport with EAL students. This may be facilitated by activities such as developing a socio-linguistic profile of students

ensure that students understand the tests and their purpose

consider how to interpret results of the MYLNS assessments for EAL students. For instance, teachers may find it useful to interpret the reports in relation to the expectations outlined in the AusVELS Victorian Curriculum and the EAL Developmental Continuum P-10, or the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL and the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL 2021 Reporting Tool and to work with students’ EAL teachers to interpret the results and map out the next steps in a student’s learning process.

Useful resources which may assist teachers working and undertaking assessments with EAL students include:

resources that support familiarisation and optional implementation of the new EAL curriculum, such as VCAA’s Language and Learning Interview (available on VCAA’s English as an Additional Language website), which enable teachers to develop a socio-linguistic profile of students

professional learning resources on the Tools to Enhance Assessment Literacy for Teachers of English as an Additional Language (TEAL) online assessment resource centre, including the Knowing Your Students professional learning module. These resources are available as part of the Putting TEAL into Practice program which emphasises student involvement in all stages of the learning and teaching cycle

EAL resources on the Department’s FUSE website

VicTESOL resources

ACARA English as an Additional Language or Dialect Teacher Resource

Where the MYLNS assessments are considered to be inappropriate for an EAL student, Improvement Teachers should consider using alternative assessment resources to inform the direct support that they provide through MYLNS. This includes:

the Reading and Vocabulary Assessment for English as an Additional Language (RVEAL), for EAL students. RVEAL provides teachers with:

o formative assessment information about student language proficiency in the Reading and Viewing mode of the EAL Developmental Continuum P-10

o individual reports that provide detailed information on the skills and knowledge assessed and an analysis of the results in terms of correct and incorrect responses, and class level reports indicating the percentage of students at each stage of the EAL Continuum.

Resources and tasks are also available on TEAL to use for EAL students.

Teachers can also draw on the material covered during the MYLNS professional learning program, which may provide resources and strategies to support students from EAL backgrounds.

SECTION 3: ASSESSMENT ADMINISTRATION

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ACCESSING THE ASSESSMENTSThe MYLNS assessments are available on the VCAA online platform supporting the DAL. The platform can be accessed via standard browsers and is supported on desktop and table devices (i.e. Windows, Apple, Chromebook, Android).

Detailed instructions and guidance on administering the MYLNS assessments on this platform is available in the DAL Platform Manual. Access to this Manual has been provided to all schools that have registered to utilise the DAL to administer the MYLNS assessments.

PREPARING FOR THE ASSESSMENTSPrior to conducting the assessments with their students, Improvement Teachers are encouraged to:

familiarise themselves with the platform and review the DAL Platform Manual to understand how to set up the assessments and conduct them with their students

ensure that they are able to access the platform to check student details and set up test sessions for their students (according to the instructions in the DAL Platform Manual).

ASSESSMENT STRUCTUREThe MYLNS assessments include three sets of questions or testlets, comprising 50-60 multiple choice and short answer items in total.

Each of the assessments and individual testlets utilises multi-stage computer branched adaptive testing and is structured as shown below.

MYLNS Assessment for literacy support students

MYLNS Assessment for numeracy support students

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The structure of the assessments allows the difficulty of the assessment items to adjust after a student provides responses to a testlet. It also enables more precise measurement of a student’s proficiency across a broader range of knowledge and curriculum content.

The tailored design allows students who might be struggling with items in the first testlet to engage with the rest of the assessment by directing them to the most appropriate subsequent testlet. Some students will be directed to exit the assessment after the completion of two testlets (which indicates that the student is below the range level assessed and may therefore require additional support to address more acute learning needs or engagement issues).

For each assessment:

the full assessment should be completed to ensure precision of results and measure progress

a minimum of two of the three testlets need to be completed to generate an assessment result

within each testlet, students can move back and forth to review and change their responses or flag an item, until they have completed and submitted their responses to that testlet

students will be blocked from revisiting a testlet once it is completed and they have moved to the next testlet

once the assessment as a whole is submitted it cannot be administered again for that student.

ADMINISTERING THE ASSESSMENTSAssessment durationThe assessments are untimed. They are intended to be accessible for students with varying needs and their primary purpose is to assess what students know, rather than compare students.

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However, it is recommended that at least 75 minutes be allocated for students to complete the three testlets that comprise each assessment, to ensure that students have sufficient time to complete the assessment in full.

