In this module you will explore why and how to review the learning continuum. It is important that the learning continuum and the quality criteria are aligned, so if you vary any quality criteria in the formative assessment rubric it is essential you also review the learning continuum. This process can only be undertaken after you have administered the formative assessment task and marked the student work or performance against the rubric.
Activities
1. Watch the video 'Refine learning continuum'
Watch the following video describing the process of reviewing your phase descriptions in the learning continuum following any refinements you have made to the quality criteria.
You may want to re-read
The Guide to Formative Assessment Rubrics pages 4–10, which details what a learning continuum is, why it is needed when developing a formative assessment rubric, and the process of writing a learning continuum. The
Victorian Curriculum F–10 is also an important consideration when refining the learning continuum.
The duration of this video is 8 minutes 51 seconds.
Module 8 – Refine learning continuum video transcript
Module 8 – Refine the learning continuum PowerPoint
2. Analyse student assessment data to refine the learning continuum
To refine the learning continuum you need to have used the formative assessment rubric to mark student work. This means you will have data and will be able to identify typical phases of learning, showing how students develop knowledge and skills.
To review the phases in the learning continuum you need to read the quality criteria described in the column under each phase. These quality criteria have been placed in the same column because these actions would typically develop at similar times.
Look at how you marked a student’s work. Explore whether you have marked quality criteria that are all in the same column or all near to the same column. This tells you that the actions are developing at about the same rate and that the phase description is describing the typical order of learning. If you see results for a lot of students where the quality criteria awarded is spread across the columns, you need to consider moving some of the quality criteria into a different phase.
Understanding how the quality criteria for the actions align with the learning continuum phases supports you to decide the sequence in which you will teach the knowledge and skills. For example, you shouldn’t try to teach content from Phase 4 to a student who has not achieved all the quality criteria in Phase 2 yet.
The learning continuum aims to describe the typical developmental phases that a student moves through when learning the knowledge and skills related to a specific part of the curriculum. The phase descriptions in the learning continuum are broader than the quality criteria in the rubric. This bigger picture view of learning is important.
3. Make adjustments to the placement of quality criteria
Review the placement of the quality criteria in the rubric so that they match what you have found when assessing student work samples.
Reflect on the examples highlighted in the video, thinking about whether you need to move any quality criteria into a different column and/or create new columns and new quality criteria. Remember, you do not need a quality criterion for each action in each column.
4. Review phase descriptions
If a new column of criteria has been added, or criteria has been realigned, then phase descriptions may need to be added or revised as well. Each phase description should be a synthesis of the skills indicated by the column of criteria, but the description can go beyond the criteria themselves.
5. Evaluate your work
Read through the refined learning continuum with your colleagues. Ask yourself if each phase description brings to mind a typical student or group of students from your classes.
The video highlighted how you can use the phase descriptions for planning purposes but also how these descriptions can influence ongoing interactions with students in your classroom. Take a moment to reflect on how the phases is your learning continuum could continue to influence your teaching and support student learning.
Practice considerations
Tips for writing the phase descriptions in the learning continuum include:
- synthesise the quality criteria within the column
- try to use verbs, but there is more flexibility in the language used here than in the quality criteria
- think about the order in which a typical student will progress
- draw upon the curriculum.
The phase descriptions in the learning continuum perform a different function from the quality criteria in the formative assessment rubric. The phase descriptions are not designed to enable reliable assessment to be undertaken, but instead describe the underlying learning. Think about how this information could support you when planning and teaching to support student learning to progress.
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 9
After you review the learning continuum and the formative assessment rubric, you also need to review the assessment tasks you designed and implemented to gather evidence of student learning. Module 9 explores the refinement of the task.
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.