Year 9 Outcomes 2006
Year 9 student reflection:
"In the Year 9 course we got to learn what each of the Year 10 technology options was all about so it definitely helped us with our choices."
"I liked what I was doing in all of my Year 9 subjects, but in technology there's more choice and freedom to go where you want than in other subjects."
"I thought the way we were introduced to the technology cycle was very good – slowly introducing something new each term."
"I liked the evaluation work we did – you could see what was good and what wasn't so good."
"There was a good balance of doing things and writing and we learned a lot of different skills over the year."
Some very high quality student work has come out of this approach and 2006 teachers have seen student outcomes at the end of the year improve. This is attributed to the technological progression happening over the year in the Technology cycle and the quality of the domain knowledge and skills being taught.
Departmental feedback on the changed approach has been very positive. At regular departmental meetings teachers reported on the progress in their classroom, and discussed strategies for teaching the key competencies and making changes within the present structure. Interclass moderation of student work ensures that all teachers have the same expectations and are assessing consistently against agreed assessment criteria. Student feedback, both written and verbal, has been very positive. Data collected at the beginning and end of 2006 showed that student understanding of technology had improved considerably.
Reporting
During each term, students were assessed using a set of achievement criteria based on the components of practice and the specified domain knowledge and skills. Reports showing student achievement were sent home at the end of each term.
At the end of the year parents were given a comprehensive document showing achievement over the whole year, rather than individual term reports as in previous years. A term 4 teacher could change a term 2 grade if, for example, a student's brief development had improved. The KAMAR system was used and fitted comfortably with the school reporting criteria – see Year 9 sample report.
Through ongoing complete records meant teachers in later terms would know which students to push or which needed extra help in a particular field. This information will also be used to track these students through Year 10 in 2007 and during senior Technology.
Carol notes that while they have always had great support from senior management, one of the unexpected outcomes has been the buy-in from everyone at the school.