Seventy-five minutes has been recommended in consideration of the additional learning needs of students participating in MYLNS. Improvement Teachers may provide students with less or more time to complete the assessment depending on their individual needs.

It is recommended that each assessment (including all testlets) be undertaken in a single session, where possible. However, Improvement Teachers decide to administer each assessment in separate sessions over the three week assessment window to maximise engagement and meet the needs of individual students.

When considering how to administer the assessment, Improvement Teachers should keep in mind:

the learning needs of the student, particularly students that are receiving direct support in both literacy and numeracy

the time allocation to work with students

each student’s timetable and the classes they are enrolled in

the approach being undertaken to provide direct support to students participating in MYLNS (individual student support, small group work, in-class support)

the need to complete a full testlet in each session to maintain assessment integrity if the assessments are administered across several sessions.

Improvement Teachers will administer the assessment that aligns with the domain that they are working within to provide direct teaching support to students in 2021 (for example, teachers focusing on literacy in their direct teaching through MYLNS will administer the assessment designed for students receiving literacy support).

However, Improvement Teachers may administer both the literacy and the numeracy assessments with individual students, if they consider this to be appropriate. For example, if this would be beneficial to support the teaching and learning of the students concerned, whether this would be feasible in the available time and without over-burdening students with assessment or taking away from their other teaching and learning activities.

Accessibility options and reasonable adjustmentsThe MYLNS assessments include the following accessibility options to assist students with disability to undertake the assessments:

accessible font and zoom

calculator (clear contrast and large font size)

keyboard accessibility (focus and tabbing)

compatibility with operating system accessibility features (for example, on-screen reader).

It may also be appropriate for Improvement Teachers to make reasonable adjustments to enable students with disability to undertake the MYLNS assessments.

School leaders and teachers should be aware of their obligations in supporting students with disability to ensure their compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the Standards). Among other things, schools are obliged to make reasonable adjustments to ensure students with disability can access education on the same basis as their peers.

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Examples of adjustments include:

providing paper-based booklets and pencils or pens for students to record their thinking during the assessment session

modifying the duration and/or number of sessions for students to complete the assessments (for example, a student may be allowed to undertake the assessment over two or three separate sessions, even if all other students undertaking the assessments will sit the assessment in a single session only)

allowing rest breaks

allowing additional materials (for example, concrete materials such as counters, appropriate electronic devices or assistive technology).

Further information to help education providers understand their obligations under the DDA and the Standards is available on the Support students with additional learning needs website.

Additional materials and resourcesImprovement Teachers may provide additional materials, resources and general support to students to assist them to undertake and perform at their best during the assessments. Additional materials and resources could include:

materials that may support students during the assessment session or allow teachers to better understand student needs, such as pen and paper

providing students with advice on general strategies for undertaking assessments (for example, advice about completing multiple choice questions using a process of elimination or other reasoning methods to come to an answer, to avoid guessing answers)

providing some level of additional teacher support during the assessment (for example, to address focus, anxiety or assist with following directions):

o reading parts of the assessment instructions or questions

o assisting students to login or to save or submit assessments

o clarifying general instructions for specific assessment items.

The use of a calculator is:

not permitted during the first testlet of the numeracy assessment

allowed in subsequent testlets of the numeracy assessment - students will have access to a basic on-screen calculator on the assessment platform.

The use of a dictionary is:

not permitted for the literacy assessment

permitted, if necessary, to assist students with completing the numeracy assessments. Students may use a paper-based dictionary for this purpose.

When considering whether to provide additional materials and resources, Improvement Teachers should be mindful that the type and level of support does not compromise the student’s ability to demonstrate their knowledge and skill. This will help to maintain the integrity of the assessments and generate the most meaningful data possible to inform teaching and learning.

Improvement Teachers should also consider putting in place usual measures to avoid the potential for students to collude or cheat, ensuring that students are adequately supervised and do not have

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unauthorised access to resources such as the Internet and not providing corrective feedback during the assessment.

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SECTION 4: USING THE ASSESSMENT DATA

THE ASSESSMENT REPORTS Two reports are available as soon as a student completes an assessment via the platform; an outline of each is provided below. These reports are available for both the Term 1 and Term 2 assessments.

Instructions on accessing these reports is included in the DAL Platform Manual. Further detail on using the information that the reports provide is contained within the MYLNS Assessments Reporting Guide.

