Teachers
Teaching Ideas Evaluation PD Model Maintaining Momentum
Working With Your Child
Children
 Children's Page
  HOME ABOUT LEARNING FRAMEWORK ASSESSMENT FAQ  
Children Parents

Assessment

  1. Numeral identification
  2. Building addition and subtraction
  3. Building multiplication and division
  4. Place value
It is important in teaching to observe and take account of students' strategies as they attempt to solve problems.

To assist in identifying the strategies which students use, two assessment schedules have been developed.

The assessments take the form of diagnostic interviews and currently focus on:

  • numeral identification
  • counting forwards and backwards
  • addition and subtraction
  • multiplication and division
  • place value
Teachers use the diagnostic interview to make informed judgements about students' strategies for solving number problems. The Learning framework in number provides guidance in analysing students' responses.

  1. Numeral Identification
    Numerals are the written and read symbols for numbers. Learning to identify, recognise and write numerals is an important part of early arithmetical development.

    Displaying numeral cards individually, and asking the student to name the numeral, is a way of assessing numeral identification.

    A sample of numbers is presented to the students. For example:

  2. Building addition and subtraction through counting and grouping
    These tasks require students to determine how many would be in a collection resulting from adding or subtracting.

    To find the answer to 7 + 6, a student might start with 7 and count on, saying, "Seven…8,9,10,11,12,13". Alternatively, a student could say that six and six make twelve (by using knowledge of doubles) and one more is thirteen. The use of doubles is quite common as a transition from relying on counting by ones. Some students will be able to "bridge to ten". This requires anticipating how many are needed to make ten and then splitting six into three and three.

    That is

    The process of splitting numbers is sometimes called partitioning.

    The emphasis is not only on seeing if the student is able to answer correctly, but also on observing how the student solves the problem. For example, to solve a problem, is the student able to:

    • count visible items by ones?
    • find the total of two groups of objects when the objects are concealed?
    • count on by ones from the larger number?
    • apply strategies other than counting by ones such as doubling or bridging to ten?

    Sample task

  3. Building multiplication and division through equal grouping and counting
    Students' early knowledge of multiplication and division is based on the development of counting sequences, the skills of combining, partitioning and patterning and the students' ability to use equal groups.

    To gain a sense of the student's understanding of multiplication and division, the assessment focuses on the student's use of equal groups and knowledge of sequences of multiples.

    Generally, students will progress from forming groups through sharing one-by-one without obvious reference to the equal groups, to counting and sharing visible groups in multiples, to coordinating groups in repeated addition, and then to using multiplication and division as operations.

    Sample task

  4. Place value
    To understand place value, students need to be able to view a group of ten as one (composite) unit. Many of the processes needed in addition and subtraction require students to "see" the ten in numbers. For example, in the number 24, the student needs to have an understanding that this number represents two tens and four ones.

    Regrouping tasks provide evidence of students' understanding of place value.

    Sample task