In this module you will learn how to describe a learning continuum – the first step in developing a formative assessment rubric. A learning continuum helps teachers to understand the typical phases students go through in their learning, and this supports teachers to scaffold learning and target their teaching to student needs.
Activities
1. Read pages 4–10 of the Guide to Formative Assessment Rubrics
Describing a learning continuum is the first part of developing a formative assessment rubric that supports student learning to progress.
The Guide to Formative Assessment Rubrics (pages 4–10) details what a learning continuum is, why it is needed when developing a formative assessment rubric, and the process of writing a learning continuum.
Read ‘Part 1: Describing a learning continuum’, pages 4–10 of the Guide, to ensure that the learning continuum you use as the basis for your formative assessment rubric is clearly linked to the
Victorian Curriculum F–10. The learning continuum plays an important role in determining what a student is ready to learn next and this will influence the decisions you make about what to teach and how best to teach this.
The learning continuum may also influence decisions you make about how to group the students in your classroom. This is described in Part 3 of the Guide and is shown in the worked examples included in Part 4 of the Guide.
2. Select a part of the Victorian Curriculum to assess
The purpose of formative assessment is to gather evidence of learning that can be used to support student learning to progress. The
Victorian Curriculum F–10 describes what all students are expected to learn and is structured as a continuum across levels of learning achievement, not years of schooling.
To design a formative assessment rubric you need to be clear about the knowledge and skills that you are trying to develop and progress in students, so start with the curriculum. Select the part of curriculum that you are going to focus on when developing your formative assessment rubric.
Note, the process described in the Guide and in these supporting learning modules may be different to how you have written rubrics in the past. It is good to learn this process using a part of the curriculum in which you have experience in teaching and/or are confident in teaching.
3. Download the 'Learning continuum and rubric' template
Use the link below to download a template to use as you learn how to write a learning continuum. The template helps standardise the process of writing a learning continuum, so that when teachers collaborate it is easy for them to orient themselves. You will see there are a choice of templates for writing the learning continuum. These templates reflect the examples given in the Guide.
Learning continuum and formative assessment rubric template
4. Watch the video 'Describe a learning continuum'
Watch the video on how to describe a learning continuum. You may like to pause at various times to fill in your template and reflect on your work.
The video duration is 6 minutes 47 seconds.
Module 1 - Describe a learning continuum video transcript
Module 1 - Describe a learning continuum PowerPoint
5. Write the phase descriptions in the learning continuum in the template
Your phase descriptions should:
- bring to mind a typical student
- focus on what students do, say, make or write. Use a sentence starter such as ‘Students at this phase …’ or ‘Students …’
- draw on the curriculum and be based on your own teaching experience and/or a developmental taxonomy.
6. Evaluate your work
Reflect on the learning continuum you have developed. Does it describe clear shifts in student ability and accurately reflect the intentions of the curriculum?
You will be asked to come back and reflect on the learning continuum again as you work through the development, implementation and review of the formative assessment rubric.
Practice considerations
- Work in a group and/or share your learning continuum with other teachers. The best learning continuums usually come from teachers working collaboratively, sharing their understanding of the curriculum and expertise of teaching the knowledge and skills described in the curriculum.
- Have you ever thought that you need more granular information than is supplied in the curriculum that you teach? You need to get down to a level of granularity that will support your planning and teaching with a focus on progressing student learning. Greater detail or granularity supports the collection of evidence of student learning within the mixed-ability classroom.
- Developing a formative assessment rubric can help deepen your understanding of the Victorian Curriculum. One of the teacher-participants in the VCAA’s formative assessment rubrics workshops said, ‘What a great way to unpack the curriculum and focus on elements students know and where their learning journey is heading.’
Additional resources
- Refer to the
Victorian Curriculum F–10. Viewing the curriculum in the ‘Scope and Sequence’ format helps to clearly see the continuum describing growth across eleven years of schooling. Scope and sequence charts are found in the ‘Introduction’ to each curriculum area.
- Refer to ‘Further reading’ on page 25 of
The Guide to Formative Assessment Rubrics.
Move on to Module 2
Describing a learning continuum is the first part of developing a formative assessment rubric. In
Module 2, you will learn how to use this learning continuum to shape the formative assessment rubric.
I think some teachers at our school are still caught in the idea that you only focus on the curriculum for the year level you are teaching, rather than view each child on a continuum.
Teacher-participant in the VCAA’s formative assessment rubrics workshops
These materials were prepared in 2019. Please note that this area of research is evolving fast, therefore these materials should be supported with additional evidence bases that more accurately reflect best practice after 2024. It is recommended that these materials be used with consideration of updated research after this date.