Assessment summary reportThis report provides a high level guide to the skills and knowledge a student has learnt with a measure of student ability reported against the Victorian Curriculum achievement standards for English or Mathematics, as well as student position on the learning continuum in respect to the NAPLAN National Minimum Standards (NMS) (Reading and/or Mathematics).

Item response summary reportThis report provides a summary of the student’s response to each of the items in the assessment as well as answer keys and links to the Victorian Curriculum. The report also provides an ability to review the item as presented to the student.

The information in the item response summary report can be used similarly to the way teachers use their own classroom assessment results.

The following things may be considered when reviewing data from the item response summary report:

o overall score and curriculum level at which most correct or incorrect responses occur

o response patterns – are there particular skills in which students tend to do much better or worse?

o incorrect response options – is there an apparent reason/misconception that led students to choose that option?

o alignment with other evidence of student learning.

USING THE DATA TO UNDERSTAND STUDENT CAPABILITIES AND NEEDSWhen using the data from the MYLNS assessments, it is important to keep in mind that:

using a range of assessments and data will provide more reliable evidence from which to make an on-balance, holistic, evidence-based and defensible judgement about where students are at in the learning continuum, including:

o evidence obtained in the classroom – collected as part of a teacher’s regular teaching practice (for example, questioning, observation notes, work samples, discussion or tests)

o data obtained through other assessments – these provide a broader context for practitioners and leaders to analyse what they know about learners, and to provide data that can be used to improve teacher practice and review and enhance programs

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data should be analysed to identify strengths and learning needs (for example, by reviewing student responses in the itemised assessment report to uncover which aspects of the curriculum they perform well or poorly in, rather than only looking at the overall percentage of correct responses or at the student’s overall achievement level).

Further information about a student and data from other assessment sources will need to be generated in addition to the data from the MYLNS assessments to show the depth of student knowledge and understanding, the level of proficiency in their literacy and numeracy skills and how disposed they are to learning.

When considering other forms of evidence or data to draw on about a student’s literacy and numeracy skills and knowledge, Improvement Teachers may consider:

the type of assessments (formal or informal) to use, bearing in mind that over-reliance on formal assessment types could further disengage some students

assessments that provide a more targeted focus on specific areas of literacy and numeracy (for example, fluency and phonics or proportional reasoning)

assessment activities that develop student confidence and agency, such as those where students set and measure progress against learning goals aligned with their interests and aspirations, may help promote student engagement in the learning process.

Other relevant sources of data which may assist Improvement Teachers in assessing the progress of MYLNS students include:

assessments for English and Mathematics available through the DAL

the Mathematics and Numeracy assessment page of the Mathematics Teaching Toolkit, which includes the Fractions and Decimals Online Interview (intended for students in Years 5 to 8, but valuable for assessing at-risk students in Year 10); Scaffolding Numeracy in the Middle Years focused on multiplicative thinking, and Assessment for Common Misunderstandings

the Literacy and English assessment and identification and assessment of learning difficulties pages of the Literacy Teaching Toolkit

VCAA guidance on formative assessment .

USING THE DATA TO PROMOTE STUDENT LEARNINGEngaging students and parents/carers in analysis of the dataAt the secondary school level, students should be actively involved in planning their learning and monitoring their learning growth. Aligning teaching and assessment practice with Amplify: The student voice practice guide and the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model, in addition to using High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) , will assist teachers to empower students and engage them in their learning.

Including students in the analysis of their assessment results encourages them to take ownership of their learning, recognise their level of achievement and identify their learning needs, and motivates them to set their learning goals.

In engaging students in the analysis of MYLNS assessment data, Improvement Teachers may consider:

using the automatically generated itemised assessment reports to ensure that feedback provided to students is timely, specific, accurate and actionable to allow students to review and reflect on areas that they handled well and areas for improvement that could be supported through MYLNS (for more information on providing feedback, see: HITS)

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using questions to prompt students in their thinking (for example, asking students what processes or strategies they used to answer the questions in individual assessments) can be useful to building an understanding of their capabilities and misunderstandings

what information is helpful for students to know, and what information might be more helpful for Improvement Teachers and school leaders to know

using the results (alongside other assessment data and evidence) to collaborate with students to identify appropriate goals to progress their learning, based on their strengths and areas of improvement, and strategies that will support them to achieve their learning goals.

Improvement Teachers should discuss the assessment data with relevant classroom teachers of students participating in MYLNS, and what they may reveal about the student’s abilities and next steps for responding to their learning needs. These conversations can also support Improvement Teachers’ role in building the capability of other teachers in the school to differentiate their teaching practice.

