Every newly-born generation holds the keys to our future, and as teachers, it’s our job to make sure they’re as clever as they can be. We pass on our knowledge of the world through the curriculum, everyday advice, and a …
Sydney teacher Julie Carrington has long been an advocate of the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) for its novel approach to measuring academic strengths and its ability to uncover potential and untapped talent within the classroom.
When it comes to spotting academic potential, it’s not always obvious from students’ examination results. Julie Carrington, teacher of Senior Chemistry and Junior Science at Sydney Technical High School, calls those who slip through the cracks in standard tests “gifted and talented underachievers.”
Did you know school competitions are more than just a helpful vehicle for teachers to highlight the talent and potential of participating students? The students themselves feel the benefits of academic competitions every bit as much. They’re great motivators, spurring …
The adage that ‘knowledge is power’ applies in all manner of educational contexts. It is, however, certainly true when it comes to building a picture of how your teaching is landing with your students. Routine and compulsory tests and assessments …
Reach provides schools with detailed data on student performance. It was created in 2019 by our test development team, who used our past experience with the paper version of ICAS to create sets of tests with known difficulty. For 2021, …
It was many years ago and on the other side of the world. I was a maths teacher then in South London and a student was looking at a sample test paper for the national mathematics tests. “But where do …
In the world of assessment, tests are often called “instruments”. It is a bit of a pretentious term but expresses the idea that there is a purpose to every test. Each test is an instrument intended to gather information about …
One of the exciting changes in my work over the past few years has been the wide range of new question types that are available in online tests. There are so many more ways for students to interact with assessments …