ETAWA members

When is Enough, Enough? Assessment and Feedback in

Subject English

The relentless marking load of English teachers is undoubtedly one of the most demanding and time-

consuming components of our profession. This session explores approaches to assessment design and

feedback in response to this challenge. A number of practical formative and summative assessment

feedback strategies, aligned with current research in the field and specifically designed to support student autonomy, will be shared with attendees. These approaches have the potential to reduce the time teachers spend on marking assessments and providing feedback to students. This session may appeal to both early career teachers struggling to recognize when ‘ enough is enough ’ in regard to assessment and feedback, as well as experienced teachers who may be looking to assess and feed back to students in more efficient, purposeful ways. Although the focus is on the ATAR English course, much of the advice and suggestions are transferable to other courses.

We know that assessment is necessary, but how do we get away from teaching to the test when we

want our kids to experience success? How do we encourage metacognition in our students with an ef-

fective feedback loop when it feels like we are racing between assessments with so few moments for

reflection? How do we honour what the middle school looks like in classroom practice while still keep-

ing classes away from the edge of chaos? We will discuss how we can use best practice to get back to

basics and ensure that we are producing life long learners who know how to flex their critical thinking

muscles and interact with texts thoughtfully. We want our middle school space to be focused on learning well beyond the Year 10 subject selection process and we will discuss how we get back to refocusing on what is important for these enthusiastic young learners.