Further support to promote student learning can be gained by including parents and carers in discussions of the student’s results. Three-way conferences that involve the student, their parents or guardians and the teacher can be useful for providing feedback to parents in a way that allows for student voice, and engages parents in the support that their student is receiving through MYLNS.

Using the data to track learning over timeTo measure student growth over time, teachers need to maintain accurate records of learners’ results and responses in each assessment to enable analysis of learning gains and identify learning needs.

The MYLNS assessments assist with this by providing a common point of reference (based on the Victorian Curriculum) against which assessment results can be compared to measure student learning and progress over time. For example, Improvement Teachers can:

review data from the assessments undertaken in Term 4 with reference to student achievement data from the Term 1 assessments to assess any overall improvement in a student’s literacy and/or numeracy skills

identify specific areas of growth in student learning and achievement, as well as any remaining gaps in student learning to inform future teaching and learning plans.

When analysing data from the two assessment periods alongside data from other assessments and information about the student, it is useful to keep in mind that growth will vary between students and can be understood in a variety of ways – standards-referenced growth (for example, growth in relation to the continuum of learning in the Victorian Curriculum, age or year-level expected growth, or growth in relation to targets and/or learning goals).

Using the data to build the capability of other teachersImprovement Teachers are provided with a time allocation to focus on building other teachers’ skills in how to differentiate teaching to better meet students at their point of learning need, particularly students who are below the expected level.

Data from the MYLNS assessments can be used as an entry point for engaging with other teachers to inform the type of capability building approach that aligns with the student’s personalised learning plan and school priorities for improving literacy and numeracy outcomes for all students. For example, the assessment data could support:

relevant classroom teachers to better meet prioritised students’ learning needs in their classes, outside of the direct support provided by Improvement Teachers

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teaching teams in their curriculum planning, alongside other evidence of student learning needs

Professional Learning Communities in sharing best practice examples and resources that demonstrate differentiated teaching

modelling lessons on differentiated practice, where teachers have common preparation time to examine assessment data and evidence of learning progress and plan activities in response.

USING THE DATA FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PURPOSESData from the MYLNS assessments provide an additional source of valuable evidence for school leaders to inform their continuous school improvement processes, annual implementation planning and monitoring, and in considering how best to support students with literacy and numeracy needs.

School leaders can use the FISO Improvement Cycle and data obtained from the MYLNS assessments (combined with other relevant information and evidence) to consider how to implement MYLNS across their school.

Aligning the MYLNS assessments to the FISO Improvement Cycle could include, for example, using the data from the assessments during the four stages of the cycle to:

examine student learning data, to develop a deep understanding of student learning to inform the development or update of personalised learning plans for each student

identify how the MYLNS initiative and the assessments could be integrated into the schools’ Annual Implementation Plan and Key Improvement Strategy for literacy or numeracy, as part of a whole school approach to curriculum planning and assessment

work with Improvement Teachers to determine how the MYLNS assessments, and other assessments, form part of their role in providing direct support to students (including in planning learning activities and interventions to enable and support student learning) and building the capability of other teachers

evaluate the impact of MYLNS on students within their school, and identify and diagnose patterns and trends in achievement and remaining areas of need, to inform future school strategies for enhancing student outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

Improvement Teachers can also consider some of the key questions below at each stage of the Improvement Cycle in using the MYLNS assessments and data generated from them.

The Alkira Secondary College case study details the work of the Literacy Improvement Teacher at Alkira Secondary College and provides a useful example of a school’s implementation of MYLNS. While this case study occurred prior to the release of the MYLNS assessments, it demonstrates how one school has used assessment data as part of the FISO Improvement Cycle to improve literacy skills of students participating in MYLNS, and embedded MYLNS into broader improvement processes.

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SECTION 5: HELP AND SUPPORT

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCEFrontline technical support will be available for schools to access using a free call telephone service or by email to assist with queries relating to:

registration

school set up

platform functions

enrolling students

The service desk can be contacted on:

Phone: 1800 641 943

Email: servicedesk@edumail.vic.gov.au

OTHER ASSISTANCE & QUERIES ABOUT THE ASSESSMENTSSAMs are the first point of contact for Improvement Teachers .

Central office staff support the implementation of the MYLNS initiative by delivering professional learning and answering any further questions Improvement Teachers may have about the initiative.

Central office staff can be contacted by email at MYLNS@education.vic.gov.au or on 03 7022 1700.

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