Assessing Key Competencies

We are currently undergoing a review of our school vision, values and curriculum. This has so far been a very interesting time with many discussions still to happen. One of the things that we have been talking about is assessment. What will we assess, when, why etc. One of the questions that has come out of these discussions is how do we assess the key competencies and report this information to parents?

I found an article on TKI by Rosemary Hipkins titled Assessing Key Competencies: Why Would We? How Could We? Hipkins suggests some strategies which could be used to assess key competencies including:
* Learning logs or journals.
* Learning stories
* Portfolios
These are all assessment strategies which teachers currently use which could be adapted to include key competencies. For example learning journals could include specific learning goals within the key competencies and children could then reflect on these learning goals alongside other curriculum goals. Learning stories could also be completed based on key competencies. Some schools use rubrics to highlight children's level of proficiency in each key competency. Hipkins does not discount the use of rubrics but cautions teachers to ensure that they are used in a formative way: including children in the decisions and discussions about where they are now and what there next learning steps are.

When I taught New Entrant children I included learning stories in children's homesample books which highlighted which key competencies were involved and I was able to comment on what key competency we had focused on and how the child's development was going in this area. Eg how they had been able to relate to others during the activity that was storied. We include comments in our reports which relate to the key competencies also. I am very interested to hear how other schools are assessing key competencies and reporting this to parents.