Addressing Changing Assessment Agendas: Experiences of Secondary Mathematics Teachers in Rural NSW

This paper describes the early experiences of secondary mathematics teachers in four rural schools in NSW as they began to explore the changing nature of assessment and the implications it has for their practice. Two important findings emerged from their involvement and experiences. First, teachers reported that using a theoretical framework to guide decisions acted as a catalyst to their rethinking of how and what to assess. Second, teachers used assessment information as a trigger for improving their teaching practices to enhance student learning. Changes to the ways teachers traditionally assess students are a particularly challenging issue facing teacher education in a time of outcomes-based education. This new emphasis can involve identifying what a student knows and can do, and how this information compares with the standard expected by a relevant syllabus document (Assessment and Reporting Directorate, 1996; Board of Studies, 2003). Subsequently, teachers need to make “judgements, on the weight of assessment evidence and well-defined standards, about student progress towards the achievement of an outcome ” (Assessment and Reporting Directorate, 1996, p. 226). In New South Wales (NSW), secondary teachers are required t